Swift and Experienced Drivers

I'm seeing a lot of folks very recently who had prehires from Swift, quit their current jobs, went to orientation only to be sent home for whatever reason. I am not starting this thread to talk smack about either the drivers who were sent home or Swift. I am starting this so I can tell my own story of being re-hired by Swift after running for other companies for two years.

I started my driving career with Swift after finding out from the doctors I would not be fighting fire or being a medical responder any more. I was physically qualified to drive, but not to wear 75 pounds of gear and carry a charged fire hose into a burning building or to lift the end of a gurney loaded with a 300 pound patient. So I called Swift and they were more than happy to run me through the school, road train me and then hand me the keys to a $110,000 piece of equipment. I stayed with Swift as a company driver for just over a year with an impeccable safety and service record and then chose to leave of my own accord.

I drove for two companies in the interim: a small company out of Michigan that ended up folding because of the American Axel strike and then for Prime. I have no serious issues with Prime. It just wasn't working out. So, I applied to Swift for rehire. I had been warned by other Swift drivers that a person who quits never gets hired back. I had never completely lost contact with Swift, because I would call my Driver Manager occasionally just to see how things were going. Each time I talked to him, he would always ask when I was going to be back.

When I decided to leave Prime, I called my DM back and asked him how my timing was. Turns out my timing was perfect. He put some notes in my file and gave me the name of who to talk to in Phoenix about returning to Swift. I opted to return as an Independent Contractor because I did not want to sneak my dog onto a company truck, nor was I about to get rid of him. So, I called and began the process of rehire. I was told that since I had been gone so long, it would be as if I was coming into the company cold.

I told the recruiter everything I could think of that might show up on my DAC. It's really not very much. I had one single fix-it ticket for a flasher light I couldn't find at any truck stop and a trailer tandem pin that was not engaged. I was less that 200 miles from the terminal and explained to the officer I was headed there and I knew about the problems. This was in February. I have no safety violations and no service failures for Swift, Celtic or Prime. She wrote all my information down and said she'd call me back. One week....two weeks....my DM called to see what was up and I told him I hadn't heard anything. He put a message through to the recruiter: "Hey, where's my driver?"

And she finally called me back in the third week. We made arrangements to fill out the paperwork and she emailed me all the necessary forms. I filled them out and faxed them back. Now the waiting game started. Turns out they could verify my employment with Celtic even though the company was no longer active, but Prime was giving them the run-around. I made several phone calls to Prime and was able to straighten it out so Swift could get what they needed. This took almost a month. Meanwhile, I was still running hard for Prime. I did not slack off just because there was something else cooking.

With the paperwork shuffle almost completed, I managed to get a load going through Phoenix. I drove my Prime bobtail over to the Swift yard for my drug test and physical. Parked it right in the middle of all the Swift trucks that are up for lease. Kind of looked funny all those Swifts and a Prime right in the middle of them...but that's where Security told me to park, so who am I to argue? I went to the recruiting department first so I could introduce myself to them and was told what to do from there. During the time I was in the recruiting department, I went over to speak with the background check lady to see what our progress was thus far. Everything seemed to be in order...except for one little piece of paper from Prime. One phone call and one fax later, they had everything they needed. I went to the medical office for my physical and wizz quiz and then left with a valid two-year medical card in my possession.

My paperwork had to go through one or two more steps before my hire was final. I did not quit my job or turn in my keys to Prime until I had a final okay to hire on with Swift. This took persistence and a lot of phone calls. I was the pest from H-E-Double Hockeysticks....but I was on top of the entire process from start to finish. Toward the end of it, I was talking to the hiring lady at least once every business day. When I got the final okay, I got another load going through Phoenix and dropped my dog and most of my stuff off with my daughter. By this time, everyone at Prime knew I was leaving. I was very careful to be sure the process was finished before I quit the job I had. I had heard too many stories of people getting "hired" and then getting sent home.

I got back to the Prime yard in Springfield, MO, cleaned out the rest of my stuff, wiped down the truck, went through the final inspection and turned in the keys. Then I was on my way to Swift. As a fully hired independent contractor with a contract written and waiting for numbers and signatures. I had already prearranged what terminal I would be out of and who my DM would be. Of course, I returned to the same board I was on when I left.

It's a lengthy story, but there are things to pay attention to:

First, tell your recruiter everything you can possibly think of and if you forget something but remember it later, call him or her back. Don't leave anything out and for gosh sakes, don't lie. Call back a dozen times if necessary.

Second: Don't rely on turning in the application. Turn it in, call to make sure they got it, find out who your processor person is and talk to that person. Find out what extra paperwork he or she will need and get it to them as promptly as possible. You are asking to work for them They are not asking you to work there. Therefore, it is up to you to get all your ducks in line.

Third: Make sure they have talked to Safety or Personnel or whoever, especially if you have anything that might be considered even close to being questionable. This is before you even consider giving notice to your current job. Also make sure the person you are talking to at Swift knows you have not given notice to your current job and that you won't until you know you have another job waiting for you. I told my hiring person this numerous times. She understood the fact I did not want to take that kind of risk.

Fourth: Ask whether your background checks are completed. If they tell you they are waiting for one more piece of paper or one more phone call to come in, find out who they are waiting on and call that contact yourself. Don't just wait for them to do it. Again, they didn't ask you to apply to them. You did that on your own and should be responsible enough to help them get whatever information they need.

Fifth: Make absolutely certain there is nothing else they need and that everyone who needs to has given approval. THEN give notice to your current employer. I cannot stress this enough. Recruiters will push to get you into orientation as fast as they possibly can. That's how they make brownie points. They will blow sunshine up your behind until they are blue in the face....but it's not their numbers that should concern you. You are taking a leap of faith that you will have a job when you show up. Once your behind is in that orientation chair, you no longer exist to that recruiter. If everything has not been completed, something may come around and bite you in the backside. Don't just talk to the recruiter about this. Talk to the hiring person who is handling your file. That's who will really know what your status is. Ask specific questions: How's my DAC look? Have you contacted JoeBob at XYZ Company? Did they return everything? What did Safety say about that ticket?

Sixth: DO NOT and I mean DO NOT show up to orientation until you are sure everything has been completed and you are eligible for hire. As I said before, they didn't knock on your door. You knocked on theirs. You have to be proactive about your own life...and that means your career as well. It may take longer from application to orientation, but when you show up at that Swift terminal, you will have very little to worry about getting sent home.

Swift is no longer hiring any warm body with a pulse. They have gotten very selective over the past few years. This has a lot to do with CSA2010, but it also has to do with company image. Swift's upper management is getting tired of their company being the butt of all the "dumb truck driver" jokes and stories ever thought up. They are ready to pass that torch on. Most experienced drivers don't pass muster. That's a fact. It's because almost every driver with two or more years out here has something on his or her DAC.

The opinion among drivers is they can apply for Swift and will automatically get a job because Swift will hire anybody. They do not stay on top of their own hiring process and show up cold at orientation not knowing what may come in during that first or second day. If you have a fresh accident or serious ticket (fresh within the past three years) I would suggest putting at least three years between yourself and whatever it is. All companies are considering CSA2010 when they look at a potential employee. Swift's standards are a little higher.

To the guys and gals who found all this out the hard way, I am so sorry it worked out the way it did. I refuse to place blame on anybody's doorstep or flame anyone for what may have happened. To the rest who may be considering Swift, don't slam any doors behind you at your current employer. You never know if you will have to open them again. I am still eligible for rehire at Prime if I ever choose to return. But I am happy to be back with Swift.

Good luck to you all.

 

Dick: go to Volvo and spec out a 670 to Swift standards, price it and then come back and tell the rest of us what the bottom line is.

I don't give two craps what Swift pays for their equipment. I know what I would have to pay for that same piece of equipment on the open market.

 

To be fair, spec out a brand new one. I don't buy used and all the lease trucks sitting in Phoenix are brand new. I don't care what used trucks are selling for. No side windows on the T2's???

I have no idea which ones you're looking at.

But please go ahead and prove me wrong. I'm a big girl, I can handle it.

 

But we weren 't talking about lease trucks anyway. We were talking about company trucks. When I was a company driver with three months total on the road, I was sent to Phoenix and the keys to a brand new Volvo 670 with 29 miles on it handed to me. This is what I meant when I mentioned being given the keys to a $110K piece of equipment.

And Swift trucks are hardly "stripped." If you think that's stripped, go look inside a Prime. Their Cascadias don't even have a trolley brake handle or suspension air dump.