Covenant Transport - Current Employee - MULTI-CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT DESPERATELY NEEDED Chattanooga Tennessee

I tottally agree with starting a class action against Covenant but, There is more just the idle issue with this "gem" of a company beleive me. Ive heard it all from fed up and upset drivers at Covenant terminals and them wounderfull insect and mold infected motels they own and got fed up myself with all the ways they treat thier drivers, Mostly like slaves to be honest is how they treat there drivers.

In any case, A Class action would be great if the former and present drivers and some in the white house (Covenant's main terminal) wherent too scared to make a stand and make things improve.

This is indeed one of the most currupt trucking companies in the industry today no doubt about it.

What was the reason you left and how long ago was it hummm.. I left 8 years ago for health reason you left way before I did but at the time I was there they were not charging for the exessive idle time but they were sending out warnings to the drivers that were shouing up on the over idle list to try and get it under control.  all I can say as while I was there from 1994 to 2001 is that i enjoyed my time there and if my health problems would ever improve.. I would enjoy returning there I enjoyed working with the drivers I had on my fleet as most of them were very good drivers and a joy to work with and in most cases if they had a problem we usually found a solution to there problem or problems.  but there are the few that for some reason had to do it there way not the right way  like failing to verify what trl they were to pick up and when asked every day what trl. they had they would give the trl they were supposed to have but after driving all the way from dalton ga. to kent wa. with a trl that didnt even belong to cov. and was painted blue all over could not understand how they got the wrong trailer even after asking them all the way to verify it phyically  now that is just being to lazy to do your job let lone the product on the trl was for the company they picked it up at and they were needing it.

they also thought they should be paid for all the out of rout miles they ran with the wrong trl... go figure.

i was cheated out of my 6mos,after six months i didnt have the miles after teaming,

and was told iwould not recieve it because i didnt get the miles during the six mos. i have been charged idle time ,when my team member was gone and i was getting shut down in weather(by company) in areas where there was no idle air like (mt eagle) WHILS I WAs charged for pre pass while i was on workmans comp and was not reinbursed and the truck had already been picked up by another driver and wasnt in my possession.thay have changed my hours while on workmans comp i know i watched her do it took 3.5 hours off of me,that place has gone to the dogs,while i was teaming co driver go off truck in ohio.i wish i knew then,what i do now

I worked for covenant transport for several years...years ago. when they were on 23rd street then moved to new location on birmingham hwy...I left them one time and went to USXpress for couple months then came back to Covenant.  I was a Fleet Mgr. and I know how they did and how they treat the drivers (in all difference ways) And going back it was worse..  I did not want to treat drivers bad or lie to them... so I gave up the money and left without a job. For me to leave a company with so many years. that says it all. I agree with almost all of these statements everyone is making... I would give my statement if i had too.

ex-employee  chattanooga , tn

I worked for Covenant Transport since 1997

I was in the Million Mile Safe Driver Club.

I always did what I was told and considered myself a "Team Player" but was fired during a snowstorm after the "umteenth" unsafe situation I was placed in by Covenant Transport.

In this situation it was after an arguement erupted with a "sexually frustrated" student driver who had not been home for a good deal of time.

I was told by Covenant I had a personality problem.

I was frequently asked to be a "team player" by Cliff Auman, Lathan Whited, and other staff members who seem to work together to delibrately place me in situations where I might get into a phsyical altercation, get raped or killed from drivers who had no skill driving at all.

The team Coordinator Shannon Mclinn regularly will suggest the absolute worst possible threat to your safety as a co-driver and seems to enjoy doing it.

The general consensus by both Male & Females looking to sucessfully team as is the Covenant Company Policy the advice is this. Steer clear of Shannon Mclinn because she will delibrately put you onboard with a rapist, someone who will harm you physically or cannot perform the job.

There is a good deal of sex being exchanged for loads in this nice Christian Company and anyone who has worked there for a short period knows who is involved.

All excuse lead to an unsafe manner of conduct on the Highway with people who are recrutied with serious criminal pasts who are favored for some odd reason.

I was told to team with people who were on serious narcotics, I told to keep quiet about an incident where a woman accused a veteran driver of molesting her. This woman had many previous incidents that were delibrately concealed from me which I later found out about in a chance meeting with another female driver.

These chance meeting are exactly what Covenant Transport fears the most so having this forume to meet and share stories is exactly what is needed because they are dirty from top to bottom.

I was sent a discharge letter and themn offered my job back when they realized I have a perfect driving record.

They tried to intimidate me and make me feel like something was wrong with me time and again but my record stands for itself.

It is their unsafe recruitement practices, poor training and leadership that hindered me alone.

They tried to have me come back if I moved from my home of 30 years to accomadate them with no offer for moving expenses.

Then they did not return my calls.

These are all psychological tactics this company uses on a regular basis agaisnst drivers who they manipulate so they will not fight back.

I submitted my clain to Tennessee for Unemployment benefits an Covenant produced a copy of the termination letter that was previously sent to me in the mail.

Unfortunately for them I still had my copy which had NO REASON written on it why they terminated me. They filled out their copy AFTERWARDS stating I abandoned my job and I was offered a position but rejected it.

I informed that State of Tennessee of the UNSAFE conduct and Constant Harrassment both psychological and sexual that Covenant Transport employs as a matter of regular business.

I recieved a check for $5000.00 and 1 for $1600.00 for unemployment wages with a letter of response that says I will be eligible until Spring of 2010 and that they found no EVIDENCE to support Covenant assertations that I abandoned my job.

I just want everyone to know that this company will throw you under the bus when they want want, "Team Player" or not.

With regards to to Idle charges, This should be illegal to charge EMPLOYEES $5.00 per hour to Idle EVER when Diesel is on $2.65 per gallon.

It is UNSAFE to operate these trucks if you are not well rested, you cannot sleep in freezing winter temperatures or summer heat conditions.

They say they provide "Auxillary Power Units" for Solo Trucks and that is a lie.

They provide what they have to to keep themselves looking good for the public image.

A driver would be better off to put $20.00 and use the reciept on their taxes to Idle the truck buy Covenant tries to nickel and dime its drivers in every way possible.

They use the name "Covenant" to brand their product to make the public think they care. They do not care about anything except money.

They permit people to be treated in such an inhumane manner by the likes of Shannon Mclinn and Lathan Whited who is a smiling phoney while the flood the highways with many stident drivers who are unfit to operate a big truck.

This company is an embarassment to any True Christian Organization

First of all, Covenant does not pay actual miles nor do most companies. You are paid from zip code to zip code Rand McNally miles. Perhaps you should have researched that a little better before signing on. So as far as a lawsuit is concerned you have no leg to stand on. Half of these drivers on this site whine and cry about stuff they should have investigated before they decided to go work there. Talk to a driver from a company you might be interested in. They will be more truthful than any recruiter who makes his/her living off of hiring drivers. You need to investigate a company thoroughly before signing on.

HEY I FILED A EEOC COMPLAIT ON COVENANT IN IT TOOK THEM 4 MONTH TO GET IN CONTACT WITH ME BY A LETTER BUT THEY CAME UP WITH SOMETHING SAYING I HAVE TO HAVE MORE THEN JUST ME TO FILE THIS COMPLAIT SO THE COMPANY HAS TO MESS OVER MORE THEN ONE PERSON TO HAVE SOMETHING DONE ABOUT IT.NO LUCK AT ALL BUT I NOT DONE WITH THEM IM GO LET THE WORID NO ABOUT COVENANT TRANSPORT THANKS FOR THE INTERNET YOUTUBE HERE I COME

Yes, and here is another bit of information, if you check out the Man named: Tommy Whitecotton, and his student driver in the reffer division, the division no other students can get into named: Melanie Sutton, she is getting 4000 plus miles a week, figure that one out! I'm sure if the company really was a Christian company and they knew what kind of activities there students were performing on their dispatchers/load planners, to ensure they get miles, there would be a heafty law suit against them. I think she is working on doing that so you might want to contact her.
email for phone: (((Redacted)))

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i do know what you mean my husband and I have worked for covenant for 2 years, I got fired last week for something that the kept other driver for and no damage to my truck. I was lied to and and they may have destroyed my driving carer and the depression and not being to drive with my husband on the road.

On Feb 26th I had a jack knife on I84 going west bound I hit black ice but kept the truck on the road and little damage to the truck no sitation nothing and they fired me for going 50 miles and hour up a hill when the speed limit was 55mph for trucks.

I was told numerous times that I was not going to be fired and that I was just going to be put on probation, but they fired me instead I had a safty person thell me that last mounth they had a team blown over they were empty and they let them keep there job.

Plus Covenant is suppost to have an open door policy but we had to sign a paper saying surten things about not going over serten peoples heads. one of those people is the last person to put in for me to be fired. I am also looking for an Attorney for a lawsuit but have been told that Tn is a right to work state so I can not go for wrongful termanation lawsuit bo need to find a way to get some one to take the case.

There nothing but a bunch of frauds. They have there comfortable jobs. They are not doing there jobs. If you are white & there black forget about them helping you, they only help black people.

The eeoc favors black people more. The employees just stack up complaints pretend they are investigating them.

Then after a year goes buy they send you a right to sue letter, so a year of your life wasted on these idiots. And the lying employer gets away with employee abuse.

And they will continue to do It.

Don't believe me file a complaint with the eeoc & you will wait 1 year for nothing, & they will send you a right to sue letter.

I have no direct (personal) knowledge about Covenant Transportation, though I know people who work for them, so I cannot respond directly to these complaints.
But the writers seem to misunderstand what's being measured on the idle-time.

The onboard computer measures engine running-time, speed-time (overspeed), and idle-time (among other things) and breaks this down into percentages. When it says that you are 30% over-idle, it means that 30% of the engine-running time was idle-time. Turning off the engine does not decrease the idle-time. It only keeps it from getting larger. The only way to lower the idle-time is to run more miles (run-time) than you sit idling (idle-time).

Example: If you cranked up your truck just after the weekly reset (mine was on Monday morning) and idled for 30 minutes without moving the truck, and then turned the truck off for the rest of the week, your idle-time for that week would be 100%. If you did that, and then ran down the road for 30 minutes before turning it off for the week, your idle-time for the week would be 50%.

I too was a victim of Covenant transport with the idling policy and I spoke up about it several times. I eventually quit due to a decline in my miles, low pay and not getting home every week on dedicated as promised. They told lies and fought me on the issue and took my last check too but I have fought back and will continue to until it is solved to my satisfaction. I won my unemployment insurance after an appeal and am now collecting my unemployment until i find suitable work they tried to make that hard for me too by putting false infomation on my dac report but I have filed a claim of discrimination against them throught the eeoc and am awaiting the process to play out. I had enclosed contact information in my last rebuttal but I wasn't aware that the information was not allowed so it may not appear. Everything I have said is true and I am not afraid of any lawsuit with over 50 complaints mostly saying the same thing it woulds be hard to call that many people liars. I have had the same experience and worked for them for over 2 years. I can tell you that a year ago you couldn't have paid me to listen to anything anyone said bad about this company but today, I really don't have anything good I can say about them because they hide behind the name of God and they will have to answer for their wrongdoings. I will check back tomorrow to see if my complaint got posted if it did it contains alot of uneful information you can use to help you fight back. In the end it will cost them more than they ever took but only if people do more than just complain. Best wishes and good luck.

I had the very same problems with Covenant after over 2 years of service and I was in the gp dedicated division. I quit Covenant last month and they told so many lies trying to keep me from getting my unemployment and they even had the nerve to fire me after I hired a lawyer and informed them I was a individual with a qualified disabilty problem was they fired me in writing two days after i had quit in writing and had it notarized in retaliation for my complaints and for me quitting with a good cause connected with the work. I knew I had a legitimate claim so I appealed my denial of unemployment benefits at which time i got to tell my side of the story and submit 78 pages of documented proof phone bill records and all to show they had lied. The end result was I got my unemployment insurance. I filed for discrimination and told them of how covenant wrongfully took my check for truck abandonment after I placed the truck exactly where they told me too. I videoed all the messages off the qualcomm and wrote them down to prove it and I could have took it to small claims court but I have 2 years for that and thats two minor for the unnecessary problems they caused me and my family so I am fighting them all the qway to a victory on this issue. They put false information on my dac too that has kept me from gaining employment with another company but due to the economy's condition, since I fought for my unemployment and won they now have to pay me 271.00 a week to look for suitable work and I only am applying for other trucking jobs simply because I know they have lied to keep me from getting one but its their account the one getting charged every week to pay me to look for work so in the end who suffering the most. If you would like to talk to me sometime to find out what you need to do and how to go about quitting to protect yourself from the lies they will tell on you to keep you from getting what you are entitled to give me a call at (((ROR redacted))) if no answer leave a message and a contact number and I will return your call to assist. I have filed a complaint to that includes alot of this information but I don't know when it will post. If enough of us stand up and fight back they won't have a choice but to stop. I am not a lawyer but I have had some paralegal studies therefore I do know alot about rights that maybe others aren't aware of and I don't mind sharing information to help people fight for what is right.

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I was once an employee with this company and agree with alot of what you say. The miles they pay are rand mcnally(zipcode to zipcode).My teammate and me found ourselves constantly overmiles that we were not paid for. We left due to the $5.00 over idle charge and had the same problem when we argued that there was no way we were over and the truck had been off the whole weekend we were told thank you for your efforts but our records say you are over the 30%. So between the lack of respect from dispatch, poor directions to shippers/consignees, over idle fees and gettings screwed on miles we left. Come to Conway Truck Load the pay is better,the attitude is more professional, the miles are good and no bs with pay. Heres the # 866-256-3433 ask for Christine and tell her employee # 51024 refered you. Best of luck