I wonder what kind of awards those Swift drivers won?

No answers.Heres one Swift driver wins award for taking up six parking spaces in truck stop.

To splitter: hey good luck with Swift, I worked there for almost 5 years and I worked for UsXpress for about 4 months, I also worked for a few small companies over the years and started driving on the ranch where I grew up so I have over 30 years on the road in a lot of different situations. I will tell you this much about Swift. They have a few good points and some really bad ones, their training program needs a lot of work, but as an ex swift trainer and being on the road as much as I was all of the training programs from all of the companies need a lot of work. Most of the trainers are training to turn miles not to train good drivers. As a trainee you should be taught by your trainer all the aspects of trucking all of the states have different scale procedures and permits one for instance in Wyoming you stop at the scale one time as you come in you don't have to stop at anymore after that unless you empty and reload. unless they have changed in the last 6 months, In Idaho if you get off the interstate you need an over-length permit on the smaller highways. those are just a couple of the things your trainer should teach you. I have talked to trainees at Swift, CRST, Schnieder, J.B., Usxpress, Werner, England the list goes on, all of the companies have problem trainers but all of the companies have some good ones also, I hope you get a good one. Another problem you will have with Swift and a lot of the other companies is the dispatchers and dm's will try and bully you into doing things that maybe you shouldn't be doing. Mainly remember you are the driver, you know what you can and can't do. Also you will catch a lot of flak for driving for Swift, that you just consider the source and let it roll, Swift drivers catch a lot of flak because they have a lot of trucks on the road and it seems like every time something happens its because of a Swift driver. A lot of times it is but with that number of trucks and drivers on the road you are going to have a lot of drivers that haven't been trained by a good trainer, their trainer didn't spend the time training he spent it sleeping or having the trainee sleep. There are a few good trainers at any company, hopefully you will get one. If not you have to get all the information you can by yourself. If the trainer you get tells you you are not making him any money tell him his job is to train you and he can't do that sleeping in the bunk or with you sleeping in the bunk. you are not there to make him money you are there to learn to drive. Hope it goes well for you. keep me posted and be careful out there

I work for Swift Transportation as a Terminal Manager for Houston TX. You will probably not find to many terminal managers for any company willing to go online and answer questions or give their two cents. Some of the opinions and comments I have seen are correct, allot are not. I remember seeing a comment on this forum that Swift's turnover is 200%. It is not even close to that. Generally Swift hovers in the 90-95% range, and this has been for many years. (Industry average is 120%). I am not interested in recruiting drivers from here. Swift is overall a good company, I can not speak for every terminal but my own, but I know the direction every terminal is trying to get. Just like bad drivers, there are bad office staff. We generally try to weed them out as fast as possible. I do not tolerate running illegal, or running overweight. I have zero tolerance for anyone who is disrespectful of a driver. Bottome line we are proffessionals and need to treat each other that way. We have an excellent safestat score now because safety is a priority to us more then ever before. I can honestly say that miles have been down for the last 5 months, but this is an industry problem not a company problem. We do everything we can to help our drivers, while at the same time running a business. I have been with Swift for 9 years now in many area's, and yes I did drive a truck, but I was 18, it was my dad's old daycab, and it was on back logging roads in Colorado hauling logs down. And for the response that will get, no its not the same as driving over the road, I already agree. I have many drivers that I consider my friends, and I know them by first name basis. I take phone calls all day if they need help, and I explain their options when they need help. My staff is the same way. We are dedicated to our drivers, but we still have a business to run. Most of my DM's go home and log on from the house at night, and check in on their drivers on weekends. If you have questions please feel free to ask, I will answer them honestly. Perception is not reality, but perception is viewed as reality. There is a negative perception about Swift, and the only way to start changing that perception is getting information out there. Oh, before I forget, the comments I have seen about not having alot of long term drivers that work for Swift. I have over 60 that have been with Swift 3 yrs, 30 of that have been there 5+ years. My terminal is only about 220 trucks, but that is a good percentage of our fleet.

When I was in CDL school the Albuquerque Swift terminal manager came to give his pitch to the class. Heavens, what a jerk! During his presentation he mentioned that there was a "$500 pet deposit - $250 of which was refundable" when the driver terminated.

One student raised his hand and pointed out that "if a deposit isn't refundable, then it really isn't a deposit, now is it?" Obviously flustered, he started ranting about pet hair and urine and "do you know what we have to go through to get flea infestations out of a truck?" I responded "you could do what the rest of us do; buy a $4.00 fogger - and besides, you keep the $250 even if none of those problems are present - right?" Well, he was obviously quite pissed, and quickly wrapped up his talk.

Bottom line - that anal retentive ####### was all I (and the rest of the class, for that matter) needed to know about Swift.

Good. Welcome aboard.

Terminal managers do register here, but few identify themselves and post.

Well, in their defense, Swift's safety numbers have been terrible at least until recently. Last I checked, their ISS-2 number dropped to 69. That's a big improvement for Swift.

Company wide, or just at your barn?

Now that I find hard to believe.

Good, because that won't be allowed here.

Puh-lease... what with the way Swift loves to attack people's USIS reports?

Okay. How about describing that?

Very true, and they are more easily replaced.

Good, but for this to happen, credible complaints from drivers have to be taken seriously, and not be simply dismissed as laziness or something.

How about dispatchers who demand that?

That should work two ways.

Yes, there has been evidence of that lately. Maybe they finally decided tyo address their glaring safety issues.

I'll give you that too. Things have slowed down a bit all over.

Well, it would mean a whole lot just if you were to say what you mean and mean what you say, and not change the rules as you go along or according to your convenience.

Well, that definetely gives you some credibility.

Matters not. At least you know a little something about what you are charged with overseeing.

You have a serious uphill battle in that regard.

5 years is a long time? I guess for Swift it is.

You call 220 trucks a "good percentage" out of ...what...19,000?

I don't yet know exactly what your motives are as of yet, Sir. The fact that you identified yourself alleviates my suspicion a bit. You are welcome to your opinion, and you are more than welcome to post here. But understand this. If you showed up here to attempt to "bust" people for posting undesirable things about Swift, you will NOT last long here. I will not tolerate that. I have no use and even less respect for people who pull that sort of crap. This is a website BY truckers and FOR truckers. ALL opinions, good or bad, are welcome here.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

Company wide. I went to pull our reports up but all that I have hard data on was for last year, which was our most challenging year. We have two catagories that make up our turnover. Operations and Driver Services. Operations are all drivers but trainee's. Driver Services is just trainee's. Operations turnover last year was 89%, overall for the company including trainee's was 104%. When I come across 04 and 05 data I will also post it.

quote:
Swift is overall a good company,
Puh-lease... what with the way Swift loves to attack people's USIS reports?

I am not sure how to answer this for you since this is a generalized statement of opinion. How is Swift attacking USIS reports?

Quote:
I can not speak for every terminal but my own, but I know the direction every terminal is trying to get.
Okay. How about describing that?

Sure will. Swift's focus starts with our drivers. Showing them that working hard is great, but working smart is what pays. How to run, what days are the best to take off for hometime, when to take 34 hour restarts. Running legal and logging legal. Always working to get them home ontime. Getting our drivers to safety classes ontime so they do not repeat any accidents. Ontime delivery for our customers with good customer service. Keeping them informed on what is going on with their performance, the terminals and company's performance also. Working on dedicated opportunities for the drivers that have earned a spot with a good record. We are always on the look out for new idea's that we can still keep our trucks profitable, while getting our drivers home more often. These are usually new regional area's, or 2 weeks on, 1 week off programs for team and solo drivers.

Quote:
We generally try to weed them out as fast as possible.
Good, but for this to happen, credible complaints from drivers have to be taken seriously, and not be simply dismissed as laziness or something.

All complaints are taken seriously. We even have a quality feedback system from our corporate office that creates a record of the complaint, and then its directed to the responsible party for review and response. This is for all departments of the company.

Quote:
I do not tolerate running illegal, or running overweight.
How about dispatchers who demand that?

We have Driver Managers, and we have planners. We do not have dispatchers per say. Our driver managers will never have our drivers run illegal. We always have truck options. Planners do not have a say, if a driver says no to a load for any reason, its up to the Driver Manager to validate the reason and then tell the planner that an alternative is needed. Our current culture discourages this type of behavior.

Oh, before I forget, the comments I have seen about not having alot of long term drivers that work for Swift. I have over 60 that have been with Swift 3 yrs, 30 of that have been there 5+ years. 5 years is a long time? I guess for Swift it is.
Quote:
My terminal is only about 220 trucks, but that is a good percentage of our fleet.
You call 220 trucks a "good percentage" out of ...what...19,000?

This was in reference to a good percentage of the terminal drivers.


I don't yet know exactly what your motives are as of yet, Sir. The fact that you identified yourself alleviates my suspicion a bit. You are welcome to your opinion, and you are more than welcome to post here.

My motives are actually simple. I saw a forum titled discuss your favorite trucking company. I saw Swift. I always see the negative but I was curious to see what drivers percieved as positive also (Whats working, whats not, maybe some fresh idea's). Unfortunately it appears that stealing threads is common practice on here, which happens. I figured I would answer any questions that anyone has on policies or reasons why things happen at Swift, and maybe I would also get some new idea's or views.

But understand this. If you showed up here to attempt to "bust" people for posting undesirable things about Swift, you will NOT last long here.

I have no interest in busting anyone for anything. Nothing wrong with opinions. That is why I logged on, to help clarify anything.


Thanks

Wes Vickers

Now you have to know that people's USIS reports are commonly used to prevent them from finding jobs, blackballing them in a sense. If not, then orders to do that may come from corporate, and you have nothing to do with it. I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt there.

Fair enough. We just don't go for any coercion here. It can and does happen.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

Vick, I hope you last at Swift. It really is a shame that company can't get its act together and treat drivers like it should. However, somebody from the higher ups must be telling guys like you that 100% turnover or more is advantageous. This has to be the case, as Swift would have learned how to solve its turnover problems by now. But......

Swift hasn't solved its turnover problems because it doesn't want to solve its turnover problems. It benefits from high turnover, just like the other big players like C.R. England, J.B. Hunt, etc, etc, ETC. Until this incentive is removed, companies like yours will continue to be those we want to avoid. Drivers want careers and stability, not fly-by-night jobs that may be gone tomorrow.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Goal for us is 85% turnover. In an industry where swift doesnt even compromise 5% of the drivers, and the average turnover is 120% in the total industry, then based off your reasoning your saying that every company benefits from turnover? That is not the case. Turnover is expensive, there is no benefit that I can see. Please explain how turnover can be beneficial?

Stability and fly by night jobs? Are you talking about the 5000 plus truck companies that go out of business a year? You can not get anymore stable then at Swift, and even though they are my competition, most of the other big companies (JB, Schneider, Werner etc..).

I often see people that are set against Swift and talk negatively about Swift, but it often turns out that they have never worked for Swift or if they have, it was long enough ago that most statutes of limitations on crimes and the credit bureu would have already moved on. Swift is not the same company it used to be. We are more driver friendly then ever before. This does not mean that drivers can do whatever they want, but more often then not we concede to drivers wishes. This does not include Owner Operators of course, since they are their own company and have to make their own business decisions.

I realize that Swift has a bad reputation, kind of like trucking has a bad reputation with the news media. That is why I am on here. I know you dont work for Swift, but do tell me what keeps you at the company your with? I dont ask to find a way to be negative about them, or even compare. I am just curious and always looking for idea's.

Thanks

Wes