Swift Transportation - What The Recruiter Didn't Tell You

Discussion in 'Swift' started by madmoneymike5, Mar 11, 2012.

Was this article helpful to you?

  1. *

    Yes, exceptionally so!

    186 vote(s)
    73.8%
  2. *

    Yes, it was helpful.

    50 vote(s)
    19.8%
  3. *

    Neutral

    10 vote(s)
    4.0%
  4. *

    No it was not helpful.

    9 vote(s)
    3.6%
  1. MsJamie

    MsJamie Road Train Member

    No APUs on company trucks, and from what I've heard, the leasing company doesn't allow them on their trucks, either. Very stupid move on their part.

    Company trucks have bunk heaters; my Wabasto can get it well into the 90s (maybe more) in the cab when outside is below zero. The thermostat has 24 clicks in my truck; I use the 2nd click for sleeping. That holds the temp right around 60.

    As for cooling... we can idle if needed. I grew up in a house with no A/C in the bedrooms; I sleep well even on warm nights, as long as I can have air blowing on me. Screens in the windows, a 20" box fan sitting on the cooler on the passenger seat, and a couple of clip on fans do just fine for me. In fact, I sleep better that way than with the vibration of an idling truck.

    And Mystic is right... if you can't make $400/wk as a company driver, then you're doing something wrong. Just run everything they give you that you legally can do, and before long, you'll have more miles than you know what to do with. The people who refuse to do Northeast, or short runs, or live loads are the ones that you hear griping about "Swift is screwing me... I only got 400 miles last week!" Remember, that 75 mile live load/live unload may well be setting you up for that 2500 mile cross country run.
     
    GWS Thanks this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. BLJUDY

    BLJUDY Bobtail Member

    1
    0
    Oct 15, 2014
    Sherman Oaks, California
    0
    Just wanted to say thank you for your personal experience. Very articulate and informative. Been making many phone calls, lots of reading, much inquiring, trying to make an informed decision on what route to take, Independent Trucking School or committing to a Trucking Companies School. Thanks again.
     
  4. Graverly

    Graverly Light Load Member

    67
    11
    Sep 30, 2014
    Richmond VA.
    0
    OK takin aback buy recruiter. She got my app and then I took some kind of pre test that I'm sure I did well on. The next time I talked to he she told me to go get a health exam and take the DMV test then wait for my hard copy. I thought you did all that in school or that is what I'm hearing from people
     
  5. MsJamie

    MsJamie Road Train Member

    Swift Academy requires you to report with your Class A CDL in hand, as well as your DOT physical card and paperwork. So what you were told is consistent with my experience.
     
  6. Taylor92

    Taylor92 Bobtail Member

    1
    0
    Feb 20, 2015
    0
    First off. Great article I have drove for swift/central for 4 months.
    For any new company drivers like myself I would try to get on a dedicated fleet. The best one is kraft.
    I'm on Kraft dedicated where I am already making 40 cents a mile. Only downside is I get even less home time than I did when I was just otr. I only see home every 6 weeks for about 4 days.
     
  7. Jnielger

    Jnielger Bobtail Member

    4
    1
    Feb 23, 2015
    0
    Orientation is paid now, but training (TDA) is not. The equipment is decent for sure, and the pay is alright for beginners. You can get local/regional routes pretty easy, not always dedicated. I asked to stay out of the northwest, the north, and the northeast. They let me no problem, I get decent home time and can take my spouse with me when I want. Passenger Policy is not too bad either. Mentor training is now 200-300hrs. 200 you test, fail and get mentoring for another 50, and you get another try. If you fail the test the third time you probably should be driving.

    Don't let them push you more than you can take; they are actually fairly understanding for a mega-company.
     
  8. JCase82

    JCase82 Bobtail Member

    9
    4
    Mar 4, 2015
    Rialto, California
    0
    I was looking for reviews for swift and came across this very old one and I must say it was incredibly detailed (and incredibly long lol). I work for swift they gave me a 2012 kenworth t660 i believe the one with the studio sleeper as my first truck fresh off my mentors truck but that was just a loaner while my 2014 shaker was having new tires and a b service done. Since then I've been in the shaker.

    If anyone like me came to this to get a quick "review for dummies" style take on swift I'll give you a shorter version of the excellent article by the OP but written from my own personal experience being a current employee. I'll try to cover the questions I think a newbie would ask because I was (and still am) one.

    Pay: your first year is going to suck. Sorry but from what I've been told (I ask every company and o/o for every trucking company i see) pay stinks your first year but this goes doubly for swift and i just don't know why. Maybe because they're very new driver friendly and they don't expect you to stay but swift will start you off at .36 cents a mile as OTR company. On average once solo you can expect to take home about $400-700 (after taxes) a week AVERAGE. I've had killer weeks where i cleared $1,000 and some weeks where i was clinically depressed lol. No but seriously average pay is about $650 for a company driver if you like me enjoy going home to see family and friends. If you're not big on being home and don't mind staying in the truck longer you could easily run 2500-3500 miles a week and your pay would be on the higher end. But don't believe the hype that truck drivers are just out there getting paid because if you have a family and bills you'll basically be working just to survive wuth swift. They're not a bad company by any means but they are one of the lowest paying carriers in the business. Flatbed and o/o make more. Central gets more miles. Figure out what your needs/expectations and go from there.

    Home time: I have an excellent driver manager and am sure to be as nice to the planners add possible so they've only missed my home time date once in my time so far with swift. If you give them at least 10 days advance notice they'll get you home on time 90% of the time. The new policy with them (I didn't make it to this part in the original post so I don't know if he covered it to know if it changed) is you earn 1 day off for every 6 days out. So for example sun-sat = 6 days the following Sunday you earned 1 day off and it starts the new 6 day cycle. Now in trucking you know we don't have the typical work week so that proverbial start day off your 6 days cycle is always shifting but after a couple months you'll get the hang of figuring out how many days you have off. As a company OTR driver though don't expect to be at home a lot they don't earn money when your truck isn't moving so i won't say they discourage home time but they do like the drivers who prefer staying out long periods of time.

    Freight: swift has freight. I'm still new so maybe this fall it'll slow down I don't know but I started with them last December and haven't been sitting (when I didn't want to) for more than 34 hours. Maybe because my truck is new and they need to make those payments maybe because they're just busy but I've never had to wait very long to get loads. If you're a good driver safe and 100% on-time they'll want to keep you moving. Here's a trick I've learned batting solo. Request home time as far from where you live as you can. I'm from California I regularly request home time in new jersey, Georgia, south texas all trips 1,500-2,400 miles one way. It's better doing 2-3 1,000 mile trips in a week than to do 5 400 mile ones.

    Benefits: this is my chief criticism (and only real gripe) with swift. The benefits are lackluster. They do offer a 401k medical/dental your typical fare but the good plans are cost prohibitive for new drivers. Unless you luck out and get long hauls regularly (or request home time like i suggested) the cost of the good plans will cost you far too much. But I suspect that's the same for most trucking companies.

    Oh some other random thoughts swift doesn't allow inverters at all in their trucks unless you're o/o or need it for medical reasons otherwise you'll have to use the 12v cigarette lighter socket for your inverter which limits you to small electronics (sorry no ps4/xboxs etc) only exception are their brand new 2015 kdubs. The 2 I've seen so far had built in inverters from the factory plus wall mounts for a small flat screen tv. Their shakers, international, Volvo, and peters don't have those luxuries unfortunately. They also don't allow pets in their company trucks service animals are acceptable however.

    Overall as bad mouthed as swift is by so many other drivers for other companies i must say if you're new it's really not that bad. I'm not balling or rolling in the dough but i manage to cover my about $1,300/mo expenses and still save a decent amount. It's not as bad as crengland/schneider.
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2015
    JOHNQPUBLIC, Lepton1 and robbiecox6 Thank this.
  9. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

    12,647
    25,584
    Nov 23, 2012
    Yukon, OK
    0
    ^^^^ THIS ^^^^

    Great post JCase82!

    Unless you get on a dedicated account with Swift you are by definition OTR. Anyone taking a job OTR that needs a lot of home time will have their pay suffer. While I was with Swift I typically was on the road 4-8 weeks at a time, and limited my home times to 2-3 days. When I left Swift I got about $1000 for unused vacation time (after two years). I averaged 2500-3000 miles per week.

    Swift DOES have freight. Since most of their large accounts are major retailers the busiest time of year will be July through November, for the Back To School (BTS), Fall, and Holiday shipping. It will slow down in the 1st quarter and the 2nd quarter is so-so. If you don't have to be home for Thanksgiving or Christmas I guarantee you will stay busy, as most drivers are home and they need drivers.

    BTW, when I started at Swift I started at $0.25 per mile, so starting pay has increased considerably in two years. It would be good to see their training pay increase.
     
    GWS Thanks this.
  10. Lightside

    Lightside Medium Load Member

    667
    143
    Jul 4, 2015
    0
    Is it true training with a mentor is team? Meaning they sleep you drive, you sleep, they drive? for 6 straight weeks?
     
  11. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

    12,647
    25,584
    Nov 23, 2012
    Yukon, OK
    0
    No, not for six straight weeks, unless you are "hard work challenged"... ;)

    As a former mentor/trainer, with the new 200 hours behind the wheel (HBTW) requirement, the average trainee could easily finish 200 HBTW within four weeks. The first 50 HBTW must have the mentor in the passenger seat with you. After the first 50 hours it is their option to approve you to run team. However, if I had a trainee not capable of running team after 50 hours I would think seriously whether they have what it takes to make it in this business.

    For me the next 50 HBTW, while team driving, were a weaning period. I'd sleep fully clothed in the sleeper berth, ready at a moment's notice to be in the passenger seat. Depending on the run I'd set an alarm clock to "need a cigarette break" about the time a trainee might be coming up on a challenging mountain pass or getting through an urban area.

    This was very dependent on the abilities of the trainee. I had some that came to Swift with prior experience and the change to team driving was almost effortless. Other trainees were very challenged with the entire concept of putting in a full day's work and the necessity to "keep the wheels turning".

    Some trainees were intimidated with the concept of transitioning to team, but I think it is a good thing to have a good trainer right there when you need them, while at the same time being able to take care of the job if you are able to do so. Often during drop and hooks at a customer or at certain areas of a run I'd be awake in the sleeper berth, listening and feeling the truck, how they make shifts, whether they do a tug test, how they handle backing, how they converse with a customer, etc.

    Absorb as much as you can the first week (50 HBTW) and use the rest of the 150 HBTW to take advantage of your mentor's knowledge. Learn the Macro's, how to fuel, how to send paperwork by Transflo, how to accept loads, how to preplan your trip, etc. By the end of your 200 HBTW you should be ready to do it on your own.

    Your first solo trip you'll likely end up still thinking someone's in the back of your truck looking over your shoulder. That will pass. Then the open road becomes enjoyable... ;)
     
    GWS and Lightside Thank this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.