Swift in Trouble??
 

On another message bored someone said something about swift being Cahpter eleven by June.. as they have laid off over 2,000 drivers... Anyone believe the hype?? i've heard this before... but nothing happened..

The way things are right now its only a matter of time before someone "big" goes under.

Layoff is true from what I have heard

Why are they still hiring new drivers.

Yeah i agree and i think if any one of the "BIG" companies goes under it will most likely be US Xpress they have been on a hiring freeze since last september.:D:D

I think "weeding out" is a better synopsis. Which is a practice they have had all along. Less freight and more drivers applying the greater the weeding out.

Sure doesn't seem like they are putting people out of jobs, saw 12 of them within a 3 miles radius this afternoon.

Swifty
 

If they are laying off drivers and hireing new ones, it could be that they are getting rid of the higher paid drivers and replacing them with new hires at a lower CPM.

They are not laying off any drivers, just being more critical on what drivers can get away with, weeding out the undesireables.

Swifty will never go away. A company that size will always have the government in their back pocket somehow. Look at the recent multi-million dollar lawsuits they have settled, and are still going strong. Paying out that kind of money would have put any other company out of business.

You aren't in danger of being weeded out are you?

less companies on the road the more freight for everyone of us.The better for the small owner/op. When i worked for them and had to pick up a load of hey in a van, i had the small drivers from there telling me how swift cut their freight rates considerably.Right now,when im an independent i realize that too.The faster they're under the better.LET THE OWNER/OP THRIVE!!!:thumbsup:

At this point Swift is not hiring any experienced drivers - only students.

There have been RIF's in the offices.

They are cutting out some ammenities at the terminals - they longer will provide towells for showers starting march 1.

There going through evaluations on drivers in finer detail.

There were rumors about Swift filing for bankruptcy last year. Whether this is true or not - we will probably never know.

Bingo!! And why not??? Holding a steering wheel at 25CPM is as effective as holding a steering wheel at 45CPM!!! No incentive to keep the 45CPM guy around...........he's just draining the bank accounts. Get the newbie at 22-25CPM to schlep that coolie freight around.

That freight is going to get there one way or another..........preferably delivered by the 22-25CPM coolie carrier driver. Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!

That's not the whole equation though, only part of it. The newbie driver most likely went to school with them, so they now owe them about 6k for school, plus the company gets tax credits from the government for training students.

In business it's all about making or saving money.

please cite proof of the government in their back pocket, and multi-million dollar suits they've settled.

they have more drivers, more trucks and more freight than anybody else out on the road. Does that make them 'better'? no....because you pull any driver over at random, and its 50/50 that driver has a year or less under their belt.

dont matter what 'big' company it is....they always try to settle out of court, specially something like an airline crash.

and dude....why exaggerate the numbers. you obviously have a 'hate' so much for them, to fib a little on the numbers. Not saying .28cpm starting is a huge difference, but come on.....22-25cpm? you're just trying to make them look worse than other drivers already think they are. You fail to mention (and why would you) that after every 3rd month, your rate goes up..and by the end of a year going solo, i'll be up to .33cpm. is that like a big pot of gold? of course not. And i know others will say, "gee....what a fool you are, why didnt you go to ACME shipping and start out making 40cpm??" Well, they didnt offer to put me thru school. in order to get on with ACME, i would have had to go into a bank, get a student loan for $5k, then start paying back $8k+. This was the best solution for me to get a CDL. and what did it cost me? $1500 after a year. and i've got the same DL in my back pocket as you do.

:roll3:

I don't know the exact dollar amounts or all the details but I know there were 2 recent settlements of somewhere around 10-12 million a piece. The one was a fatality that the woman driver tested positive for crack cocaine after the accident.

Here's one for now...There will be more to follow.....

December 3, 2008 PrintSaveE-mailSize: +/–Jury awards victim of Swift driver’s crash $23.5 million

A federal jury in Kansas recently awarded one trucker’s family more than $20 million for a 2006 accident caused by a Swift driver who tested positive for being under the influence of drugs.

Terry and Donna Frederick of Overland Park, KS, sued Swift in relation to a March 16, 2006, crash that involved a Yellow Freight truck that Terry Frederick was riding in and a Swift truck driven by Robyn Getchel.

The wreck occurred about 1:30 a.m. that day on U.S. 54 near Tucumcari, NM. The collision killed Yellow Freight driver Dennis Bottorff and injured Terry Frederick’s spine.

The Fredericks argued that Getchel recklessly turned into a rest area north of U.S. 54 and failed to maintain proper control of the truck, leading to the crash between the two trucks.

Getchel once tested positive for being under the influence of methamphetamine while driving for Swift.

According to the Wichita Eagle, the largest verdict ever against Swift occurred in December 2007, when an Arizona jury awarded $36.5 million after one of the carrier’s trucks crashed into and killed another driver.

– By Charlie Morasch, staff writer

[email protected]

Owner of Hockey Team also?
 

doesn't the owner of swift own that hockey team in phoenix?? i seen on espn ticker that ownership was looking for buyers

:eek2::tears::eek2::tears: :cool: I don't think so... but... you never know!

Not sure on new drivers...was told today that they are not hiring experienced drivers until May or June...info came out of Tenn. I believe. They are probably still running the mill to make $$$. This economy is affecting everyone.

Swift is indeed still hiring drivers, but it probably depends on your location. Here in Salt Lake City, UT orientation concludes today and the class I'm in includes students and various levels of experienced drivers, a mixed bag of 13 in all.

Swift used to hold an orientation a week here. Now they're down to one a month. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually freeze hiring as they've done in many other terminals if things continue to deteriorate.

Kevin, you are so Nieve, quit trying to defend swift at every turn. Face reality, Swift is one of the worst organizations that the trucking industry has. They have lost many many law suits, their credit rating this last quarter dropped, which is a sign that they are struggling to pay on their debts, they have a massive turnover because they let go of the higher paid drivers to bring in fresh trainees to start off at .26cpm. All those swift drivers out there are so happy that they get to keep rollin them wheels making next to nothing, and never realizing they are helping to destroy the rest of us. Swift, JB, Werner, Scheinder, and all the other mega carriers are doing nothing more then destroying the rates for everyone else, and in turn destroying the industry. I'll let you in on something, these companies cannot AFFORD to haul the freight at the rates they are accepting, that is why they offer these lease programs, the more drivers they got on that contract, the less trucks they have to be financially responsable for, knowing DAMN well that these lease ops in the long run will not be able to afford to keep rolling at the prices they get.

A secondary thing they are doing to destroy the industry is to keep training new students! We don't need new drivers, the freight isn't here right now to support the qualified and experienced drivers in the labor pool to begin with! Why do they do it then, simple, because they are making a lot of money off of training drivers! They don't care that there is no possible hope for getting all of these people in a truck and making a living, they just care that they complete the training and get their government credits, and try to get you to pay the bill when they don't employ you or let you go, or you leave because you realize you are stuck in a crappy spot and want to find something better, which will be damn tough right now.

I know you think I am picking on you from the other 2 threads I have replied in, but I'm not, I'm just trying to get you to realize and see that you don't know the answers, you don't understand everything that is going on yet.

At this point in time all I can say to anyone driving for swift, is STAY THERE until you can find something better, because more then likely it's going to be a while and its going to be tough to find anything else right now.

Do I think swift is going under? Yes I do. At the time I left swift they let go of 3000 drivers that month! I see people throwing around such small numbers of how many people they let go, and in reality in the last year they have let go well over 5000 drivers. It hasn't been a layoff persay, they have been going through and systematically weeding out drivers for various reasons. Some I am sure more then deserved to be let go, but others I know for a fact did not deserve to be let go. They have been letting go of people for things as stupid as minor log violations! And that isn't even the true reason of why they let these people go, they simply look at the highest paid company drivers, and look for any possible black or grey mark to let them go so they can replace them with trainees, why pay a driver .31 - .33cpm when you can put someone in that seat for .26cm? And Kevin you can't call BS on me, I drove for them, I know this FIRST HAND, my old trainer whom I am still good friends with, has 30 years experience, he has been with MS Carriers for 15 years and stuck with swift when they bought them out, he has a lot of friends high up in swift, and hears a lot of inside info, which he in turn tells me. But not only him too, but I have quite a few friends that drove for swift at the time I did, a few still do drive for them, most do not.

^^^this^^^

and, now for a funny dog caption!

http://ihasahotdog.wordpress.com/fil...-poop-deck.jpg

All Chapter 11 Bankruptcy does is get a company's creditors off their back while they re-organize. The real problem will be for SWIFT's competitors; they'll be trying to turn a profit or minimize losses, while SWIFT operates under the umbrella of Chapter 11.

:thumbsdown:

Sounds like somebody's a little bitter.

Sounds to me like someone isn't being entirely forthcoming . . Did you mean "At the time I had my rear-ender in the fog and Swift canned me . . "?

As far as Swift's credit rating is concerned, would you be so good as to provide a link?

For the record they didn't let me go for almost a month until after that accident. If it wasn't for the rising fuel costs I don't think they would of let me go. Am I bitter? No I am not. I had a perfect record up until that, I had consignees and shippers calling my dispatch complimenting them on me as a driver. As far as a link goes, I will find it a little bit later, I am at a stop right now and dont have time to dig for it.

If that's what you want to believe, I believe that they didn't let you go right away because it took a month to investigate the accident, and when they found out you had a webcam in your truck that was active at the time they said c-ya.

What did rising fuel prices have to do with you getting let go? When the prices were high the economy didn't tank yet and the freight was still decent. Now I could see if they let you go because of the economy and the freight was slow, but we know the real reason now, don't we?

They fired 1500 drivers the same week they did me. At the time the fuel prices had just gotten to about peak price. As everyone knows swift hauls freight for some of the cheapest rates out there. I had a black mark on my record, and I was getting .32cpm, why keep me when they could put a fresh newbie stearing wheel holder in my place for .26cpm?

As far as the webcam goes, I highly doubt they ever found out about it, and even if they did I don't see why they would fire someone over it. If anything a webcam used properly can actually get the company and drivers butt out of trouble. Suppose a 4 wheeler decided to whip around me and slam on his breaks and I had no way out but to hit him. Without video evidence of the morons moronicness, who do you think will get the ticket? Now I am not saying that was my sole purpose for having it, but it was one reason.

Eventually I will have the webcam back up again, just not for now. The way sprint is handling it's data packages for data cards it isn't financially an option. Right now I use my phone tethered to my laptop, and when I am driving I actually need my phone, can't use it as a phone if your using it as your internet.

S&P Lowers Swift Credit | Journal of Commerce

I posted this or a similar article in Feb. Swift's credit rating is dropping which is a good indication that they struggling.

I just hope Swift goes down soon.The sooner the better for the small owner/operator.Plus this company is not being managed as it should have been.The only thing i havd to say is: THANK YOu for giving me the free training in the nice white volvo trucks!!!:lol::)

Haha I bet within a month of not driving you will be itching to get back in a truck :P

highly doubtful.

To each their own I guess.

The second I'm offered a driving job that was at the same level as my Swift experience, I'll be glad to leave the classroom(and California) in my rear-view.

As far as them going down, they either are, or they are not.

Seems like Swift themselves are too cowardly to admit any sign of defeat(hiring freezes, towel shortages., etc) and prefer to let driver-level, rumor-mills bring about their own conclusions.

look man, you shot yourself in your own foot by rolling a truck. i doubt they'll ever take you back. try in about 8 to 9 years.