[Toothpick]

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

Hahaha...they only make more money because they're working/driving more. Typical truckdriver logic. :roll:

Crete 1-year driver: $1,000 gross = 2,524 miles per week X .41 cpm (adjusted 3.5% for practical miles)
Swift 1-year driver: $1,000 gross = 3,026 miles per week X .36 cpm (adjusted 9% for HHG miles)

The Swift driver would have to drive 502 more miles per week to equal what the Crete driver makes. If you think that's a good deal, then have at it. Has Swift stopped dispatching training trucks as teams? Nope, didn't think so.

You must foolishly believe that driving 48 states OTR and being out for 3 weeks or more at a time is the only way to go. Hell?the vast majority of experienced drivers that drive for Swift drive dedicated and are off every weekend and still make more money than they did with their previous companies and they also don?t have to put up with all the rigid rules and hard regulations like they did with all those other companies as well.

I know this is hard for you to swallow but there are other ways of earning compensation as a driver than mainly lugging it OTR from one place to another for three plus weeks at a time without visiting the wife for a little loving or at least visiting home to spend quality time with the kids. Believe it or not, but not everyone is like you without a life!

Plus most Swift drivers that I know earn an additional $250 a month in bonuses on top of their mileage rates. Last time I looked which is all the time they are not driving and having to live out of rotgut trucks the likes of which Crete is notorious for issuing.

stopped dispatching training trucks as teams? Nope, didn't think so.

If Swift finds out that a driver mentor is in the bunk or not in the passenger seat at anytime during the first two weeks of initial training while the student trainee is behind the wheel and the truck is moving, the driver mentor will be automatically terminated on the spot from the company without recourse.

Indeed, I remember seeing posters posted up at Swift terminals before I left them of a picture of a totally demolished Swift truck that was destroyed when it was being driven by a student trainee while the driver mentor was hard asleep in the bunk with a caption that read below, ?if your driver mentor goes in the bunk for any reason anytime while you are behind the wheel and the truck is moving during the first fourteen days of training, please report him to us because we will terminate that driver mentor immediately on the spot!?

After the initial two weeks of the training period have been successfully completed and only if the student trainee has demonstrated satisfactorily to the driver mentor that he can drive safely and competently over the road will the truck then be dispatched as a team for the remaining four weeks of training.

If the student trainee still is not performing at a satisfactory level after the initial two-week training period is over, he will then either undergo another additional two weeks of training with a different driver mentor depending on the circumstances or be let go altogether. You would be surprised at the amount of student trainees that are let go altogether after the initial two weeks of training is completed.

What?s wrong with that? Other companies, namely Schneider National to name one, releases their student trainees after only just two weeks of training with a trainer to become OTR solo drivers. How safe can that be? Yet their training program still enjoys a decent reputation?

Still other companies team them up with another student trainee that has also successfully completed the initial two weeks of training and then runs them as a team for the four to six weeks of training that is remaining. A practice that fell short of Swift?s higher standards and thankfully a practice they ended years ago, but other companies to this day still very much stick and adhere to this regimen.

Originally Posted by Toothpick

You must foolishly believe that driving 48 states OTR and being out for 3 weeks or more at a time is the only way to go.

1) I never said that so I don't know where you're coming up with that statment
2) What does this have to do with the fact that Swift drivers have to drive more miles to make up for lower pay and getting shafted by HHG miles? Oh yeah, and does Swift pay you OOR miles to fuel their trucks at their terminals? Nope.

Hell?the vast majority of experienced drivers that drive for Swift drive dedicated and are off every weekend and still make more money than they did with their previous companies and they also don?t have to put up with all the rigid rules and hard regulations like they did with all those other companies as well.

Hmmm...that's interesting. So you're saying that Swift Transportation, the largest publicly traded truckload carrier with 18,000 power units has MORE dedicated postions than OTR? Yeah, ok whatever. That makes absolutely no sense. Thanks for the laugh, tho.

I know this is hard for you to swallow but there are other ways of earning compensation as a driver than mainly lugging it OTR from one place to another for three plus weeks at a time without visiting the wife for a little loving or at least visiting home to spend quality time with the kids. Believe it or not, but not everyone is like you without a life!

Again, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm an LTL city driver who's home everynight with weekends off.

Plus most Swift drivers that I know earn an additional $250 a month in bonuses on top of their mileage rates. Last time I looked which is all the time they are not driving and having to live out of rotgut trucks the likes of which Crete is notorious for issuing.

If you value a fancy rooster cruiser over more pay, then that one's on you.

If Swift finds out that a driver mentor is in the bunk or not in the passenger seat at anytime during the first two weeks of initial training while the student trainee is behind the wheel and the truck is moving, the driver mentor will be automatically terminated on the spot from the company without recourse.

Yeah, sure. Methinks you're a recruiter for Swift Tranpsortation. Anyone dumb enough to constantly pump up a coolie-carrier dweller outfit like Swift has to be.

[Toothpick]

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

1) I never said that so I don't know where you're coming up with that statment
2) What does this have to do with the fact that Swift drivers have to drive more miles to make up for lower pay and getting shafted by HHG miles? Oh yeah, and does Swift pay you OOR miles to fuel their trucks at their terminals? Nope.

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

Hmmm...that's interesting. So you're saying that Swift Transportation, the largest publicly traded truckload carrier with 18,000 power units has MORE dedicated postions than OTR? Yeah, ok whatever. That makes absolutely no sense. Thanks for the laugh, tho.

You are the one that started comparing OTR rates bud. I was talking about what most experienced Swift Drivers reported to me and most experienced Swift Drivers working for Swift work dedicated, whether you want to believe it or not. I could care less.

Why do you think Swift attracts so many drivers? Because they pay less than everyone else, provide horrible benefits, horrible training, and stick it to their drivers every chance they get? If everyone listens to you that?s exactly what they will end up believing, since you obviously have a chip on your shoulder against Swift, probably because they once fired you for gross incompetence! I wouldn?t be surprise!

Some trucking companies sacrifice dedicated or regional to concentrate on 48 states OTR, some specialize in intermodal services, some companies specialize specifically on certain regions, some companies specialize in hauling reefer, some companies specialize in LTL, and so on and so forth, but every company finds their niche where they can be the most competitive and be the most profitable. It?s up to you the driver to find something that is the most comfortable and suitable for your particular station in life, whether that is running 48 states OTR, running regional, dedicated, local, or just driving a dump truck or cement truck, and for those people who no longer want to bust their butt driving 48 states OTR without a life to speak of any longer, Swift offers them thousands of jobs with fair compensation, decent benefits, and plenty of time off. Not only that, but if you are a newbie looking to break into the truck driving industry Swift provides a pretty good path in that direction also. You can then work for Swift while you learn and gain experience at the same time and when a better alternative arrives that you believe is more suitable to your particular circumstances and that you would prefer, you can then jump on it. That?s what I did.

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

Again, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm an LTL city driver who's home everynight with weekends off.

Yeah?with a hard-on and deep grudge held against Swift!

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

If you value a fancy rooster cruiser over more pay, then that one's on you.

If I?m going to eat, sleep, and live the vast majority of my life out on the road running 48 states away from my family and with no life, then yes my living conditions become an exceedingly important factor in any decision that I make. You sound like you are young, dumb, and very na?ve. I?ve heard all the complaints straight from the horse?s mouths regarding the rotgut trucks Crete supplies their drivers.

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

Yeah, sure. Methinks you're a recruiter for Swift Tranpsortation. Anyone dumb enough to constantly pump up a coolie-carrier dweller outfit like Swift has to be.

Sorry to bust your bubble bud but I don?t even work for Swift anymore. I used to and that is where I got my start. However, I don?t hold a chip on my shoulder or hold a grudge against them either because when I worked for them they treated me fairly as for as I was concerned, not anything like you would like to portray it as, and when I left, I left them on mutually good terms.

But you just exposed your sentiments and immature motivations for the entire board to see bud! It?s easy to see where you are coming from, which is the problem with these forums. It?s just too easy for people like you with a grudge to slander, demonize, and falsely paint a negative picture of a company that they don?t like.

[druid2874]

Oh yeah, and does Swift pay you OOR miles to fuel their trucks at their terminals? Nope.

ColdFrostyMug

You typed the above statement. Have you ever worked for swift, and if you did what years? We never go out of route to fill up at terminals. Hell I hardly fuel at terminals unless I pick up a trailer from there or drop a trailer at a terminal. We fuel at TA, Loves, Pilots, Wilco, Hess, or any that take a comdata card. And it?s all ways on the interstates or highways. On that note I some times don?t see a terminal for a week or 2 unless I go to stop there to rest for the night. Hell some times the computer well make us fill up at a truck stop in the same city that we do have a terminal, and not at the terminal. Its funny seems people no more about the company I work for. And they never worked at swift or worked there like 5 to 10 years ago.

[druid2874]

ColdFrostyMug Hmmm...that's interesting. So you're saying that Swift Transportation, the largest publicly traded truckload carrier with 18,000 power units has MORE dedicated postions than OTR? Yeah, ok whatever. That makes absolutely no sense. Thanks for the laugh, tho.

I can?t honestly say if we do or don?t, but I know for fact we have 8 terminals at wal-mart dc's. Well mini ones most have 2 bays one fuel lane small building. We have GP (Georgia pacific) dedicated Rite aid dedicated, Target dedicated with some swift planers at the Target DC'S. Family dollar dedicated, Sears/Kmart <-----same company dedicated. PODS dedicated. Kohl?s dedicated, Game time dedicated <---- mostly teams, JC Penny?s dedicated, And some others that are flat bad that I don?t know off hand all I know we have a crap load there?s more just to lazy to get all of them its late.

[dirtclod]

Well I don't know about all that...but what I do know is Swift has a bunch of drivers that have went to orientation and can't get mentors, yet they still keep pushing people through school and and promising them jobs, this is total bullshit. :evil:

Not a very good way to start a relationship, If they really gave a crap they wouldn't do this. Some people have been without a paycheck for up to two months ( three weeks for school, 1week wait, 1 week for orientation. 2 to 4 weeks wait for a mentor), that's along time to go when you have a family and bills.

Its not right!

[druid2874]

dirtclod

Yep that can be a big pain in the butt. With bills and all, But why people don?t save up before they go to school is beyond me. This it has to be RIGHT NOW GIVE IT TO ME NOW. Granted I don?t know your situation nor do I want to know. Yes I know it?s not always black or white. But it gets me people going to another job that has to have school and knowing it could be 4 to 8 weeks before really money comes in and don?t save up 3 to 4 months worth for bills is beyond me.

[feederfred]

"hearsay and innuendo's" I doubt it..I run Phoenix-LA/Reno and all I see is a constant stream of "trainees" running around desperately hoping they'll get that WAL-MART load. BTW, don't they teach you guys that fog lights and high beams aren't necessarily a good thing ?? Had a neighbor that worked at Swift-Mira Loma for 10 years. Couldn't believe what they paid him. He almost lost his house, no FAMILY health insurance etc. He now works for UPS at the Ontario service center. States he makes more loading and unloading for us and has much better health care than he ever did at Swift. He'll be on a package car in a year or so making 70K with a pension..We don't even let Swift do our Christmas overflow anymore...

[dirtclod]

Yes you are right perhaps I may have underestimated the time it would take to get a paycheck coming in from Swift.

I admit that!

It just frustrates me, when Swift made it seem that they would be ready, and that there would be plenty of Mentors for everyone( I asked that question). I understand its not easy to find people willing to ride in a 80,000 pound truck with a newbie :shock: but when I called day after day and they say we will call you back this afternoon and then no call, its aggravating, all they would of had to do is do what they said (call back in the afternoon and tell me they had no victims (mentors) today, please call us tomorrow.

anyway they called today and I have got a mentor will get started WED

Now I will quit whining ops:

[kuettel]

WHOOPEE dirtclod (doing the happy dance for ya)

I know things will smooth out for ya now that you will get going on that 6 weeks of OTJ training. Mine is half done now. Time flies when you are having fun!

Whether you (or I) stay at Swift for the long haul is the next question...lol I will give them the year and if all goes smoothly I will stay the second year and get the last 1/2 of my tuition paid back to me. So far things are going nice with my second mentor and I am learning a lot! Even driving thru Chicago twice a day on my mentors dedicated route......

Again dirtclod good luck out there!!