Swift Southeast Regional and how many miles to expect

TWIC is really good if you go tankers. Also, companies are hurting for drivers right now, so ignore "experience requires" and apply anyway. Most companies have online applications. Start the applications right now, don't wait until you graduate, then pick through the job offers for the one you like best.

R. A. Jeffreys Distributing Company, largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in N.C.
Southeastern Freight Lines
Sysco
Florida Rock & Tank
Bay & Bay Transportation
Cargo Transporters
D.M. Bowman Inc.
Epes

 

Tanker companies that hire new CDL grads:
____________________________________

Schneider Bulk
Trimac
Superior Carriers
CTL Transportation
Tidewater Transit
SVTN

Coast-to-coast teams:

Cargo Transporters
WLA Inc.
Cooke Trucking Company
Watkins-Shepard
Inman Trucking Co.

There you go; lots of trucking companies listed on your thread. Many you may not hear about in CDL school.

 

Don't base your decision on cents per mile; that's only one part of the total pay package. Cents per mile doesn't mean much if the other pays aren't there and the miles aren't there.

Here's a good company:

Founded in 2005, TRIBE Transport is one of the fastest growing minority carriers in North America. Outfitted with state of the art equipment, we specialize in deep frozen and temp controlled transportation. Trucks equipped with refrigerators and Tri-Pac APU's. That's the owner in the picture.

 

No, they're not the same across the board; too many variables. For example, running regional, the runs are shorter and if you're pulling reefers the wait times can kill your week for pay on those short runs unless you're getting good detention pay that starts in 1 or 2 hours and not 4 - 6 hours with the junk companies. You will do good with any of the tanker companies; no issue there. If you go with reefers, look for companies that let solo drivers do West Coast turns. If you do teams, I listed some companies that you will do West Coast turnarounds constantly.
Some companies show all their terminals on the websites, and for example, Tyson and Navajo have terminals scattered from East Coast to West Coast which means there's some good long runs there. One Tyson driver posted he bumped $60K in 12 months running solo. There's some reefer drivers making that kind of money and the key is time management. They're on Elogs and have time management down to a science. It takes a while, but you will learn it also.
The easy money is in tankers. I'll admit, I did enjoy flatbed, reefers and tankers.

Howard Transportation is the transportation department of Howard Industries. They have 3 factories and haul their own freight, which is good. Tyson hauls their own product and usually give their junk runs to outside carriers such as KLLM.

 

it is amazing how a driver can make a statement and then contradict themselves in the next sentence! If you are spoon fed several 500 mile trips with huge delivery windows a week how are you getting 2500+ miles a week on the average? If you work anywhere including Swift, you are not. You are correct that is what Swift does. It is typical at Swift to get a week filled with a couple of 500 mile loads with 3 day windows. That is then your week 1000 miles for 6 days work. The next week might be the same or you might get lucky and get a 1700 mile run in 5 days. It all averages out to less than 1500 miles a week average for the Swift driver.

No where near the 2500-3000 the recruiter promised by the recruiter. That is why Swift needs a recruiter. The need to lie about the income to entice people to work for them since 100% who do are out the door before one years of service. It is hard to work a full time and a half job earning 1500miles @ .24cpm; about $360 a week before taxes and insurance.

As far as the rest of the post. That crap came from a recruiter's/DM's mouth as well. Repeating the same institutionalized BS does not make it more true. Joseph Goebbels said, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." That pretty much sums up Swifts recruitment philosophy.

 

That part is true. However the reason it is true is Swift is having such a problem with driver retention they had to boost their pay scale by about $.04cpm. The reason they have a problem with retention is the low income, or low miles, a Swift driver gets now they are on elog.

$.34 cpm is no great income though. I believe crete will start you out at $.39 cpm and you are like to get more miles.

 

Reading comprehension failure. Perhaps you missed this part:

How long have you worked for Swift?

What you are describing is what happens to the lazy, entitlement minded drivers that slept through the government-paid CDL class. They pick up a load Friday morning, with a delivery 500 miles away with a window 0000 Saturday to 2359 Monday. Rather than delivering on Saturday, they sit in the driver's lounge at the local truck stop the whole weekend, grousing to anyone who will listen about how their miles suck at Swift. They deliver Monday night, and get a Tuesday morning load that delivers by Friday night.

Why do they only get 1000 mile weeks? Because they have repeatedly shown their DM that it takes them three days to go 500 miles.

If I pick up a Friday morning load, I'll be there as soon as I legally can. Pick up another 500 mile run on Saturday, deliver Sunday, and so on.

If it averages 1500 miles/week for Swift drivers, I must be carrying two 1000 mile lazy bums. My typical week is 2200-2800 miles. I can't remember the last 1500 mile week I've had without taking time off. I currently have 2300 miles of preplans on the Qualcomm for next week, and that will likely be revised upward as the week progresses.

That "crap" came from me, not a recruiter. I live it every day out on the road, and my wheels keep moving. Please tell me where your information came from; I'd like to know.