surly not all co work like this
 

ok had to go to a swift term to get a sensor replaced to keep this pc of crap opti idle running so i don't either freeze or sweat to death. but at this point either one might be better than sitting here. got here fri 9am was told it would be sat before they could look at it ok i figured that anyway. well at 6 am sat they took trk inside after a hr they called me to the shop i thought great ready to rock and roll nottttttt did not have the part so for a $70 part been sitting way to long. they said hey no problem parts guy coming in they will have him go get one well notttttt he did not come in. they said yep, no problem they will call guess what nottttttt cummings not open i would have to wait till mon or tue most likely tue to get it fixed i said nope not making those big bucks ha ha ha sitting here. but wait cant get a pp with no trl none in the yd. so it just gets better. and its the weekend so i like i said at the top i hope not all co run so well i wonder sometimes how they get freight to where it has to go...

While I can't comment about Swift, my assessment about any issues with a carrier would be, that the bigger the business, the more issues you will have. You stop being an individual and become just a number. While they want to keep their trucks rolling, a smaller company will stand behind you and work with you when needed. They seem to realize the importance of keeping a good employee happy, much more than the mega carrier who will just go on to the next candidate if you are gone.

I work for a Company that imports food from Europe, we deliver our own product and have broker loads for back hauls. It is hard work, but they accommodate all of us when needed.

Our company is not like that. All our trucks are maintained by Penske and the local Freightliner dealer.
Mine did have a skipping/missing problem and it took three trips for them to find it, but they did. And now all is well.....next month - at 425,000 miles I'm going to have the windshield replaced. My oiginal is sandblasted.

Re: surly not all co work like this
 

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why didnt they just give you one of the other 3 million pieces of crap they own?

Re: surly not all co work like this
 

:D :D :D :D :D :D Makes you wonder....doesn't it??? :D :D :D :D :D :D

If Cyanide or I has a mechanical problem.....all we do is call an 800# for an outside service to find out where we can get a repair done...then "WE" the drivers authorize the repair. On a problem like yours, we would head for an International Dealer and get it fixed. We don't have to jump through the same hoops other people do. Seems a company like ours that hauls a good bit of Hazmat in tankers doesn't want their trucks sitting on the side of the road...

I would think that would have at least one wreck they could cannibalize :shock: 8)

i agree i also asked if they knew if my trk had ever been wrecked as i have a loose wire harness and im burning up low beem on right side they just laughed and said every trk they have has been wrecked. pretty bad. o well on my way dn to albany ga and as i get closer to the south its getting hotter in the cab guess i will a full list of things to fix next home time.

Re: surly not all co work like this
 

First of all im not sticking up for swift in any way... lol But I use to work on trucks myself and on weekends it is hard to get parts especially if the dealers are not open. And alot of people do not stock parts that they do not use all the time. I do know at swift you can call your dm not sure where you are out of and get a loaner truck to keep you rolling that is what I did sorta. Im guessing you where at decatur terminal when this happened my truck broke at the decatur terminal had to go to the volvo dealer. So I called my dm and they had a truck to be recovered so I did that if you don't ask or anything they WILL let you sit. Also in atlanta area there is plenty of local work. If you go to the window. Well best of luck to ya. :wink:

I hear ya Rick. I had very similar issues getting my truck repaired. On average I spent 1 day in the shop for every 6 rolling. Some of the Swift mechanics were very nice and helpful, others were contemptuous to say the least.
The final straw was when I was broke down in the Phoenix terminal for 5 days.
Good luck getting the breakdown pay as well, they hold onto them pennies like they're glued to their hands.
They say at 6 months you're supposed to get a new truck. I have not seen this to be the case. I firmly believe all those new Volvos you see at all the terminals are a tax write-off or something.

I always call ahead to schedule an appointment and see if the parts are in stock to avoid sitting.

I guess those sensors for the opti-idles or icons, or whatever, go out all of the time. I'm surprised companies don't have those parts stocked full in a trailer for as much as they need to replace them, at least on Volvos. Mechanic said it's a regular replacement part. The frustrating part about Swift is, when you're sitting at the Phoenix term, waiting for truck repairs, you get to look over at all the brand-spank'n new trucks sitting there waiting for... what?

The minute you go on breakdown or send in your empty call, you should be on the clock. And no, not at $3, $4, $5 bucks per hour or whatever but AT LEAST $15.00/hr with overtime after 8/40. Then I can GUARANTEE you that you wouldn't be sitting around for very long. :D

i know how u feel rick about how do they get freight where it needs to be. i don't know how schneider does it with some of the airheads sitting up in green bay. i have high regards for the people that work in my terminal but when they go home i have to deal with green bay and they just don't know whats going on up there. much easier for the people in the terminals who only deal with 50-60 drivers than the ones in green bay that deal with them all. i went to pick up an empty once and the place was locked up so i called them and they said we will find u a new one, they sent a diff trlr number but at the same location. so i sent a message no trailers and bobtailed in to my pickup. lol

Amen to that! The one time I've broken down I watched the sun rise at Nyack of 80 in CA on the clock!

Thats the root of the problem. As long as a it costs carries little to nothing to have a driver down like this they have no incentive to stock parts or emphasize a fast turn around out of their shops.

For a widget that fails on a regular basis it should be in stock at every garage. Barring that unless you are in BFE you can get most anything for a Truck 24/7/365...it may cost a bit more but it can be had.

It smacks of beyond Dilbert levels of bad management to have a driver sitting with a faulty power unit for days on end when you have others available in the same location.

Just about everything I've heard/seen/read regarding Swift makes me belive that they have bad management that can only compete on price.

At my barn one of our line drives when through a bankruptcy while working for Swift.

breakdown
 

well as of fri the 6 i left swift with the trk sitting at greer term been sitting there since tue they did sch maintance wed late in the day while it was in the shop they found water pump leak and manafold leak so they said it would be at least till tue the 10th so they put me back in service with those problems well this was thur afternoon by now about 330 pm they sent me a ld to run 34 miles when i got there the trk temp waas about 220 they said no problem get back to term ok. fri am my dm said shop said ok to run so they wanted me to run 900 mile with 39,000 threw s and n carolina but u see had to be in court mon for xwife issure and my son so i felt could not take chance of brking dn ok the dm said hey look at it this way if u brk dn on the way to rockford ill at least your be on your way to indiana so i told them trk was in the yard find some other fool to work for u now. yes im pissed at swift. but i tried to work for them and all they did was s..t on me instead of getting me to indiana they keep trying to send me every where else. now i dont know alot about motor problems but i felt like a water pump was or could be a huge problem looks like i am going to try marten out of wi. maybe the reefer will keep me busy and for anybody going to swift they promise 25to 3000 miles i never turned dn a ld avg 1700 a week and two of my friends ran about the same u will starve on 400 a week..

you weren't with swift very long were you? Or do i just have my people confused?

your right
 

nope not with them long i tried but just no miles and made u feel like you were nobody.. alot of people that were in my class have left them or never started they already went with other co

rickstevens... So sorry to hear what you've been thru...sounds like you had a bad DM. Well, outside of Swift just being "bad" in general. You posted your phone # for me to call on another string, and I thank you. I just got off a 2 month ride-along with a new Swift driver. Granted, his DM was very good, the mileage really sucked. If it weren't for me having a little money already in the bank, we too would've starved. Understanding, too, that new drivers aren't going to get the mileage that experienced drivers are going to get first pick of. Unfortunately, for me in my state, Swift is my only option for getting my schooling paid for up front, if I want to go to school here and have my home terminal here. My question is, and seeing so many new Swift drivers are leaving, do other companies recognize this when you apply to them - will they say, well - it WAS Swift, we're willing to give you a try? It appears so many companies are willing to train new drivers with CDL's in hand. Would it be beneficial to just get the CDL thru Swift, then move on as quickly as possible getting better actual on-the-road training thru another company? Be safe everybody...

There is no prejudice shown against a former Swift driver.... Swift is considered a "training academy" as a whole.....and any driver that can tolerate their general bs and nonsense for 6 months to a year....will be a happy camper elsewhere. Plus if they were able to keep their record clean there....all the better.

Not as many companies train new drivers as it would appear.... As to getting the CDL through Swift....it would be no worse than any other company. Just understand this: If you fail to meet your contract obligation.... you will join the legions of people who got hosed down financially and credit wise.

Thats what its all about!!!, Thanks, and you too!!

agree
 

i agree with skywalker on the 6 months to a yr and i knew this going in but if no miles u have to do something heres what iv been told about miles at swift first they go to o/o then to teams then mentors and whats left are the 4 to 500 mile trips or less. i had two 900 mile trips one 1200 mile alot of 450 to 550 and quite a few 150 milers. i understand the new guy thing but they need to tell u that not u will get 2500 to 3000 i would have stayed if it was even close to 2400 but my best week was 2300 at .27c and still had a problem with trk repair issure. from a week ago last fri 3/31 in shop 26 hrs 4/4 5 and 6th in shop or sitting to get in and they still did not fix the problem well i have support to pay and the judge does not care if you brk dn. so im trying marten out of wi i just think swift x 18000 drivers plus new people not enough fri to go around just my 2 c worth

That was my thought too with Swift, just way too many employee's to keep everyone with food in their mouth. The Phoenix training ctr alone has 30 or so people going thru their training every single week. Most do not make it for one reason or another, but just the same, it's like hearding cattle thru... and employee's are treated like cattle. I also hear that Swift has a 93%+/- turnover rate. That's just hearsay, tho. Right now, I just want my CDL and some training. I have confidence that I will be a good driver, and will cross the bridge to whether leaving right away is an option, or staying. Something tells me that maybe other companies would understand why a driver would leave Swift sooner than they should have. We'll see. Good luck, rickstephens... and please keep us up to date as how Marten goes, or how your search for a new company, as a new driver, goes....

you might want to take a look at Commercial Carriers, not their local division, but their OTR division, they stay busy and are on dedicated accounts that give you good miles, and get you home on the weekends, just a thought, it beats the hell out of staying out 2 to 3 weeks at a time. I can answer your questions about them if you have any, i worked for them in 05.

thanks gyspy and miller gyspy do want u need to do i think just try to get some btw time and miller in my class in dec od 06 there were 185 people going threw orientation alone i will look into com carriers thanks

Re: breakdown
 

I see working for swift hasn't changed in 10 yrs.... :lol: :lol:

Drivers are the bottom feeders at swift when it is the drivers that make the money. go figure! :? As for finding a trlr, thats always been a problem with them. they're either loaded, or someone has put theeir lock on them. :roll:

Re: breakdown
 

Is it just me, or did you only use 4 ".'s" (periods) in that whole paragraph, with 2 of them at the very end????

sorry
 

sorry teacher did not ....... thuinkns i wasin still in schooling.... and. who. gives. a. s.h.-t how../ or w.h.e.rr.i put the ......................