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Sarasdad91 · Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 81

Well here we are at the end of my 4th week with swift, I put in for a new mentor and filed a complaint against the current, and as I said before the guy I needed to complain to was best friends with my mentor, and that was apparent when he said that I could do 2 more weeks and try to get along with this guy or wait 2 weeks or more without pay to get a new one that might turn out to be the same, well he is not too happy with me because I had to go over his head, and it turns out thats not doing much good, well I was wrong about swift in itself, it turns out it is not a good company to work for or atleast this depot, im quitting swift and have arranged to complete my training with schneider, I was going to go with CRST as they were here near where I live but they are teams only and I dont think I can get used to sleeping in a moving truck, so its solo for me, im going to have to train for 4 more weeks with another driver but thats ok, I just hope I get a better one this time, ill keep in touch and let you know my progress.

Thankyou · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 60 Location: Oklahoma City, Ok

Sorry to hear your situation is so bad. Hang in there. People are just people. They are not God. Don't let this guy affect your outlook.

BOL

Skywalker · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:39 pm Post subject: Re: My 4th Week With Swift

Sarasdad91 wrote: Well here we are at the end of my 4th week with swift, I put in for a new mentor and filed a complaint against the current, and as I said before the guy I needed to complain to was best friends with my mentor, and that was apparent when he said that I could do 2 more weeks and try to get along with this guy or wait 2 weeks or more without pay to get a new one that might turn out to be the same, well he is not too happy with me because I had to go over his head, and it turns out thats not doing much good, well I was wrong about swift in itself, it turns out it is not a good company to work for or atleast this depot, im quitting swift and have arranged to complete my training with schneider, I was going to go with CRST as they were here near where I live but they are teams only and I dont think I can get used to sleeping in a moving truck, so its solo for me, im going to have to train for 4 more weeks with another driver but thats ok, I just hope I get a better one this time, ill keep in touch and let you know my progress.

So in other words, what you are saying is.....that rather than "fix the problem" and give you another "mentor"....they are going to let you walk, most probably putting a negative stroke on your DAC..possibly saying that you quit during training.... Its sad to see that someone in may be a management position is more worried about a "friends" feelings, than the company's money and success.... :? But the real killer is: Oh, duh, why is our turnover so high.....???

Goin Fer It · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 1383 Location: Couer d'Alene, ID

Sarasdad

I am sorry to hear about your experience with Swift. My husband was sent off to a three day orientation July 24 then began training July 27 with his trainer at May Trucking Company. Today he got his first solo load.

Swift and CR England were not even remotely options for us after reading the wealth of information on this board. Just to many stories from too many people.

I hope that your next experience is far better. Not all companies are like that.
And if this is the way it was in training just be glad that they are not going to be your employer as it may have gone from bad to worse.

Wishing you the best!

Goin Fer It's Wife

Sarasdad91 · Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 81

I was told by driver services that they may decide not to complete my training and let me go, this wont go on my dac report i was told but I would have to complete my training with someone else and so I am just going to let this run its course, my brother who has been a truck driver since 1987 told me that I should stay far away from swift and now im sorry I didnt listen to him, maby some people have good experiences with swift but I did not, and sometimes we only know were playing with fire when we get burnt, I will stay far away from the big companys from now on, I know a small company that is willing to complete my training as long as I can do a simple road test for them which is no problem for me and I know I said I was going to complete my training with schneider but the big companys have lost their apeal to me, im looking at this as a blessing in disguise, I hope thats what it is and id like to thank all of you for your advice, and I will still continue to keep you posted on my driver progress. Thanks again.

Oh another thing about swift id like to tell everyone, this is something that was told to me by my mentor, I do not know if it is true, a driver with swift for many years was told by swift that a man called in and said this driver had hit his car and didnt stop and that he filed a police report on the accident as a hit and run on this swift driver, well the swift driver upon hearing this was shocked as he had driven for several years without an accident and, he knew he didnt hit anyone, well swift said they wanted to settle with this guy that was suposedly hit and this driver said no way I never hit anyone and I want a copy of this police report and swift refused to give him one and said they were settling anyway and we all know if swift does this it will go on his record as a hit and run, but this driver keeps swearing that he has had no accident and swift keeps insisting they want to settle, so now this driver has gotten himself a lawyer to fight, and he is not fighting the guy who made the complaint, he is fighting swift, what is with swift why do they like to mess with people, I mean if this is true we all need to stay away from swift.

tndieselgrl · Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 534 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Hmm... while I can't say I'm terribly surprised, and not knowing both sides of the story it's hard to say anything... but curiosity gets the better of me... what terminal are you working with?

I have had run ins with poor mentors and bad driver services coordinators in my time with Swift myself, it's unfortunately not a unique situation. However, there are avenues to go about working with this. PM me if you'd like to know more, but if you do just decide to move on, I hope it works out for you.

EDIT -

By the way, not everything a mentor says is good as gold... just like everyone else they also hear the rumors going around the terminals. I've said it more than once here, Swift is not an evil company - they have their ugly side, they have things they should not have done or should do better - but it's the same with ANY large outfit trucking or not.

lifespalette · Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 305

Sarasdad... you never said what the position was of the man you said you had to complain to is in...........if it's your driver manager, then go to your fleet manager, if you don't get satisfaction there, call the terminal manager.....if you still don't get satisfaction, call Phonix.....you're two weeks away from completing your training, unless he's just plain running unsafe, I'd try and stick it out, then you'll be on your own. If he's running unsafe, you need to report him to the terminal safety director......if he doesn't do anything call the corporate safety director in Phonix........

dollarshort · Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 528 Location: South Central PA

Why stick it out? Waste two more weeks of his life on a company that could care less if he wakes up breathing every day. Take this as a lesson learned to stay away from these huge bottom-feeders in the industry. Good luck in your search for the right fit.

Maximum Destruction · Joined: 29 Jul 2006 Posts: 219 Location: Southern IL

they didn't tease him on the cb did they?

tndieselgrl · Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 534 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma

dollarshort wrote: Why stick it out? Waste two more weeks of his life on a company that could care less if he wakes up breathing every day. Take this as a lesson learned to stay away from these huge bottom-feeders in the industry. Good luck in your search for the right fit.

Why stick it out? Because generally unless you are a whiny know it all giving your DM hell day in and day out, your training period is the worst of it - once you have your clearance to go first seat things do improve at Swift. Also, contrary to the popular belief, Swift isn't out to "get" you. They HAVE grown too big, and therefore lost some of the personal touches you get at a smaller carrier, but they do want to see their drivers succeed if only for the monetary gain at the end of the quarter.

dollarshort · Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 528 Location: South Central PA

I have to ask then....Are you considering going back to Swift?
I wonder why you are not still with them if they are such a great company that wants you to succeed :roll:
Consider the time you spent with them...you are now gone, so you are no further ahead of him as far as seniority.
Just wondering :?:
That's why I told him not to waste any more time with them. Two more weeks with Swift is two less weeks at a good job.

lifespalette · Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 305

dollarshort wrote: Why stick it out? Waste two more weeks of his life on a company that could care less if he wakes up breathing every day. Take this as a lesson learned to stay away from these huge bottom-feeders in the industry. Good luck in your search for the right fit.

Why stick it out?

1. He's already invested 4 weeks of his time, bolting now is no guarantee that any other company will accept those 4 weeks and he may have to start over. The fact, is some company may say, yes, we'll accept your training of 4 weeks to get you in the truck and then drop the bomb on you that their insurance company won't and requires you to go through our training program to satisfy our insurance requirements. Training is directly tied to safety programs, which are tied to the insurance underwriting.........a driver who isn't processed according to the insurance requirements leaves the company at risk for denied coverage............when personal injury awards can be in the millions (and usually are), give me the name of one company that is willing to put the company in that exposure and I'll show you a company who is one accident away from being put out of business.
2. With years of experience on the management side reviewing resumes and applications........a history of job hopping on your resume is taken under considerations by an employer. It tends to raise questions as to the character and problem solving capabilities of the applicant. Getting off the truck during your training can be viewed by a future employer as a pretty good indication that the trainee may not be adaptable to the driver lifestyle.
3. Lost revenue recovery.........an extended training period, cuts into his potential income...........it could possible take a year or more to recoup that lost income.

These are just a few considerations he should take in to account before he decides to bolt or stick it out.........

Dollarshort, your description of Swift as a bottom feeder large corporation that doesn't care if he wakes up breathing every day...says it all...... what's your qualifications for making such a sweeping statement? Personal experience or just repeating what you've heard from others?

If the fact that they are one of the largest transportation companies in the market is your problem, then let me ask you a question..........do you shop at Wal-mart? You want to talk about a company who exploits not only their employees, but the vendors, the manufacturers and anybody else in the supply line chain........now that is a bottom feeder.......who has a heck of a marketing and damage control structure to keep customers like you walking in their doors convinced they are getting the lowest prices and best deal next to sliced bread. But I understand, as long as it's beneficial to you it's okay.......you wouldn't work there, but you'll spend your dollars there, while someone else who is being exploited makes it possible.

The truth is Sarasdad........there ain't no best company out there to work for, only the company were you work.......it's up to you to decide what you will do with it. I'd be willing to guarantee that if you jump to some other company, in 6 months you're going to find something wrong with that company as well...........then what?

One factor you might want to consider in your deliberations Sarasdad.....there are some very serious indicators out that the a recession is coming our way...... it's not so much a question of if it's coming, but when it's coming. Figures released yesterday, indicate some serious down turns in the housing market..... this will have a ripple effect in the industry and I think we're going to see the Real-estate bubble pop here pretty quick.......... A recession will have some serious impacts on our industry.......many of the smaller operations will go under, even some of the medium sized outfits will go under if they're under alot of debt burden...............The larger companies will be effected by it as well, but stand a far better chance of weathering the bad times mainly due to their size and the opportunities that come with that size.

Two weeks is nothing............think of it as boot camp...you made it through boot camp didn't you....(seem to recall you're ex military)......once you get out on your own you have a better chance of making your situation better ...............

And don't get me wrong.......I'm not totally enamored with Swift or their training program.........they have problems like everybody else.......they're making changes and it'll take some time for them to be effective and still they wont ever be perfect........but which company is?

Is this mentor just an ass who has bad teaching skills, and doesn't relate well with others.......or is he teaching you questionable ideas.......making you run illegal, falsifying your logs, and the whole list of other factions of this business that will get you or someone else killed? If the latter is the case, then yes, I'd get my ass of the truck in a heartbeat........then I would be talking to everybody in safety I could, right on up to corporate in Phoenix........even the big man himself.........it might not help you at the present, but it might help the next trainee.

dollarshort · Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 528 Location: South Central PA

As a matter of fact I don't shop at WallyWorld. For the same reason I quoted as far as Swift. Here's an example....Last Tuesday I watched a Swift driver attempt to back in a dock for 25 minutes. Did I say it was a straight-in wide open dock? She was in tears when she asked me if I could back it in for her. Against my better judgement I hopped in her truck and backed it in. I knew I was taking a big chance driving another company's truck but I couldn't stand to watch her anymore. I even offer to help her while she was in the drivers seat but she insisted on me doing it. She was by herself :cry: This is what it has come to with Swift. There is no way she should have been on her own. I can't imagine how many things she had run into since turning her loose. There is something seriously wrong with a company that lets someone like that go on their own. :sad: You are entitled to your opinion just like I am mine. This is mine so deal with it!

Skullitor · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 928 Location: Your Sisters Room

Dollarshort, I think it was nice of you to help her. 8) Sometimes nerves get so shaky after trying to back up with people looking and or joking about you you just loose it.Look at it this way. She made it from the shipper all the way to that Wallyworld with out smashing up her rig,So maybe she still has trouble backing up.A lot of people have that problem.

Tailgunner · Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 21 Location: KILLEEN, TEXAS

I knew about Swift being a poorly run company from an instructor who teaches at the CDL school in central tx (ATDS) his name was Buck I think. was told by another instructor there that Buck was an O/O and he quit due to Swift not paying him right.

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