Swift Transportation Co., Inc.
Outcome
Knight-Swift Transportation (formerly Swift Transportation) agreed to a $100 million class action settlement in 2019 resolving claims from approximately 20,000 drivers misclassified as independent contractors, who were required to lease trucks from a Swift subsidiary and were paid below minimum wage after truck costs.
Details
Swift Transportation Co., Inc. — Driver Misclassification / $100 Million Settlement (2009–2019)
Outcome: Knight-Swift Transportation agreed to a $100 million class action settlement in 2019 resolving claims from approximately 20,000 truck drivers who were misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees, forced to lease trucks from a Swift subsidiary, and in many cases paid below the federal minimum wage after deducting lease, fuel, and maintenance costs.
Swift Transportation Co., Inc., then one of the largest truckload carriers in the United States, structured its owner-operator program so that drivers who called themselves independent contractors were in practice subject to Swift's schedules, required to wear Swift branding, and dependent entirely on Swift for their freight. Drivers obtained their trucks through mandatory lease agreements with Interstate Equipment Leasing, a Swift subsidiary, and were required to pay for fuel, maintenance, and other operating costs out of their own income — costs that in many cases drove their effective hourly pay below the federal minimum wage.
The class action lawsuit, Van Dusen v. Swift Transportation, was filed in federal court in 2009. It quickly became one of the most heavily litigated independent contractor misclassification cases in the transportation industry, proceeding through multiple rounds of appeals including Ninth Circuit rulings on Federal Arbitration Act exemptions for interstate truckers. Courts ruled that interstate truckers are exempt from forced arbitration under the FAA, a key procedural victory that kept the class action intact.
After a decade of litigation, Swift — by then merged with Knight Transportation to form Knight-Swift — agreed in 2019 to pay $100 million to settle the case. Approximately 19,000 drivers were eligible for settlement payments averaging more than $5,000 per driver, though individual payments varied based on length of employment and other factors. The settlement is one of the largest driver misclassification settlements in U.S. transportation history.
Primary Source: Knight-Swift Agrees to $100 Million Settlement in Misclassification Lawsuit
How Crucible Prevents This
A contractor vs. employee classification risk assessment tool — checking control, schedule, equipment ownership, and exclusivity factors — would identify misclassification risk at contract formation. Automated pay-rate monitoring against minimum wage thresholds after deducting lease and fuel costs would surface below-minimum payments immediately. A business expense reimbursement compliance tracker is a direct Crucible Wage and Hour control.
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