Swift Owner Operators
 

No, I'm not an owner operator, and I aint interested in signing on to Swift. :P I'm just curious about Swift's owner operators. Well, we all know that Swift's trucks are governed at 65. :lol: Yesterday afternoon, I saw a 379, pulling a Swift trailer, and then about an hour later, a Freightshaker, pulling a Swift trailer. Just so happens, both owner operators were running 65. Does Swift require owner operators that sign on to them, to have their trucks governed at 65? :shock: I'd have to say, "thanks, but no thanks", if that was the case. :P Like I said, I was just curious.

Hmmm some one who was a company swift driver told me it was, but I never confirmed it.

I havent ever heard that, but I thought it was funny that both of those guys were puddling along at 65. That 379 that I saw was purty. Once I got around his trailer, and I saw that red Pete, I was like, :shock: I thought, "a Pete, pulling a Swift trailer, man, that aint even right." :P

We drive 63-65 mph anyway.....fuel is too expensive to blow up the stacks :wink:

tootie

Well Sysco this was the conversation I recall with a swift driver pulling into the pumps one day, but it was the word of another driver so who knows

Me(standing by my USX truck) Hi there Swift
Swift driver: Hi
ME: Say how they treating you over there?
Swift: I got no complaints
Me: Yeah,,,dunno....maybe I should have gone over there to start my trucking years back, seems Max has turned his Co. over to this bonehead broker Pat Quinn whose running us into the ground....I train her n always been happy till then
Swift: yeah me...no complaints
ME: Hmm yeah one guy that came over from Swift to us says old man Swift treated him better then he is getting treated here tho....me tho...dunno about that 60mph crap tho (this is 3.5 years ago)
Me: I wouldnt mind being an Owner OP with you guys tho...so I could run a little faaster.
Swift: Oh they turn them down too....they make them
Me (GASP) hmmm hardly seems fair????????
Swift: yeah there suppose to, 'voluntairly" comply
Me: Definitly wouldnt be voluntary on my part

Although the disclaimer I will run is now that I actually pay for my own feul (gulp) 65mph is looking better n better sometimes, just want the extra speed to get me out of certain situations you see coming up as you scan ahead, and since my truck is completly ungoverned I just confirmed that concept in my mind. Was nice to see a potiential problem ahead coming home and be able to accelerate around it cuz im ungoverned.

short answer: YES they are goverened or used to be. They have to follow all the rules the swift trucks do, the only difference is, they get the miles. Most O/O's I ever talked to there, had no complaints.

Thats what I think too. you can save a couple miles a gallon under 70. but having the power to get ahead of someone, or around someone trying to squeeze you out can be a real life saver.

talked to o/o's from swift(son and dad) swift turns there trucks down to 65mph, they make them sign a form also saying they will run no faster than 65,,,,,, but i dont think they bought those trucks to swift they look like lease trucks!

Swift O/Op :roll: , those are company drivers with alot more headache..

I had that "problem" fixed in Efiingham, IL. :lol:

i like the freedom of having no speed restrictions put on my truck, but also to run 65 or slower when i can. i get 7.2 m.p.g. loaded w/ 49 thou lbs. with my foot in it 5.5-5.9 huge difference in fuel bill.

3.5 years ago? Max Fuller and Pat Quinn have been together since the inception of USX. One was a trucker and the other a lawyer. I drove for Victory, who they brought out and that was about 10 years ago. How long were you stuck at USX or are you just telling us trucker BS?

Swift Owner Operator trucks are governed at 68 mph. About a year ago or so they got a 3 mph bump.

The Swift O/O on the Wal-MArt fleet seem to be happy with their position, though the ones that were with Merritt before the takeover kind of miss the way things were under them.

I don't believe Max ever drove a truck. His dad, Clyde, drove and started a company called Southwest. If I remember correctly, Max worked in operations for his dad before hooking up with Pat and starting USX. I believe you are correct about Pat Quinn being a lawyer. Attorney's have messed up a lot of good companies.

Before they were bought out M.S. Carriers was a pretty decent company.

I remember MS carriers bitchin about swift drivers before they were bought out. Now there's some irony for you... :P

Hmmm I think you deliberty miss-quoted me, you will see I had the 3.5 year remark over refering to when swift was running 60mPh now they run 65 mPh.s The conversation itself with the swift driver was approximatly 3.5 years ago.
As far as when Pat started running the operation for Max (while Max went to Washington to play politician) I cat remember all the exact dates. I just personally believe a lot of the bone-head decisions I saw getting made couldnt have been Max (just thought Max was to cleaver for that).
They even lost a major labor dispute filed by drivers against them ( I wasnt involved in that 1). Which USX lost of course.

I know that M.S. Carriers had a hook to a good paying loads man, owner of that company had connections in the U.S. government of some kind and all of those high teck loads ended up in their trailers. Couple that owned it got divorces and thats when all of that went to sh!t as swifty came on board.

Friend of mine leased 10 trucks to them and he is talking about them all the time.....

NOOOOOO I didnt mean to misquote you, sorry. How long have you been away from USX? I'm glad to see you getting out on your own. Its a good move, just be smart with every penny and be careful who you haul for. There are a lot of pit falls out there. This forum is great to help avoid falling into some of those pits. Good Luck and welcome to the Carrier side.

If you buy from swift, you'll get governed, if you purchase your truck from another source you don't have to govern. You may have to stick to the rules but it's easy enough to disable the part that tells them speed and rpm's especaly if you buy your own quailcom. It's yours so all they need to see is where you are at and so forth.

from what i understand even if you bring your truck to swift they will govern your truck, thats probably why you dont see alot of swift o/o, except for lease purchase drivers! :shock:

The company I run for has a 65 mph rule. But my truck is mine and they have never enforced or even checked or asked about it. In some corporate atmospheres you can get away with a lot, because there are a lot of boneheads running things. Only thing they make sure I do is get my truck serviced every 6 months. They are also pretty strict on DVR's.

amen on corporate boneheads. There are some companies out here with no people with driving experience in any leadership capacities. Sad situation for our industry.

Do not sign up with Swift. Unless you want to lose money and slave a corporate monster. Yes they will govern your truck at 68. They will also wrench Qualcomm in to your truck. They will dispatch their company trucks before they dispatch you and they pay very little. $0.84 is nothing. I do not pull loads unless they pay at least $1.25. Do not do it. You will regret it.

As far as blowing fuel going faster then 65. Well that depends on your truck. My truck does not like 60MPH At 75MPH I turn 1,400 RPM Swift truck does that at 63. So my engine turns burns the same fuel amount at 75 as Swift at 60. All that fuel saving on speed is corporate nonsense, a brain wash to appease Swift drives. What is the point of saving $40 on fuel if it takes you a week to cross the nation. The load pay and the money you did not make on the load you can not run that week because you are slow does not cover or justify that small saving.

Remember that the corporation can afford to run slow and can afford to have their trucks sitting on the side of the road waiting for tires because they can re-power the trailer. Swift makes money, you do not. As an owner operator you have to look after yourself first of all.

I worked for Swift (Dark and savage times) so I know how they treat drives. I do not care how you cut it as an O/O you will be making less then minimum wage. That is madness. You are better then that.

My $0.02

1400 rpms @ 75 m.p.h ? if i am at 72 mph(top end) i'm at 1850 rpm's. so for me it does pay to slow down. but i'll tell you in a minute, i have kept it wide open to get a load off & another one on in time. i'm not going to lose a $500.00 load to save $35.00 in fuel. agree totally with rainman there. when i load on a fri & have to be in mi 650 mi by sun night.. then i'll do the 60-62 m.p.h . deal. but like for example when i had 3 loads to get on & off & started at 3 .a.m on mon. i got all 3 on & off by 10 p.m. mon night for 1,000 to the truck for that day. could not of done that if i was driving to save fuel. one paid 400 one 300 the other 300.i had 30 min to spare. if anything went wrong i would of lost 300. i mean i still would of made it but it would of been unloaded the next day. putting me back a load... but whatever works.. experiment with your own truck to determine.

If you can, put different rears on it, say something like 3.36 or a little higher then you will be able to run 60-62 in a gear lower and 70 75 in top gear without crossing the 1,500 rpm mark. 3.36 is not the best gear for off road or climbing hills on gravel but it is good for strolling the highway.

Absolute hogwash, the gains are from running slower, not running slower engine speeds. Engine speeds make very little difference compared to truck speeds.

So my CAT computer is wrong then. OK. Whatever. Do not even go there.

7 days 75 MPH two trips = about $6,000
7 day 60 MPH one trip = about $2,700 + wait for another trip
and it takes a week and a half to turn this around. The pay is weekly and the end of the round trip falls on the next week. So this week I am loosing about $3300 to save a little fuel.

Run at whatever speed you want, run 25 MPH then (according to you) the fuel in your tank will last you your lifetime, just get out of the left lane. I’ve got a hot load to run, money to make and my customer is waiting.

Sure, whatever works for you. If you can't squeeze in another trip doing 60 mph, maybe you should run faster.

I've done several tests running 60 mph in 13th, running 60 mph in 12th, running 65 mph in both gears as well.

There was very very little difference, if any at all, between running 12th and 13th gear. There was a big difference running 5 mph faster.

Don't believe what the salesmen tell you "spec it right and you can run fast".

Bullshit.

Take under account that I pull reefer. Pulling berries, running the unit on continues burns a lot of fuel and I run MN to CA and back. So taking extra 10 hours and then being told by the customer that I have to wait to next morning because I missed my appointment (therefore taking another 18 hours) cost me money and messes up my log. I have to turn one round in a week to make good profit. Sitting around or running short loads with 4 hours unload at each end does not pay my bills.

Yes I wish I had a deal to make $5,000 a week going only 600 miles. But I do not have that deal. If you do I am sure you will not share, so I have to play the cards I have, which is midwest to the coast. I turn St Paul MN to LA and back in one week and I have time to relax during the trip.

Besides. Nothing to do with salesman. The difference in fuel consumption is less then 0.05 a mile 65 vs 75 on this truck. Computer data, not a pen and paper calculation. With the rears I have now I get 1.5 mile more to the gallon then with regular Penske Freightliner. Hogwash sure whatever your religion is.

Also take under consideration factors such as the weight of the load, the wind speed and direction and the terrain you are crossing. Going against the wind with a heavy load and up hill will burn you more fuel.

LMAO, you have to be kidding me. Even day to day fuel mileage can vary .5 MPG, you're telling me your fuel mileage only varies .05? Something tells me either you don't check as often as you should, or you trust your computer too much. They're ALWAYS off BTW.

Just like going faster will. You're "wasting" more HP, which causes you to burn more fuel.

I'm *NOT* telling you how to run your business. I realize that some businesses require faster trucks, that's not what I'm arguing. If it works out that you make more money going faster, then giver.

I have to agree about the computer mpg,I had one of those on one truck and it was always off,if you are basing those figures off that,try and do it using hub miles vs. pumped gallons.

FYI Swift Lease Purchase Trucks are governed at 68mph. If you bring your own truck to Swift it is not governed but you have to average about 68mph over the course of the trip.

Owner Ops who are Trainers (Mentors) are governed at 65.

Swift does not pay .81 cents across the board. it pays .81 cents empty, .92 cents loaded. With fuel surcharge it averages about 1.20

Base plates and permits are free and insurance is about $70 a week depending on what State you live in. Tires can be bought using the Bridgestone or Michelin National account pricing.

If you bring your own truck to Swift, you can work for other companies besides Swift and still be leased to Swift, you just can't use Swift's Authority or Permits.

Swift terminals have their own fuel which they charge their O/OPs .10 to .25 less than the local big name truck stops.

Yes, I am an Owner/OP with my own truck with Swift for 4.5 years and there are plenty of happy drivers here. I get all the miles I want, I even have to turn down some loads because I get tired of running. My truck is not governed and never has been. O/Op Division is not forced dispatch, where ever I want to go I tell them. I never drove for Swift as a company driver. I have worked for brokers before and have been company drivers for Stevens Transport and US Xpress and have also worked local in Los Angeles, so I have seen both sides of the coin.

The bottom line is if it works for you and you're happy who cares what anyone else thinks. No matter where you go, where you work, or what you do, there will always be people who are happy, and then some who aren't. Welcome to the real world.

So drivers, get your facts straight before you open your pie hole.

If you drove from LA say 5587 west 102nd st to lets say 168 Wilson St Brooklyn, NY
Which is about 2810 miles Assume you logged legally and what not.
If swift or whom ever was going 65 and you or whom ever was going 75
You or whom ever would beat them by 5 ½ to 6 hours

Lets do another say 5587 west 102nd st Los Angeles, CA going to 4581 e smith road, Denver, CO
1037 miles
Assuming the same stuff as last one up top
You or whom ever would beat them by 2 ½ to 3 hours

Granted some times you got to run fast to turn those loads but unless you doing 2000+ trip .Going faster does not mean beating the slower truck by much

Had an O/O load same place, going to the same place, and he left before I did. He had the faster truck. I was 9 trucks ahead of him the next morning to be unloaded at a one dock warehouse.. We loaded in NC, and unloaded in PA. I stopped at Whites T/S and took a couple hours nap, and he said he got lost who knows where. This was after I had to listen to him brag cause he was a O/O with a Fast Cabover, and I was a company driver in a governed truck.. He was complaining about the long line and said he did not get a chance to eat breakfest yet. He did not like it when I said well I did get some sleep, and had breakfest there at Whites before driving the rest of the way.

So cause you have a fast truck, does not mean you'll alway beat the slow truck there.

I've learned that a long time ago! My truck is not governed, and i use it, once in a while(to break out of the pack, quick pass...etc), but prefer to run around 65, doesn't matter, what the limit is.
That's funny to watch, the same trucks, pass you 3 to 4 times, just across PA! :D

Absolutely true, but I will beat the slow truck there, and I usually beat the faster trucks there too. The key to this whole thing is to keep the damn left door closed.

Exactly!

Hmm is that really right? I can lease to Swift and still have my own authority and book loads thru other brokers????? Hmmm if so how does that work out, would I just call the Swift dispatcher and say I want to run on my own a while....ummm sounds confusing, but peaked my interest.



Just confirmed its true...hmmm talked to a swift O/op about it.