Trucker says he was fired over weight

ST. LOUIS -- Walter Geter says he has an impeccable driving record, with nearly a dozen safety awards to prove it. He never dreamed his girth would get in the way of his work. But the 6-foot-2, 412-pound truck driver from suburban St. Louis finds himself without a job after being fired by USF Holland. For nearly three decades, Geter fit his frame inside the cab of any long-haul rig. But last week, the company asked him to drive a smaller tractor. And when he couldn't fit, the company fired him.

Geter has filed a grievance through his union, Teamsters Local 600, to get his job back, and he said he's prepared to take his complaint to court.

Geter, 49, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was fighting for all big men behind the wheel.

"This was no surprise to the company," said Geter, who noted that he passed a company physical and orientation with the same girth he has carried since reaching adulthood. "I didn't just pop up yesterday. They've got a lot of big guys there. And if they got me, they'll get someone else."

A USF Corp. spokesman, Jim Hyland, declined to comment, citing company prohibitions against discussing legal matters.

Geter said his problems began Thursday when he arrived at a company terminal in Columbus, Ohio, to retrieve the truck he drove there with a load from St. Louis the day before.

He said his bosses told him that his regular truck, a Sterling, had broken down, and assigned him to head for Milwaukee using a Ford "Louisville" series tractor used mainly for local deliveries.

It is common knowledge at USF Holland that larger drivers can't safely or comfortably fit into those cabs, Geter said.

"My behind fits in the seat, but my stomach won't fit behind the wheel," he explained. "It's like putting a size 12 foot into a size 7 shoe."

Geter said he asked the chief dispatcher in Holland, Mich., to be switched to one of the larger tractors sitting at the terminal.

The dispatcher repeatedly asked Geter whether he was refusing to work, the driver recalled. He said he wasn't -- that he needed something else to drive.

He said the chief dispatcher fired him on the spot.

Dan McKay, president of Teamsters Local 600 in St. Louis, declined to comment about the case.

Owen Caldwell, a retired USF Holland driver and friend of Geter's, said the company usually accommodates larger drivers with bigger tractors.

"What they did to him was despicable," Caldwell said. "If this is they way they are treating their employees, anybody who is a bigger guy is in trouble. They better start dieting."