Swift cuts CPM by .01
 

At the end of April '09 Swift is cutting a penny/mile across the board. They're also suspending all 401K matching. I know many companies are suspending matching 401K funds (even outside the transportation industry) but this is the first I've heard of dropping pay for OTR drivers.

Swift contends that they're only following a trend in the industry, implying that other carriers have already cut their CPM pay. Any feedback on that? What is your company doing?

belpre is going to have a field day with this post.:lol::lol:


I can see the word COOLIE being used alot. :rofl:

I haven't heard of anyone cutting anyone's CPM....Swift is the first. I guess they want to be the first to screw their drivers in this fashion.

Maybe "Unca Jerry" should cut his pay and benefits instead....and lighten other executives pay packages and stock options as well....

Hmmm, I wonder how many deadbeats, errr, I mean "relatives" he has sucking at the teat as well????

Actually, I'm surprised they didn't give a 1 cpm raise and shave the paid miles on every trip another 5 %......

First I've heard of anyone cutting pay on existing drivers...I know of several that lowered their starting pay on new hire experienced drivers.

Swift is also suspending all bonuses, both for drivers and non-drivers alike, and non-driver employees will be required to take 1 week off without pay in the 2nd quarter. All of these changes will take place on April 27th, which begins Swift's 2nd fiscal quarter.

It would be unfair to omit the statement, by Jerry, that the company intends to reinstate any cuts in CPM, bonuses, etc. and also to try and replace all lost pay with bonuses in the 3rd quarter if freight picks up. If things go really well the company will pay larger bonuses. Not sure who, besides executives, have been getting bonuses lately, but no driver I've talked to has received a production bonus for quite a while.

All of the cost cutting is designed to retain the current non-driver workforce and avoid lay-offs. I can accept all of it on face value if it all goes according to plan and CPM, 401K matching and bonuses are reinstated when business picks up. Yeah, and I believe in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy, too.

So swift drivers get to go from "screwed"to ...what? anyone's guess???I will not see this company for to long in this industry.:thumbsup:

Everyone is cutting pay. If they don't do it directly, they do it indirectly. And new hires (not just at swift) are getting hit rather hard from what starting CPM was 6-months ago.

In case you haven't noticed Mother Superior has whacked accessorial pay.

It's a sucky business. When freight picks up, the trucking companies will start whining to the Gov. about a driver shortage. Stimulus money (and tax credits) will go to training new drivers.

What about Crete? I know they used to advertise .41 cpm with one year exp., I called and the recruiter said I would get either .38 or .39 with 2.5 years exp.!!! Still a lot better than .28, or whatever Swift and Werner are paying these days...but it seems they have lowered their pay.

The one's I know about:

Yellow/Roadway 10%
Conway Freight 5% and no 401k match
Fedex Freight no 401k match and no profit sharing
Saia 5% and no 401k match
Ward 8.9%
UPS Freight nothing, we have a contract, but they did freeze salaries for supervisors and eliminate bonuses and 401k match

There's probably more that I dont know about. Not to mention the ones that went out of business.

I was talking to a Qwest driver the other day and he said they took a 4cpm pay cut. He felt it was the owners way of getting guys to quit so he could downsize the company without having to pay unemployment benefits to those that got fired or laid off.

So far it was working.....

I don't think the employer pays unemployment benefits anyway. It comes right out of your own pay check.

Nope, UC is strictly levied against the Employer. The rate the employer pays is determined by their historical data. The less UC claims an employer has, the lower their UC tax/insurance rate is.

This is exactly right. :thumbsup:

There is a federal and state unemployment tax employers pay on w-2'ed employees.

Didnt know that. Thanks foir the info.

Schneider is cutting .5 cpm, Knight, JB Hunt, Werner are cutting .3cpm, so Swift is not the only one.

That sucks.

Gee! Who'd have thought that it would have been these 5 that would be first in line to cut pay.:thumbsdown: I'm shocked!

That is a coolie carrier Royal Flush!:lol:

Excuse me Bud where did you get this info??

All Schneider has done is close their schools and put a pay freeze on everybody!!

That's why as soon as Monday roll around.. i will be at four of my local Foodservice vendors with Resume in hand!!! If those cheap bastards would dare cut my pay...

Time to Lose Weight, Get My Life Back, MAKE HONEST HARD WORK MONEY, and see broads at the same time!! Can't beat that!!

Having just left JBHunt I can say that unless they did something in the last 3 days they did not cut pay for the drivers. They froze the pay of all salaried and Shop help and stopped the 401k match. Didn't cut my pay so I'm not sure about that.

Hawk, which foodservice companies you got in mind. If you don't want to put it out here, PM me. I might have some info.:thumbsup:

There are plenty of companies out there . . Jevic comes to mind . . that cut quite a bit deeper.

I'm not happy with the cuts but I am happy to have a job. My miles are consistently good to very good . . I've had a few rotten weeks and I've had a few stellar weeks.

Last week and YTD looks a little like this:

MILEAGE PAY . . . 1,303.84 . . . 14,198.91
EXTRA PAY . . . . . . . 55.00 . . . . . 378.00
VACATION/OTH . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,753.86

Gross Pay . . . . . .1,358.84 . . . .16,330.77

This week, so far, I have 3 trips/2000 + miles and room to squeeze in one more.

I'll guess and say I've had 20 good days off and 4 or 5 that I didn't want or need. I drive an '09 Freightliner with above average fleet accomodations. I have a good relationship with my DM . . I turned down 3 loads before I got the 700+ mile load I'm on.

OTR has PLENTY of room for improvement but, today, I can't complain.

.....In case you haven't noticed Mother Superior has whacked accessorial pay.

:bs:

I still get every bit of accessory pay that I earn Ponce, and I personally don't know of anyone from other yards who aren't getting paid properly. Might be something to take up with your terminal manager if you're getting screwed out of $$$, and then corporate if he/she won't take care of the problem!

We all know that one issue being resolved now is that all the drivers who'd abuse the pay system are no longer able to do it. You know, the ones who used to cheat the system for a few extra bucks here and there and now simply can't get away with it anymore.

Anyway, I know things have tightened up for us all, but I'm still quite happy here as evidenced by my on-going thread though, I will not lie that I have a few embers in the fire just-in-case. C.Y.A ya know.............

:rofl:

Knight is NOT cutting pay..... Get your facts straight!

I wouldn't be surprised if Jerry not only takes the penny a mile....AND cuts the paid miles too!

You know it may just sound pollyannish, but if cutting me a penny/mile keeps everyone else in a job that's ok. That kind of cut itsn't going to make or break me. And it just might keep someone else from a really hard time. I've been there before, as I would imagine most of us have, and it's not pretty.

If it all comes back when things pick up then it will have been worth it. It reminds me of that scene in Peter Pan... "Just think happy thoughts." I'm working on it, dammit. I'm working on it.

I laughed so hard that I had to give you your first green rep points Flydragon!:lol:

Keep the positive attitude! Don't let GMAN drag you down!;):smokin::lol2:

They will.

Well I reckon a cut in pay is better then a pink slip.
I was layed-off on the 8th of April after 28 years.
The construction industry was hit hard here in Texas.
I applied to Swift,once again, and start May 6th.

Maybe they are not the best,but you gotta start somewhere.
I'd rather work than draw unemployment and welfare.
This is my 3rd go-round with truckling.Everytime something comes alongs to screw me up.
The last time was torn colon and then no one would hire me because of a pending lawsuit agaisnt the doctor.I dropped that because of the cap on lawsuits here of 250k.
I'm used to being screwed.

:rofl:

Hey Fly you forgot to mention that the e-mail was company private.

:)

But of course I was betting how long it would be before it would show up in the public.

Notice that I didn't post the email. It didn't say I couldn't tell anyone about my pay being cut.

Ya Think? Not me. They have actually raised pay for O/O's .03 cpm

hello new to this forum so this question may have been asked and answered but since swift driving school lost its accredation are they reimbursing drivers for having to take the test over again? :ranting:

Only the memphis school lost it.

yeah thats the one i went to now i'm stuck with 2yrs otr exp and ap lic ga won't road test me unless i spend another 3000$ at some school trying to find a company that will pay for me to go.:pissedoff:

i dont know where you got your info from but this is totally false!!!!!! i dont know about those other companies but Schneider IS NOT cutting any cpm........

totally false!!

That information was told to him by a driver on the C.B. and anything that is heard on the C.B. is true because a truck driver said it!:lol:

yeah somewhere like that:)

my gf is a dispatcher for Andrews and they stopped matching their 401k and forced two weeks vac unpaid to all salaried employees. seems like everyone is taking a hit

In the interest of education . .
 

It's easy to watch the financial performance of every publicly traded company. The first result of a Google search of the company name will (usually) produce the stock symbol, recent headlines which are almost always financial and from there, you can go as deep as you'd care to. I'm sure a lot of people already know this but for those who didn't, it might provide a little insight as to what their company is saying versus how the company is doing.

I bring this up because, while a lot of Driver's were belly-aching about new idle restrictions, etc., as diesel prices were shooting through the roof, I was watching "big trucking" financial performance. I kind of got the sense that, while it's always good business to "empower" everyone to help keep costs low, the dire consequences being foretold weren't exactly keeping step with the truth. The bottom line was your boss was asking you to sacrifice and laughing all the way to the bank.

Since . . I think Yellow was first, then Schneider and so on . . cutting pay and 401k contributions has become so fashionable, I can't help but wonder if that sacrifice is truly necessary for every employer that is doing it. Remember when Flying J filed for bankruptcy? One brilliant poster (Stan . . was that you?) noted that perhaps they filed because they could. What better time to do it than when everyone else is doing it?

It seems to me that the last thing you want to do is cut someones pay. Cutting hours and/or laying people off at least sends a clear message. Cutting benefits with a promise to repay seems a little muddled to me. Attrition is still high in this business and the larger companies still bleed and regurgitate Drivers. I have to believe that it wouldn't take too long for any company to trim their fleet to an appropriate, financially prudent level.

How about you . . what do you think?



Swift is a privately held company and it's financial information is a closely guarded secret.