Questions for swift veterans

Greetings
This is kind of a long post, but please bear with me.

I am posting this because I am trying to find veterans that are succeeding in the trucking industry. I want to learn from the masters. I am about to go back into it for the second time.

About 2 years I worked for a larger carrier. I quit because I had some problems with loads and miles which they attributed to the economy and the fact that I was also only doing regional runs. I'm going to try to keep an open mind and try to believe them.

This time I have every intention on going complete over the road, cross-country.

The company I am going with this time is Swift Transportation. The only problem is whenever I google them on the Internet, it seems like 90 per cent of the information I get are complaints. A lot of them seem to be far-fetched and embellished. Whenever I read through these complaints some of the things I read that people are claiming Swift has done to them just does not seem reasonable or realistic.

There seems to be two primary complaints about Swift. The main one, which I will be exempt from, is their driving school. This I know there is proof of. Hopefully that is a training issue they will resolve. I already have my CDL plus about a year and a half of driving experience so I won't have to worry about this anyway.

The second complaint is the home time. Like I said, this time I'm specifically looking for cross-country and don't expect to be home for at least 2 or 3 months at a time.

The third complaint, not as prevalent but does show up, is miles, but it seems to be more from people who become owner operators for them. I have no interest in becoming an owner operator in this economy.

I think or at least I feel that 90 per cent of the complaints in general related to the trucking industry and the companies has to do with the fact that the job is a very lonely job.

People by nature are social creatures. If you're not use to isolation and working by you're self then this is not the industry for you. It seems the vast majority of the complaints about these companies and jobs in general are manifesting from that. Instead of admitting that it was not something they expected or could deal with, they just want to blame the company or industry in general and trump up whatever they can think of or blow events and causes out of porportion.

What I am trying to find out or try to learn from the veterans is how to succeed working for a larger company like swift. My main concern is miles. I have a wife and a daughter that are completely dependent on me. I need health insurance and miles. If Swift will give me the loads and the miles, I will drive that truck until it falls apart.

I already talked to my recruiter. This is something I will have to work on but like he told me, If I want to increase my availability for loads then I have to increase my ability to take various types of loads including Canadian bound cargo's and Hazardous materials loads. I already have my passport so I'm covered on the Canadian Loads. I just have to wait until I have the money for my HAZMAT endorsement.

The last company I worked for I never refused any loads and don't plan on it with Swift either. Just unfortunate the region I live in is and was doing very poorly economically. Everyone I have talked to that seems to be making it in the trucking industry have all told me the same thing and that is that I need to go cross country and get away from this part of the country. Once out of this area I will do fine.

Being away from home is going to be a little rough at first but everyone should adjust to it. My plan is to drive over the road for a couple of years, with one company, and afterwards hopefully find something locale.

I'm taking my laptop with me and we just purchased a wireless Internet connection and a couple of web cameras to try to make it a little easier on everyone. I kind of look at it like the military in a way. It's a necessary time away from home and that I will just have to suck it up and deal with it until I have enough experience for something locale.

What suggestions might you have for me? Any would be appreciated. Please don't tell me to avoid Swift like the plague because if that's the case it's too late. I already gave my employer a two-week notice and have my orientation date for Swift. Besides it would not matter anyway. I have been out of the industry long enough now that whatever experience I did have does not count anymore and I have to start all over. Major carriers like swift are the only ones that will hire me now. Swift is the only one in my area hiring.

Swift is one of the largest carriers in the country and is much larger then the last one I worked for. As such I am hoping they were and are still able to fair the economy better because of their size.

I know swift has a lot of complaints but for some reason 90 per cent of the work force anymore, no matter who they work for, or what industry they work in, seem to be extremely demanding and picky and will complain and cry about everything. As such dispatchers screw them on their loads because they are tired of hearing it.

I think another problem with this industry is that so many people complain about it that eventually everyone starts to believe it even if it's not true. As a result people go to work for these companies with a screwed up mind set already believing there a bad company to work for. As a result they have problems that are probably self created and have already set them selves up for failure.

I'm not going to respond or reply to anyone that bad mouths swift. What may not have worked for you, may work for someone else.

What I want to know is what are the veterans doing at these larger companies to succeed at what they are doing? I'm only going to learn by observing those that have done it.
Thank you

 

I did not know they put their long haul loads on trains....err.

 

This is about what I have been hearing from everyone in regards to these larger companies. As long as you're willing to work you usually should not have any problems with them. Every so often, as with any trucking company, you get a hold of dispatchers that don't know what they are doing and as a result people blame the company.

That's the thing though. A lot of people are very difficult to please. They want everything for nothing. Don't get me wrong, in a perfect world I myself would want that too, but you have to be realistic. You only get what you pay for or work for.

There was another point someone made in here and that is that swift is the largest company and as such they're going to get the largest number of complaints. Makes logical sense to me.

It just kind of surprised me though when I first posted this post. The moderator of this site moved it to this location and sent me an email telling me that I was taking a huge risk by going with Swift, that they had ruined many drivers careers. I thought these moderators were supposed to be "neutral" but whatever. That's the kind of stuff that gives Swift a bad name. You always here about the bad experience much more then you do the good. As a result you go into a situation already thinking negatively. I don't work for them yet, but it just seems to me that if the company was really that bad it would effect their customers and as a result they would go out of business.

I worked for a Security firm once for over 5 years. They are a locale firm. They had a very bad reputation at the time. Everyone kept telling me I was going to get screwed. At the time though, they were the only ones that were offering medical benefits. I went to work for them, worked for them for five years and never had a single problem. Most of the people who were quitting or getting fired either were no call no shows, late all the time, refused to work certain shifts, had hygiene issues, bad personalities, and etc and etc and those were the ones that were doing 90 per cent of the complaining.

I'm trying like hell to keep a positive neutral opinion about Swift. People will always complain more then they will praise.