Swift Transportation Company, Inc. - Phoenix, Az.

That is interesting. Before returning to the road I served as a volunteer (putting in around 20 hours per week) at our local Petro which parks over 200 trucks in he lot alone, not to mention another 75 to 100 can park in the dirt lots across the street. I saw Swift trucks mixed in with the others and people came and went without any concern who was there. And the only accidents we had on that lot were from others not Swift. Kinda sounds like your telling stories. What truck stop are you talking about? If I make it into that area I would like to check out the parking.

 

Just a curious question. How is it that you have so much information on what the company is doing when you're just recently hired on?

 

*whispers low and with reverence* Pawpaw is a trucking god. He sees all and knows all. Beware of the great Pawpaw!!

 

I just love the Swift bashers, their just like all the rest. Their the one who won't admit that drivers from their own company screw up probably just as much. Swift has the most trucks, and drivers, so you might expect to see a few more in trouble then most. Two yrs ago heading west on I-20 in FT Worth TX (in a SWIFT) heading west to Phoenix, I saw more trucks turned over, jackknifed and what not during an ice storm, and did not see one from SWIFT.

I also remember once at a TS in Phoenix (first time there) heard all kinds of crap on the radio from a driver who said ( O Swifty can you park that rig or do you need a real driver to do it for you) Put her in the whole one shot and heard nothing after that.. And that was my first time doing it solo go figure..

 

I'm a new swift driver. I take pride in my backing. Now i have seen swift drivers with months and months experience, whom i wonder how the heck they ever passed their 'backing' portion of their CDL state test. I can understand when drivers say that swift drivers cant back. BUT in real life, most can. It might not be pretty, but they wont hit things. Its those few that DO...that everyone jumps on the bandwagon, takes their pictures and videos, and posts them on YouTube.

Now as far as drivers who 'refuse' to park next to them, sorry, i have to call B.S. on that one. there might be a few who do, but if there are only two spots left in a truck stop, and a driver is out of their 11hr clock, guess what, they are going to park it.

I've never ever seen swift drivers lumped together in one section of a truck stop. Just waiting for a driver to give me ####, cause guess what, he will get it right back.

I was driving by a truck stop on the interstate when i overheard a driver say, "..u want help parking that?" I got on and said "...you were a newbie once, wernt ya?" then i heard the "radio-bully" come out of him, wanting me to fight him. LOL....why do drivers do that, they think they feel more 'manly' pretending to be 'tuff' over the radio?

 

careful now doubledragon. Dont come up with nuggets of fact that are actually true, because you will just end up being labeled as a swift driver who has been 'bought out' by the company.

I was in the bad storm last week in Chicago and then headed to Detroit. Then headed to Omaha when they got some snow/ice, and i found one JB Hunt on its side, a Schneider trailer on I-80 burnt to a crisp, and a CRST driver headed west on I-80 that went thru the median, and both lanes of oncomming traffic and parked it in the trees upright.

It is easier to bash Swift because it is so 'fun', and you have 100 year old drivers who are so dead-set against doing business with Mexico. Oh, and they dont like the idea of a company becoming so big that they have the ability to undercut/bid the competition to win the contracts.....even contracts between "loyal" shippers and trucking companies. Maybe those drivers should get upset at the company they work for, or the shipper for 'selling out' than to get upset with a big company who is just doing business in such a slow economy. It is also those drivers who say "say NO to cheap freight", so i guess those drivers (the same ones who b!tch and complain about the cost of food in truck stops) wont mind paying $5 for a gallon of milk, or $3 for a dozen eggs. You think companies will just cover the cost of shipping? You think they wont pass on the cost of shipping down to the consumer? LOL......you're fooling yourself if you don't.

 

Merry Christmas - "You don't have a job - Try a temp agency"
RE Swift -
Sold my business back in NH, moved to PHX, made the call to Swift recruiting, started the classroom study in October, did the range and road training, 6 almost intollerable weeks with 2 mentors, passed by final road and written tests. Then met with DM. He told me I was 87th on the list for a truck and it could be months. He also suggested I try a temp agency!
I made a time and financial comittment to Swift. I worked my butt off during these two months to be the best driver I knew how. I bought a bunch of Swift clothing and products to display a little company pride and loyalty. And this is their support to me.
Interesting to note the DM told me this long list of drivers waiting for trucks is normal....standard operating procedure. I also discovered they continue to have new classes each week (30 students # $4,000 each).
All through the process I was told it was do the training successfully and we'll get you right into a a truck when you get off the mentor's truck. The lst month of the mentor period I began asking Driver Services (support office to students)....."how long? 2 days, 3 days, 2 weeks 3 weeks??". They could/would not answer. Yesterday I confronted the supervisor of the recruiting deapartment with all this. Her answer? "I'm sorry". to which I said" "that's it?". "I am told what to say. I'm sorry" she responded. I went back into the Driver Services office to talk with the head there. My last words to him were: "I hope you can sleep tonight, because I won't be".
I have no little money left in the account. I surely would have spent what money we had differently had I known I was going to be without after the training. But even more important, I would simply had not even begun the process back in October had I known this could have been the outcome. The DM, by the way, told me this list has been like this for a long time. long before I applied. They knew then I would, most likely, not be working when I completed the training!
How irresponsible, dispicable and obscene.
I called Knight yesterday inquiring about a job. She said she had received no fewer than 10 similar calls the past few days.

At 57 years old, I guess this isn't what I bargained for.

HOW ABOUT A CLASS ACTION SUIT, BOYS! let me know. I'm ready to get it started. Contract or no contract.

 

Wow thats some story, I would be pissed! Going back to the parking next to swift thing, I must admit when I pull into a truckstop after a long day of driving and its 2 or 3 am, if I find a parking spot I could care less of who its next too. I am getting that spot, getting some dinner, getting a shower and getting some sleep. I would much rather park next to a fellow hand reguardless of who he drives for then park next to some shaddy nut job setting in his 4-wheeler in some remote lot.

 

Good luck on that lawsuit. It wont fly. You signed a contract on day one, hour one. Your recruiter should have told you, not to mention your in class instructors that your schooling was nothing more but a 3 week interview. After your 3 weeks, upon successful completion, you are not guarenteed a job. I am sure in your 'fine print' on your 'promice to pay' note you signed for the $3900 tuition bill, it is in there.

as far as your first statement i highlighted, why in gods name would you think buying clothing from the gift shop would improve your image with the company?? That would be like only buying fuel from Mobil, hoping they send you a rebate in the mail for your loyalty.

Your bigger gripe should be that as a driver, you want to take a little pride in your truck and your company, but it is kinda hard to have such pride when you're assigned a dumpy truck they dont care to clean out, and dont care to give the truck a full inspection to be sure nothing is broke or missing before the new driver takes it out of the truck. And when you sit and sit, and feel as if you are being ignored...makes it hard to have such pride.

 

I ask questions and listen when things are told to me. I also had been in contact with them last year to hire back on and when I was told they were only hiring students, not exp. drivers, I asked them why and that is what I was told. Also our terminal manager's wife, who teaches orientation gave us a lot of that informationa and more.