swift fired me for two incidents and I just recieved my DAC Has two accidents on it

The industry as a whole has an extremely high "turnover" rate for new drivers. It's not just Swift. Most of the time, it's because the new drivers didn't realize the changes that would take place in their lives by becoming OTR drivers. Many thought it was fun and games, just sit around in the truck all the time and not have to do any actual work.

We were just discussing on another thread how a Swifty got his knickers all bunched up because a customer wanted him to sweep the trailer out. He was so incensed about the request he turned around and left the shipper. Do you honestly think he will have a job for long?

Before laying a blanket judgment down, how about stepping back and finding out why turnover is high, and whether a certain company's rate is out of sync with the rest of the industry?

A company office guy at a small company was telling how they went through ten drivers in six months for a single position. Not because the company sucked, so much as the experienced drivers they were hiring didn't want to work on weekends, drive at night, go outside a certain distance from home, maintain their equipment....you know, all those things drivers need to do in order to turn the miles that earn them money.

Point is, people enter this industry with the misconception they will be allowed to be prima donnas who never have to get their hands dirty or work variable schedules. That is a huge reason for high failure rates. Want to eliminate much of this? Don't allow recruiters to blow smoke up people's arses, tell the whole truth about the job and make it clear that while in a truck, you are expected to work. If that is too much to ask, then don't bother applying.

Same goes for office people. However. There must be a reason office staff at Swift are not so afraid of the drivers that drivers can walk into any office in the company. Some have to "buzz you in," but access is granted. Many companies won't do that.

 

These 2 paragraphs ought to be required reading for anybody who is considering entering this industry in ANY capacity,IMHO.

 

Shouldn't I be paid more to work nights ? Shouldn't I be paid overtime to work the weekends ? Oh since your a truck driver you should put in 70 hours a week and get paid less than non-drivers that work 40,,, yea sign me up !!

 

For some people, it really bites to be paid for what they produce. Those folks should either join unions or become politicians. Then they won't have to worry about it.

 

You think truck drivers are the only ones with that deal ... Try working a straight commission job some time - 12/18 hours a day, 7 days week, you have to get your own leads, no pay without a sale and you may go weeks without sale.

 

24 hours a Day? Away from your family for 3 to 5 weeks at a time? Really? Truckers are the only ones being paid below minimum wage consistantly and it is getting worse.....The only way to make things better is pick a arbitrary day, everybody in a truck pulls over and stops for 48 hours....Now those jobs might get some...little...insignificant attention to the big elephant in the room called Management profit to the share holder.

 

Well to put it frankly...there are a lot of people in this country in all fields that frankly don't want to work..they simply want a check to sit on their rear ends and not do a darn thing. Generally the ones who are always whining constantly fall into that category. There are times where workers will have a legitimate complaints and that's to be expected.

 

Probably not a whole lot of point in responding to someone who has been banned, but I will anyway. We don't work 24hrs a day, not even close, and if you don't want to be away from your family don't become a truck driver.

I see and hear quite a few drivers complaining about stuff and blaming the company or the industry or the gov't when what they are complaining about is just part of the job. For a trucker to complain about being away from home is like a plumber complaining about crawling under a house or a porta-potty servicer complaining about the smell.

 

Uh...carpenters whining about slivers? Don't they get a pass?

 

Nope! They should have worn gloves!