Whats the best company for a rookie? Breakdown with Swift
 

Hey

Have been reading this forum for a few days now. After reading on here it seems every company is horrible :D I went to C.R England to work and go through there CDL school. While at the school i was finding out that they pretty much force you into the lease program. So after i got my CDL i left.

Now i called swift and I'm supposed to start this Monday .

this is what the recruiter told me

I will start Monday . Have 3 days of orientation. Then go out with a trainer for 6 weeks OTR.

I am told that i will be paid $350 for the first 2 weeks , $400 for weeks 3-4 , $500 for weeks 5-6.

After training I will be assigned a truck. And the pay after

$.26 CPM for the first 6 months
$.33 CPM from 6 months on
$.35 CPM after 1 year of staying

My recruiter stated i will get 2800-3000 miles per week without a problem.
I hope this is true. If so my first 6 months ill make 728-780$ per week
6 months and on $924-$990 per week
after 1 year $980 - $1050 per week.

This seems all great to me. But I'm wondering how true it is .

Also the recruiter told me that the company will pay me $150 per month to cover my school loan, sounds great.

While I'm OTR he says they grantee I'm out 14 home 2 which is fine, and he said after 3 months driving i can be home every weekend. Has anyone experienced that?

Please anyone that works or has worked for swift please reply.

Now i was looking into some other companies like TMC, But not sure if i want to do flatbed.

What company do you recommend for a new student grad?

Sounds a little iffy to me. Where do you live, and what is it you want out of the truck business? Home everynight? every weekend? What is your goal with income?

Live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Right now my goal is to try and get home every weekend or every other weekend. out 5 back 2 would be perfect but out 14 home 2 is fine also..

Income as much as possible $40k + to start

Check PM

Ever think about DM Bowman? They have a terminal in York,and take students...

ive never heard about them. Could you give some details?

I called DM bowman. They wont hire me because i went to another companys CDL school. She said after i get 3 month EXP somewhere they can hire me.

Well, Swift qualifies as somewhere. Just get you 3 months in and move on Greener pastures.

If you're lucky you will get a good trainer. Don't be afraid to "fire" you trainer if you don't click or he is trying to use you as an extra log/run the truck team. One of the running scams in OTR is long "training" periods where you are effectively being a 1/3 to 1/2 price team driver.

TIME!!! ALERT!!! Went to a job fair about a month back and talked with a Swift recruiter. I got the same exact words on the mileage and home time!! This was running SW regional!! Was told,"Should be no problem right out of school getting 2,800 to 3,000 every week." :shock: So, SW regional is going to be running the same mileage load as NE?? :shock:

BTW, talked to a Schneider recruiter last week. Fresh out of school (theirs) I could expect to do about 2300 miles per week. This until I got more familiar with job, etc. Bit more realistic I felt. :roll:

What I find amazing is that all of you seem to be "obsessed" with working with "megacarriers" that pay HHG short miles and make promises that they generally can't or wont keep.

There are companies like CFI, Roehl, Crete, and others that pay better... because they pay based on "practical miles" not HHG short miles. The difference is that under HHG short miles... you will drive 7% to 15% more miles for the same amount.

In other words.... if you were paid to drive 100,000 miles...you would actually drive 107,000 to 115,000 miles for 100,000 miles pay. Under practical miles pay.... you will get paid for the miles that you drive. Yes, you can incur some out of route, but on the other hand, if you route "judicously"....you can drive fewer miles than you are getting paid for. I do that routinely.

C'mon folks....look at the other companies before you make a leap. You will be cheating yourself and your families out of income that you should be making.

By the way....for a recruiter to tell you that "you should have no problem" getting 2800 to 3000 miles a week is just simply bogus and irresponsible.