Just for debate sake, I will give you my take on the SWIFT/JBHUNT message board flamings that go on.
When you are talking about both these companies, you are talking about the two largest truckload companies in the nation. Between the two of these companies, you are talking about over 30,000 drivers. Im not denying that drivers havent gotten a raw deal at these companies....it happens at all companies. Many times it the drivers fault and he wants to blame others.....many times it might be the dispatchers or fleet managers fault. Now, for the sake of argument lets say 20% of all drivers just arent going to do well at any company. If you lump the 30,000 drivers of swift and JB into one pile and figure 20% of them just arent going to do well anywhere. That would make 6000 drivers all out there on the CB complaining that they were screwed. Now out of those 6000 drivers how many of them do you think werent really screwed but screwed up themselves. I would say quite a few. Either way 6000 drivers complaining makes a lot of noise. Now.....on the other side of things....say you have some smaller trucking company out there with 100 trucks. Say they are run really badly and are screwing 50% of the drivers....That would mean 50 drivers out there complaining. You might NEVER hear anything bad about that company on the CB or message boards. Would that make them a great company to work for?
As a recruiter I get to see this industry from a different perspective than drivers. I talk to at lease 150 drivers a day from all companies. I hear what they are happy about and what they complain about. I have never found a company that didnt have at least one driver say they were the worst company around. On the other hand, I have never found a company where a driver wouldnt say they are the BEST company around. You look at these message boards and it looks like Every single driver out there is not happy with their work or company. REALITY: The vast majority of all drivers at any company are very happy with their employer....Believe it or not....even Swift. I have talked to many Swift drivers that are happy there. Now....as a driver. You might ask, " If drivers are mostly happy with driving at JB, Swift, or any of the other big companies.....WHY DONT I EVER HEAR ABOUT THEM?" REASON: People who are happy tend to be WORKING not complaining.
Well thats my theory.....feel free to tear it apart if you must.

 

RiPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

May the force of the SHEEP be with you

 

You make an excellent point, and to an extent I'm sure it's very true...

I've gotten the impression from talking to alot of recruiters for several of the big training companies that some of the big guys out there have a system where they're making more money off of rookies and not giving a damn about turnover, whether you make them money for 30 days or 3 years, it doesn't really matter, they got their cheap labor + g'vt kick back for training + you paying back the 3k+ they put into your training. Retension isn't a concern as they've got enough people coming in to cover those going out. I've been researching the trucking industry for most of a year before making the move into training and the more I hear from recruiters the more this feeling is validated.

You definitely have a point with the numbers, but I truly think there is more of a racket going on here than you lend credit to...

 

60mph x 70 hrs may equal 4500+, BUT:

pretrips and fueling gets deleted from the 70, plus load and unlaod times. Also, 60mph isn't always realsitic...in IL the speed limit is 55mph, so it must be logged at close to 52mph or ya get a log violation for overspeed :wink:

 

[quote="BanditsCousin"]

60mph x 70 hrs may equal 4500+, BUT:.....


:?:
Last time I checked, 60 X 70 only equaled 4200!! 8)

 

[quote="Useless"] :P

 

Typo, I meant 65 x 70 as 9-ball pointed out. My bad :lol: I gotta start using the quote function again, I'm used to it being broken as it was for a few weeks a while back 8)

but still, even at 60, that mileage is pretty hard to attain, no? :wink:

 

well it depends.
like on the week i'm saying i got 41 or 42hundred-
i started out with a fresh 70 going fom st.louis to LA,then got there on 3 or 4 days logs or whatever it was- and took a restart right away until delivery on monday morning--
then started out with another 70 going back across to the east coast for another 3 days- then a little jaunt up through slowhio

and have everything in by next friday at midnight-
pam does that 'transflow' sh*t- it's like faxing your bills in instead of mailing them.

 

3 or 4 days is a big difference, up to 11 hr actually I don't know how to legally run STL to LA and be in ohio within 6 or 7 days legally, but I'm sure it can (and has) been done fudging a lil.

 

I figured as much, BC!! I was just razzin' you a little bit, all in good fun!! I do wholeheartedly agree that the prospects for those miles are mighty slim!!
8)