Yep. Which is exactly why they will eventually need to change how they do swaps. They'll either wake up and do it on their own, or they'll be forced to by a judge. One of the things they absolutely cannot do is dictate to an independent contractor where to go or when to be there. It's called a Load Offer, not a Load Mandate. The contractor can either accept or reject the load offer based on the terms and conditions of the offer. Once accepted, both parties are bound by the load contract.
They offer a load, from point-A to point-B, say, 1200 miles. You accept the load, then after you've picked it up they want to change the terms and conditions of the load, forcing you to swap it out at some heretofore unknown swap location, thereby enabling them to dictate to you where to go and when to be there. If you agree to the swap, then it's a mutually agreed upon change to the terms and conditions, much in the same way that a swap is agreed to when you become ill or there is a mechanical breakdown. But, if you refuse the swap, even for good reason, they will threaten to cancel your contract and refuse to pay, or at least threaten to refuse to pay, any loaded miles past the swap point. That becomes illegal coercion when it is in the absence of direct, concrete, irrefutable evidence or reasonable suspicion that the load will not be delivered on time without a swap taking place.
One of these days someone will refuse a swap, have their contract terminated, and they'll sue for breach of contract, fraud and restraint of trade, and they'll win. Or, someone will just quietly document things and hand it over to the IRS.
There is also the strict implied Duty of Trust and Confidence that is inherent in every employer/employee and contractor agreement, whether spelled out or not, which states the employer agrees that it will not, without reasonable and proper cause conduct itself in a manner likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of confidence and trust between the employer and employee, or between the two parties in an independent contractor agreement. The employee or contractor owes the employer (or carrier leased on to) a duty of fidelity and good faith. The Duty of Trust and Confidence is the basis of all contractual agreements, and unilaterally forcing a swap without reasonable and proper cause violates this basic tenet of contract law.
The sole opinion of one underpaid schlep in Safety who may or may not be qualified to make a determination as to reasonable and proper does not qualify as reasonable and proper. I once took a picture of a speed limit sign in Michigan and e-mailed it to the guy in Safety to prove that the speed limit in Michigan is 70 MPH. His job is to make Safety decisions in part based on speed limits, and he doesn't even know what they are. We have people making decisions that affect people's livelihood who are wholly unqualified to be making them.
