[AlexJ81]

For someone that only wants to get a year experience...is Swift as horrible as people say?

[YoungZ.W.]

Depends on you and how much you are willing to take. I had a friend go with them after graduation and he started out his training very happy. Now he has been solo for 2 weeks, is stuck in North Carolina, hasn't been paid for 2 weeks, and Swift lost the reciept he gave them for $230 to pay for a lumper. He is heading back here to Ohio as we speak and his droping his truck off at the terminal. :evil:

[ajritter04]

I started with Swift about this time last year, though I am no longer with them at this point. I can, however, relay my story of working with Swift on two different fleets.

My training / solo stint wasn't too bad or too long.

From orientation to leaving, I was employed with Swift for approximately 3 months. My trainer was one of those who slept in the back from about the second day on, used me as a 2nd logbook, and didn't do much (if any) actual "training".

I don't mind learning stuff on my own, but if I have a question or a problem, the trainer should at least be willing to help me out with those rather than just sitting there with his thumb up his ass.

He had a bad habit of taking JIT (Just In Time) loads that had insanely short windows. We did one from Green Valley, AZ to Toledo, OH that had a time frame of around 28 hours from pickup appt. to delivery appt. It was a live load but a drop & hook at delivery.

We also spent a lot of time sitting in Rio Rico, AZ waiting on loads from TransMex, which is a Mexican company that I assumed was some sort of sister company to Swift.

I was only supposed to be out 3 weeks, then a few days off, then 3 more weeks out. Swift screwed that one up. I asked for a different trainer since this one was more interested in the money and second logbook than teaching me anything...no dice.

One good thing...my pay was always right.

When I went solo, I did OK...even though Swift has a terminal in Albuquerque, I never got home when I needed to. After a and a half on my own, I figured that OTR wasn't for me.

Worked for Pepsi for 8 months then hurt my back and started looking for regional / local jobs that weren't as physically demanding.

Swift runs a dedicated account for Wal-Mart out of the Wally World DC about 20 miles south of Albuquerque.
This one was fun...I was being paid .26cpm even though 3 separate people told me that account pays .32cpm. Then, I was being short-changed on miles driven vs. miles paid by about 20%...only got my extra stop pay about half the time, and was driving a 1998 International mid-roof with almost 750k miles on it.

Said "to hell with it" and left Swift...again.

I'm looking for another driving job, but it's not going to be with any mega-carrier like Swift, and one of the first questions I always ask is "Do you go out of state?"

[shyykatt]

grrr....as hubby is finding out, they were good to start with, but its time to move-on; he's past his 2 year mark, they cant seem to give him decent loads or help him when he needs it (especially when broken-down);Never gets home when he wants and he stays out for a month or more @ a time; pay checks...dont even get me started on that one.......like I said, they are good to start with, but probably not the best one to spend your lifes' career with.

[Karnajj]

When I was with them they ran your ass off if you were at the low end of the pay scale. As your pay went up your miles went down. The other thing I didn't like was that they started harassing you to become a trainer after your second year.

[DD60]

Originally Posted by Karnajj

When I was with them they ran your ass off if you were at the low end of the pay scale. As your pay went up your miles went down. The other thing I didn't like was that they started harassing you to become a trainer after your second year.

I thought it was after six months.

[motman68]

i've been with swift for just about 8 months now i was fortunate enough to go from my mentors truck straight into the northeast regional starting at .36 a mile now i run on the target dedicated .the thing that kills me is the piece of crap truck i have.i left swift for 3 weeks and they used my truck as a loaner and the dumbass left the keys in the truck and broke the little window in the door after being back for almost a month i still cant get them to fix it.i'm waiting to get my 1 year then i'm out of there going to get a home every night job.My truck is a 2004 freightliner columbia with 510,000 on it.If they give me a volvo i just might stick it out a little longer .I gross between $950-$1000 a week running to Long island and conneticuit and massachusetts

[syl77dar]

gl

[Karnajj]

Originally Posted by DD60

I thought it was after six months.

They'd start asking you after six months but after two years and you still weren't a trainer they pretty much let you know they didn't need you anymore. My trainer, who had been with the company 8 years, decided he didn't want to train anymore and let the company know of his decision. Immediately his miles dropped to nearly nothing and he started to get gigged on his logbook for things they never gigged him on before. After two months of that crap he told them he would train again and everything went back to normal. Real lowlife outfit if you ask me.

[Hiway61]

Originally Posted by AlexJ81

For someone that only wants to get a year experience...is Swift as horrible as people say?

You have to remember who Swift is in bed with; WalMart.
With you sign up with Wal-Mart, your company is not your own.
Wally's will send their "experts" in and get the owner to hammer down his largest single (variable) expense... and pass the money on to them.
And the only expense that is 'variable' is personnel.
The electric company will tell you to take a hike if you want to negotiate rates, and the Arabs will laugh their fanny off should you want a break on fuel.
So who does that leave?
The poor suckers who drive for them... yup, truck driver pay is about the only thing they can screw with to keep Wally World happy.
By way of illustration, a friend of mine brokers food handling machinery. He prefers used equipment as the profits are huge compared to new. So much that he can carry the paper and make even more dough (ya, bad joke I know)
But when he hears that a customer is going to be dealing with WalMart, he pushes the new stuff so he can factor out the invoice before the bank gets wind that Wally World is in the picture.

Unless you're Colgate-Palmolive, or similar size, the business world will consider you in death spiral if you are starting to deal with Wally World.

So what does this have to do with Swift?
Just remember who is hammering in their ear to beat down their employees.