Unload your own truck at Swift?
 

I spoke with someone at the school in Memphis today who said that drivers unload your own trucks. Is this true? I dont mind helping unload, but I dont want to have to unload 40K pounds of freight alone. What gives here? Do you have reimbursement if you hire a lumper to do it?

At Interstate, some loads require driver to take load to the tail, some loads driver assist hand unload, most loads are power on/off. One load I did had 4 stops, 700 cartons and it all had to go to the tail end on roller racks because customers had no docks. I got paid $40 for the first stop and $10 each for the next 3. My back was killing me by the end of the day. I'll never accept one of those again. Another customer we have to hand unload is windows, but that one pays $40 for every stop. You can make quite a bit of extra $$$ if there's a lot of stops. As for hiring lumpers, that all depends on what the customer will pay for and whether or not the receiver has a union on the docks or will let you unload. Some receivers require the driver to have proof of liability insurance in case the driver has an accident on their dock. No insurance means you don't get unloaded until you pay the lumpers. Just be sure that if you unload, you're ready to break down the load per receivers requirements. That can take many hours by yourself.

Whenever there's a Swift truck at a dock next to me, the driver is sitting on his butt just like everyone else.

Whew! That is a relief! LOL. Im good at butt sitting. :D

I knew a guy that worked for Swift about 2 years ago. He had a dedicated account delivering tires to Sears. He had to tailgate the load...but they paid him to do so. He was pretty happy, it got him home on weekends, and he got some exercise. I would guess that most of Swift's loads you dont have to touch though.

I dont mind doing it, I justed to know what I was getting myself into.

The vast majority of dry van freight is unloaded by the customer. In the case of a dedicated account, things are sometimes a little different. Grocery warehouses and some DC (a few WalMarts, e.g.) will require either the driver to unload or a lumper to be hired. In the case of WalMart, the customer and the lumper are one and the same. As far as I know, all of the major companies will pay the lumper. Swift could be an exception, but I doubt it.

On the choice between unloading or paying a lumper, my company has made its priorities pretty clear. We get $17.50 an hour with a two hour minimum. Since I have yet to see a load of this type that would even come close to taking two hours, they are willing to pay me $35 to unload. The lumpers will charge anywhere from $40 to well over $100, depending on the freight. The company pays this higher amount without hesitation. Therefore, I am 100% convinced that having me unload freight is not on their list of priorities.

Edit to add: Lately I would estimate that 80% of the loads don't even involve going to a dock. I roll in with a loaded trailer, drop it, hook to an empty, and leave. (Reverse the process when picking up.)

I only unloaded 1 one load by myself @ gordon and only a couple with assistance... The one I had to do alone sucked. It was a load of gatorade that toppled over somewhere between Oakland,CA and Long Beach,CA. I had to restack the pallets, then pull them up a slight uphill with an old pallet jack... I did get paid like 90 bucks to do it, but thats only a fraction of what gordon would of paid a lumper...

Chris

The Swift recruiter told my class that they had a policy were the driver either had to do a hand load or unload once a week.

WHAT??????????
That is the dumbest policy that I ever heard. OTR drivers should drive, that's it. Customer loads and unloads unless you are a dedicated account and are PAID well to do it(not $25 for a whole trailer). That is a BS policy!