How is Swift, Werner, and Knight these days?

[Voyager]

I've been driving a tri axle dump these last few years, and prior to that was running local trailers, so I may need to go with one of the larger companies to get back into trailer work again. I haven't had a full week yet this year at my present company, and most paychecks are in the $150 to $300/week range which isn't cutting it. I know that there are better companies out there, but right now I have a bit of a strange, but legitimate requirement. I need a company that has terminals in both Eastern PA and the Phoenix AZ area. My parents live out in Sun City and my dad has Stage 4 Lung Cancer. I need to be able to relocate with short notice without having to quit the company I'd be driving for. That pretty much limits me to Swift, Werner, or Knight. Neither are really GREAT choices, but they all fit my needs at the moment. Any ideas, thoughts or information is appreciated and requested.

Thanks.

[Syncrosonix]

swift pays more than the other two companies. knight has gone the way of the anti-driver stance. if you looooove having surveillance cameras on you whenever you're at a yard/terminal/building that belongs to knight, you'll love it there. they even have cameras outside of every restroom. makes you feel like you're apart of a police state company. they won't even put you into a hotel if your truck is broken down. they'll, instead, insist on you sleeping in ANOTHER PERSON'S truck. i chit you not! they also like to blame the drivers whenever some people in the office jack up on some load, causing a massive crapfest between the customer(s) and knight. at that company, when somebody in the office is in doubt, it's usually always the driver's fault. oh yeah, knight starts out at $.31cpm regardless of experience, and i don't think there's a raise any time soon even though i've been here since the start of june.

all i know with werner is that their max pay is what swift's is after 6 months of being with them. many of their drivers look like they came straight from the streets, or some back alleyway after a drunken stupor.

swift isn't too shabby at all compared to where i am now. i'm at knight. you don't want to work for this company. go with swift. as long as you don't suck, don't complain too much, don't have too many demands, and are WILLING TO WORK, you'll do fine. getting home can be a pain though. it all depends on where you are, and where the freight is going. swift is forced dispatch and their over-idle policy is insanely stupid. however, when it's cold out, they'll let you idle the truck to avoid having the fuel gel up.

[millersod215]

With only dump experience in the last few years you're going to have a very hard time finding any kind of tractor trailer work, a lot of companies are requiring a years worth of A experience in the last 36 months. If you do happen to get hired by one of these companies expect to be told you'll have to attend a school, or go out for extended periods of time with a trainer. As far as the locations are concerned, a lot of companies hire from most of the 48 states, u shouldn't be limited to just those 3 companies as far location is concerned. Anyway, before i get too long winded, your first step should be looking in to whether or not anyone will even consider you at this time given your lack of recent tractor trailer experience, trucking isn't like it was a few years back, there are still jobs to be had but they are going to more qualified, or should i say drivers with atleast recent class A experience. Just my 2 cents.........

[cdswans]

That pretty much limits me to Swift, Werner, or Knight. Neither are really GREAT choices, but they all fit my needs at the moment. Thanks.

The recruiters will appreciate your honesty. They deliver exactly what you need? Uber suck, dude! You'll be much better off when you find something that offers you nothing.

Are you related to Kevin by birth or by marriage?

[Voyager]

The recruiters will appreciate your honesty. They deliver exactly what you need? Uber suck, dude! You'll be much better off when you find something that offers you nothing.

Are you related to Kevin by birth or by marriage?

Who and what the hell are you talking about. I live in PA, but in the future may need to relocate to AZ due to my father's medical condition. I asked a simple question about those companies that have terminals both where I live now, and out in Phoenix. Whatever smart ass reply you intended was not needed.

Millersod and Syncrosonix, thanks for your replies. I'm leaning toward Swift because I started with them years ago. I do realize that I will probably need at least a refresher, if not full time out with a trainer. I won't, however, go into debt to attend a school for something I know quite well how to do. I can drive a truck, and in a lot of instances, probably better than a lot of the trainers and instructors out there these days. That said, I am willing to go with a trainer if that is what will bring me on board.

[cdswans]

I know that there are better companies out there, but right now I have a bit of a strange, but legitimate requirement . . Swift, Werner, or Knight. Neither are really GREAT choices, but they all fit my needs at the moment. Any ideas, thoughts or information is appreciated and requested.

Are you mad because I pointed out the hypocrisy of your post or are you mad because I insinuated a relationship between you and Kevin?

You see, in another post in another thread, Kevin b!tched and complained that Swift planners suck because they do get him all the miles he can handle while other Drivers go without.

In your post, you make it clear that you don't like the 3 co's best suited to your circumstances and that you're considering them "by default" only. To me, that implies you're not going to be happy with any of them and I'm merely suggesting that you find a company that you do like and save yourself some aggravation. You don't need more aggravation at a time like this.

[Voyager]

Are you mad because I pointed out the hypocrisy of your post or are you mad because I insinuated a relationship between you and Kevin?

You see, in another post in another thread, Kevin b!tched and complained that Swift planners suck because they do get him all the miles he can handle while other Drivers go without.

In your post, you make it clear that you don't like the 3 co's best suited to your circumstances and that you're considering them "by default" only. To me, that implies you're not going to be happy with any of them and I'm merely suggesting that you find a company that you do like and save yourself some aggravation. You don't need more aggravation at a time like this.

I don't even know who Kevin is. At any rate, I understand what you are saying, but what I need is places to park the truck at either location, and these companies serve that purpose. Werner would be #1 in that respect because their terminal in PA is closest to the house I currently reside in. At any rate, I've been in the industry long enough to know that none of the three companies are tops in the business. That being said, I've been local for quite a few years, and out of trailers for two. I know that I will probably have to go with a training company to get back into OTR/Regional trailer operations. That limits me right there, and the fact that I need a company that has a terminal in both locations limits me even more. What it comes down to is that even though I have 12 years behind the wheel of heavy trucks, I have no recent trailer or OTR experience, thus the "training" companies is what I must look to at this point in my life and career.

[nctrucker1]

I used to drive for swift. If they have the same policy, you can train to drive a truck under their program at no cost, but if you quit before working for them for a year, you will have to pay for the schooling. I only quit swift because I had a dispatcher I could not get along with, as well as hard to get home time with swift, even tho you are suppose to get home after 14 days. Depends on where you are and where freight is going. I guess fuel and whats good for swift is top priorty. Good luck.

[StaceyR]

The last I heard Swift will let you test out if you have your class A but you will need to go out with a trainer to learn the Swift "system".

[Voyager]

The last I heard Swift will let you test out if you have your class A but you will need to go out with a trainer to learn the Swift "system".

Thanks...and actually, I don't see anything wrong with that policy.

[bentstrider]

Any of these companies you mentioned are good if you're like me and don't like to stay home very long.
Some love the drama of being at the house, others just want to get away from it and drift.

[Copperhead]

Knight must be on a hiring spree. I put in an ap with them almost 2 years ago when the carrier I was with decided to sell out, and never heard from them. Got a call from them yesterday wanting me to come on board. I turned them down. I wasn't impressed that it took them two years to get back with me. And I got almost 3 decades of safe over the road driving under my belt including 10 years in Alaska. Maybe that was the problem.... too much experience.

[Voyager]

Knight must be on a hiring spree. I put in an ap with them almost 2 years ago when the carrier I was with decided to sell out, and never heard from them. Got a call from them yesterday wanting me to come on board. I turned them down. I wasn't impressed that it took them two years to get back with me. And I got almost 3 decades of safe over the road driving under my belt including 10 years in Alaska. Maybe that was the problem.... too much experience.

Perhaps.

What I find funny is that, on another board, I've been reading about companies like Werner and Swift NOT hiring experienced drivers, but rolling out the welcome mat for students. What kind of twisted, backward logic is that??? Oh, I forgot, they probably get govt kickbacks for training, and end up with a few drivers at the bottom of the pay scale.

[bentstrider]

Knight must be on a hiring spree. I put in an ap with them almost 2 years ago when the carrier I was with decided to sell out, and never heard from them. Got a call from them yesterday wanting me to come on board. I turned them down. I wasn't impressed that it took them two years to get back with me. And I got almost 3 decades of safe over the road driving under my belt including 10 years in Alaska. Maybe that was the problem.... too much experience.

Well, they told me to go down to Ontario in 2010, so there's another door open right there.

But, I'll agree with the other guy about getting more noobs on board who are strictly there for the promise of an overly fat, payday.
At least when I went through training in '04, all of us were there either due to retirement, voluntary job-change, or former parolees with nowhere left to go.
This was CRST though, so.....

[homer]

That pretty much limits me to Swift, Werner, or Knight. Neither are really GREAT choices, but they all fit my needs at the moment. Any ideas, thoughts or information is appreciated and requested.

Thanks.

you are lucky you have a job these days.
my father was in an accident several years ago and i hit the road immediately and had the hospital fax a report to my boss.i was out two months working on the farm and driving mom to visit him in the icu.
my company stopped my medical insurance in two weeks and never did decide if i was on family medical leave but asked me to work asap when i returned.
you know big truck company will park you 1000 miles from phoenix.
perhaps you can use family medical leave and find a real job in phoenix. its not easy since the democrat majority came in but if your a quality employee you will make it.

[nctrucker1]

Perhaps.

What I find funny is that, on another board, I've been reading about companies like Werner and Swift NOT hiring experienced drivers, but rolling out the welcome mat for students. What kind of twisted, backward logic is that??? Oh, I forgot, they probably get govt kickbacks for training, and end up with a few drivers at the bottom of the pay scale.

Most likely, Swift want to run newbies ragged with low pay for being newbies. Since Swift know it will take the newbies a little while to learn that they have been had by Swift.

[jonp]

lol. when I started driving with swift I made 19.5/mile. That is not a misprint.

[Fancy_Maneuvers]

Is it true that Swift nixed their layover pay for company drivers?

And Syncrosonix, I know you don't know me, but as I have been reading these boards for a long while, I could have sworn you were quitting Swift to go back to school. Wasn't that you? And if so, do you mind sharing what happened to your plans?

[Luzon]

I read what was said about Knight. My experience there (2 years ago) was that they had a major shortage of trailers. I spent 6 1/2 hours one time driving from one side of Atlanta to the other in an attempt to find an empty. They send me a new company with directions to try, I'd go there, no trailer. It took about a month to finally get paid the local pay for that crap too. $13/hour just isn't sufficient to drive in Atlanta traffic for over 6 hours. This was a common occurance too, not a one time thing. I've talked to Knight drivers since and they all say there's still a problem finding empties. Another thing about Knight, unless you have a degree you can forget about moving up and out of the truck, into say, dispatch or whatever. They prefer to hire the kids fresh out of college who have absolutely zero experience in trucking, and customer service in many cases.

One day I was sitting at the rest area near MM 60 on I-10 in Florida sometime around June or July - hot. I had delivered my load the night before and spent the night at the rest area. Anyway, it rolled around to almost noon the next day, I was running low on fuel and getting hungry (I didn't carry a refrige at that time) so I called my brand-spanking new and shiny dispatcher, told him I could go about 80 miles to the east for fuel in Marianna or head west and fuel up north of Mobile, about 90 miles. Which way did he want me to go? Not being too concerned about my fuel situation apparently he asked me why I couldn't just pull into a McDonalds or something.

I've never been the best at holding my tongue and that day was no exception. Short of totally blowing my stack at that comment I said something similar to: "Pull into McDonalds? No problem, but how the ^@^&* am I going to get this truck back out". I suggested in the strongest possible way that he get off his ass, walk out to the yard, find one of those big red things with a big box attached to it, all sporting 18 wheels and see if he could figure out how to take one of those through a McDonalds and get it back out again without taking a few cars along for the ride.

I was gone from Knight within two weeks.


Voyager, you may consider giving May Trucking a call too. Living in PA you'd be on the 48 state division pulling reefers but if you move to AZ you might then be able to move to the 11 western states and pull dry vans.

Good luck.

[Luzon]

what I need is places to park the truck at either location, and these companies serve that purpose. Werner would be #1 in that respect because their terminal in PA is closest to the house I currently reside in...

Voyager, why couldn't you park the truck at a truck stop? There's a Pilot 20 miles away:
Pilot Travel Center
SR 93, Box 1114
Drums, PA 18222
I-80/81 & PA93, Exit 256

Yea, it's 20 miles but if that meant picking a "higher tier" company instead of settling on a "lower tier" company then the drive to and from the truck stop would be a small price to pay. Hope this helps.