swift
 

i have no experience but have had cdl for 2 yrs and was thinking about going with swift heard good and bad things can anyone help me

If you look you can find all the information you want about Swift

Re: swift
 

they are good and bad :D :D

Do "search", read much, make up mind.... 8)

Here is a good start for flatbed
http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/...er=asc&start=0

2 guys I graduated with went with Swift. Both started out really liking them then after a couple of months the glory faded. I spoke with a driver last week who has been with them 2.5 years. He saided their the same as all the other large carriers and that they will keep you running if that is what you want to do. Swift's frieght base is pretty large. Their is better starter companies out there than Swift but there is also companies that are worse.

Swift
 

I left Swift after six months. That old Frieghtliner had a lot of miles on it and a lot of breakdowns. I only got to be home about six times in six months: sometimes for only one day. Too many times I was given short runs at the start of the week and long ones at the end. I started keeping a record of all the idiotic problems caused by the planners but it soon became too depressing.
I want to run the Midwest only. I really hate it on the East and West coasts. I have no problems with the Midwest or down South.
Like any oversized organization everyone is afraid to make a decision. I once had to sit on a refused load all day and it was only after I got sarcastic on the Quallcom that they sent me to a terminal to drop it. I know that almost any job is better than no job but I just couldn't stand the dumb stuff anymore. If you want to keep moving and don't care where you're going Swift does have the freight.

newolddrv, I am amazed right now with how well you just hit the nail on the head in your above post. I drove for Swift for 10 months then I couldn't take it anymore. My complaints: where I live in Western Pennsylvania, Swift had no freight at all. This means it would be an absolute nightmare to get me home/out of home. I recall one time coming out of home on a Saturday at noon. I sat in the truck 5 miles from my house and waited 7 hrs before I got a preplan. That preplan was a 38 mile run, which I would have had to go all the way up to New York to pick up (NY was out of my region). I turned it town for obvious reasons, then went home until Monday when my DM would be back to get me a decent run. Another complaint is the piss poor equipment Swift runs. They have crappy old Freightliners and some decent Volvos. The trucks spend a lot of time in the shop, and they usually screw you out of pay for those days it is in the shop. I can only recall once in the 10 months when I had a trailer that didn't have something wrong with it. Most trailers have doors that don't close the whole way, and tandem release handles that won't pull. Another problem I had with Swift is they would plan me on loads constantly that went far far out of my region. I would turn them down for that reason, and they would get mad.

The only positive I found with Swift is just as the above poster said, that they do have a lot of freight everywhere except where I lived really. Also as above poster said, if you don't care where you go (which I did, I picked the midwest region for a reason) then you might be able to put up with Swift, but beware that they will make almost no effort whatsoever to keep you happy. I hated running the east coast more than anything, but it seemed the planners would go out of their way sometimes to keep me there, and that makes me mad.

And the hometime is another issue. Again, as newolddrv said, they are very bad with hometime.

Re: swift
 

Ha tell me the good part! lol I did the absolute minimum time to get a much better job 3 months!

1 you are a number

2 they always have a lot of freight except where you live.

3 you will have to threaten to quit to get home.

4 fueling can be a major pain because they can't keep the fuel card on. to many ppl would be taking the truck home and ditching it!

5 they LIE!

6 swift has got to be the worst company ever! I have not one good thing to say about them at all!

swift did ok by me .
if you chose to stay in a comfort zone ( a certain region ) you will always have problems . if you go where the customer wants their freight to be sent you wil have plenty of miles.
a lot of drivers think they can go where they want. and then get a attitude if they have to run the north east.
most of the u.s. population lives in the north east or the west coast so that is were the freight is going to go.
as far as being treated like a number, thats fine by me i don"t want to get personel with my company and it keeps them off my back if i want to drive my own route instead of their route .
on fueling if you go to a unauthorized fuel stop just get the fuel code and send a message. they will always approve 75 - 100 gallons. depending on who is on the recieving end of the message it might take 30 min. to an hour or 15 min.
as far as the lying my d.m. lies from time to time. but the people in corprate do not. and the pay roll dept. is honest any problems with pay can be taken care of .
the equipment is not the best you always need to carry a hammer and a can of wd40 for the trailer tandems . i would rather have a freightliner then a volvo. more room in the berth and a little longer wheelbase gives a better ride. but those volvos are nice and quiet.

ya well let's go over that...
I was a flatbed driver for swift, there is no comfort zones for flats. I was constantly running to Larado and getting stuck fixing their crap for days tires etc. then waiting for loads and dealing with all the liars down there. They put on your front screen where you live and tell all the CSR's not to send you anywhere near that area!

As far as being treated like a number, I and a lot of other people newer to the trucking industry would like to call up their dispatcher and say hi this is so and so and they actually know who you are! they know where you live they know what you like to to when your sitting. My DM calls me up when I am sitting and says Hey I got a load for you pack up the fishing pole or keep fishing for a little while you have time! it just nicer!

I found my DM lieing all the time cuz he has no idea who i am and neither does he care!
My DM now takes me out to lunch when I am at the terminal and wants to hear how things are and see my latest catches!

swift equipment is crap. I got a 2007 KW T-600 with 30K miles on it and a Studio sleeper. Now it has 300K and Ya it's had some problems but all trucks do. I go to the Petro or TA and get it fixed! it's under warranty. My fuel card is always on so i can get fuel where ever I need!

Bottom line is some companies treat you like an adult. Swift does not, they can't tell you the truth. They really make you feel like they could give two S%&TS weather you work there or not, because they have a hundred more kids to fill the seats the week after you leave!

They lie about the school and make you pay 4K for a school that they get reimbursed from the govt for. Or they write it off, so they get 8K for training you to drive a truck, they pay next to nothing while your on the training truck and they get a super cheap TEAM operation for 6 weeks. Then the screw you around trying to keep you on the training truck for an extra week or two.

They do every attempt to get you to training far away from home so you have to buy all your meals and spend all that time in some crap hotel at 4 ppl to a room! Then when you finish after 4 weeks your broke and taking money out on your comdata card putting yourself in the hole! I lived in PHX so I didn't have to deal with it, but I bought a cool guy I was in school with lunch a couple times because he was so broke!

and the pay .27 per mile and $23 for a tarp! haha I went to my company and started at .35 per mile and $40 for a tarp, not even 2 years later I'm making .41 per mile! and still averaging 2400 miles per week!

Swift is a BS company and I had an interesting conversation with the, NEW at the time, person in Charge of flats in PHX. when I left. I have never looked back. This company is the biggest joke ever!

He has a blog about swift he is a swift driver

http://cdlofit.ning.com/profile/Curbhunter