Swift

home time policy for 0TR is you have to be out 12 days and you'll get 2 off, regional is 6 days and then you can have 1 day off. Most people if you want to make good money out here you'll be out for atleast 3 weeks, and will do OTR not the regional crap. I run on average 3000miles a week with some weeks going to 3200miles. I also run in the flatbed division. Van drivers will be lucky to get what i get for miles. Most of them will never see 3000 miles in a week. I run out of the Greer, SC terminal. Your DM can make a huge impact on your miles. If you have a good DM you will have better miles then ones that have a DM that doesnt care. If your looking in to the owner op program i recomend it if your gettin the miles now, if your not gettin the miles as a company driver then dont expect it to radically change when you go owner operator. If you go into the flatbed division we are going like crazy, and youll be just fine. There is only 354 of us now left in the company from 600 something at the beginning of this year.

 

Anyone tell me if O/O are dispatched from O/O dispatchers or from any dispatcher that has company drivers as well? Do O/O get priority loads or is it "first empty, first load"?

Its been about 8+ years since I started (training) driving with Swift and stayed with them for 7 months than moved on. Ive noticed quite a bit has changed, including the pet policy. I'm comparing several companies now to drive for as an O/O (not lease). Thanks for any info.

 

O/O have the same Dispatchers as the company drivers. Only thing O/O can do is fire their dipsatcher if it isn't working out and find another one. O/O do get priority, and we get the longer runs, I.E. Coast to coast more often then short 300 mile runs. The fuel surcharge we get changes every week. Right now tho you can't bring in a truck from the outside into swift. The won't let people do that right now, you have to get a truck thru them right now. If you decide on swift, they might re-open the bring in your truck in the summer. That's atleast what I heard. Your truck will have to be governed at 68 unfortunetly, but its better then 62 like the company drivers. Mileage rates right now are .92 for van and .94 for flatbed. Plus your fuel surcharge. .81 for empty miles. I right now were around 1.25 a mile including surcharge.

 

Ya, thanks alot. I just talked to them, they said NO O/O until maybe 2nd qtr of this year. UNLESS I was to lease on to them with 2500 down. Thanks again for the info.

 

Why would someone want to o/o with a company whose going to tel them what color the truck has to be? totally never got that.

 

Interesting, Is that true? I dont see why the color would matter.

 

I observed a Swifty at the Utah -Wyoming border on I-80 a few days back. Despite a clean paved shoulder the driver chose to pull into the snow covered, leaning ditch. The truck was leaning over dangerously while both drive axles were spinning - truck obviously going nowhere. No one was stopping and I couldn't bare to look....

 

It is true to a point. You get to choose from whats available. Most of the time there blue or silver trucks, but they do have different colors, but they do have limited numbers of other colors as well. You just have to be at the right place and right time to get a different color then blue or silver. Right now they offer mainly Kenworth T2000, and the new International Pro Star Skyrise. They brought in a bunch of different colored T660 in the summer of last year and thats what i have now. If you order a 2nd truck after you complete your first lease you can get a W9, T660, Pro Star, T2000 and you can get it however you want and whatever color you want, add what features you want to it and what not.

 

And a governor for that matter ...

A driver who owns his truck, having to neuter it down to 68?

Just for the privilege of running for 91cpm?

 

What is the staring pay for new driver and with no experience after the are done with the trainer per mile solo