ive had three different med. cards within 8 months man. every company will want you to get one with them

Originally Posted by Rugerfan

ive had three different med. cards within 8 months man. every company will want you to get one with them

Wife just set me straight - apparently some states don't require a DOT physical before school and can do so at the Academy. Wife and I have our long forms from a company approved location so we're good to go.

So with that out of the way...anyone have opinions and feedback on Academy training in TN, mentor program or the company in general?: )

you will get a ton of crap from people about working for swift but ya know the truth is all these training companies are the same. the only difference in the name on the door and the color of the trucks. I try to take everyday the best i can and always try to be the safest best driver i can. and i also try to be as clean as i can. nothing worse than a dirty nasty stinky driver

Originally Posted by Rugerfan

you will get a ton of crap from people about working for swift but ya know the truth is all these training companies are the same. the only difference in the name on the door and the color of the trucks. I try to take everyday the best i can and always try to be the safest best driver i can. and i also try to be as clean as i can. nothing worse than a dirty nasty stinky driver

Yeah, I agree with you 100% on this. One of the reasons we picked Swift is because they seem to have a pretty high load ratio to drivers. That tells me they should be able to keep us busy.

I'm just curious what any drivers who have gone through the Academy training think about it - and you're all welcome to PM me if you don't care to say it in here.

Originally Posted by Ghost Driver

Yeah, I agree with you 100% on this. One of the reasons we picked Swift is because they seem to have a pretty high load ratio to drivers. That tells me they should be able to keep us busy.

I'm just curious what any drivers who have gone through the Academy training think about it - and you're all welcome to PM me if you don't care to say it in here.

Interesting post. I wonder what other companies have that same ratio? I bet CRE, Schneider, and other mega carriers do. By the way a very mature, and smart reason for picking a company

Originally Posted by bamalu

Interesting post. I wonder what other companies have that same ratio? I bet CRE, Schneider, and other mega carriers do. By the way a very mature, and smart reason for picking a company

Thank you for the compliment.

Several mega-carriers do have a decent load to driver ratio by the way...Our choice was decided over several factors, though:

1) Coverage of training. Although my wife and I have CDLs and up-to-date DOT physicals, that means nothing since we've been off the road for six years. Both of us agreed a refresher course at minimum, full school at best would be a wise choice for us. Also, we didn't want to have to shell out $7k for the two of us to go through a school before getting hired on. Granted, that would give us a wider choice, but we're on a tight budget as it is just to pay for the food, cover our rent and bills during the time we're in training and on the road before we get a real paycheck.

2) Load to driver ratio. If they've got a lot of drivers sitting, why would they want a couple more? If we can't make the wheels turn, we can't make the money, no matter how motivated of a driver I am.

3) Maintenance program. Same reason as #2.

4) Coverage area. We don't want dedicated runs that cover 3 whole states that you get to see every single day. We want to hit all 48.

5) Forced dispatch. It's a bad idea. No company should have it. 'nuff said.

When we added everything up, Swift stood out over the others. They're willing to train without a penny out of our pocket up front (critical) they have a good load to driver ratio, they have a reliable maintenance program, they run all 48 without forced dispatch.

Last but not least, we liked the look of their trucks. Decent logo and they seem to have a nice variety of equipment.

Of course, the bottom line is how they treat their drivers and I'm sure just as most mega-carriers out there, your mileage will vary on this factor from driver to driver.

I've been with Swift a few months now and went through their school in Millington, TN. So far, seems like a pretty fair and decent company.

Don't be late and don't hit anything and you'll be gold with this company.

The ones that complain and sit around the lounge waiting are the ones that turn loads down and are high maintenance.

There are plenty of loads to be had here... just dig your heels in and do your work well, you'll be fine here.

Originally Posted by Ghost Driver

Decent logo...

Yeah that nice, long sweeping "S" is pretty nifty...