SWIFT or Stevens ??

Go with refrigerated trucking. Don't do dry van.
Swift Reefer or Stevens Transport reefer.
Today reefers or flatbed is best, in this current economy.
You'll probably get more miles with Stevens, but either Stevens or Swift Refrigerated is a good choice.
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Tell the Swift recruiter you're not interested unless its reefers.

 

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I love the reefer life as long as it's long coast-to-coast runs.
That's just me though. Did that 18 years with no regrets.
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Stevens runs 48 states. Not sure about freight lanes with Swift Refrigerated, so ask about that.

 

Swift has terminals & dropyards all over the US -- especially compared to Stevens.

All those locations greatly expand your parking options at the end of your shifts; not a big deal now....but it will be, later.

With Swift -- you can try out dry van, reefer, intermodal ..& also flatbed freight types -- & all without changing employers.

Thus -- Swift would be the obvious 1st choice.

-- L

 

Today van is better than flatbed. Maybe in your time reefer got more miles but it’s just not accurate today.

2,676 miles is what I just delivered this morning.
Now at a pickup for another 1,605 mile run and I don’t even classify this as a long haul.

My short runs were actually when I did reefer.

Reefer blows like the wind

My truck is a 2023 with 340,000 miles.. I didn’t gain those miles from doing short distance runs.

 

I thought you're an owner-operator?

 

Yes I am.

yah know it’s kind of funny in a way..
I was in Laurel Montana Saturday and had a
flatbed o/o come up to me and says that he heard dry van was paying more than flat.

He had been sitting 3 days and counting trying to get something that paid. Best he could find was $0.85 cents per mile. Also that he was thinking to trade the flatbed in on a van.

I proceeded to show him my Las couple dozen rates and the dude was completely dumbfounded. After talking awhile he just walked back to his truck shaking his head.

Trust me, I peek at reefer rates once in awhile and I don’t see that they’re doing much better. Any that I see with a higher rate is usually a wash after reefer fuel and the other bs that goes with reefer.

Of course I’m talking about spot rates.

Sitting at Norpac picking up a heavy paper load now and just saw a reefer coming in for a dry load, lol. Good luck to him trying to scale 45,000

 

I couldn't deal with all that as an 0/0. Too much responsibility and stress for me. Kudo's to those of you that are successful as 0/0's.
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Rate's don't play into being a company driver. Loads 0/0's turn down, companies with company drivers will take because they work with volume. All that is none of the company drivers business.
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I pulled lots of CH Robinson loads the 0/0's didn't want. I had no say in that; my dispatcher just gave me the load information as to where and when to pick up the load and deliver it.
Pulling reefers, I was never stuck in Florida because pulling reefers we pull dry and refrigerated and hazmat loads and the pay for the driver is the same.

 

Pulling reefers, one load I remember the company couldn't take.
Went to Delaware to get a load of scrap copper from Egypt going to California.
Couldn't load it because I had a metal floor and the pallets of copper had to be nailed to the floor, so needed a wooden floor.