Leaving Swift - my thoughts

Howdy all! I first posted on this forum years ago when I was first looking to become a trucker. I went through Swift's academy in Phoenix nearly 3 years ago and have been driving with them ever since. I have a thread detailing the academy experience and my time out with my mentor, so I won't rehash that here except to say I am grateful for all I experienced, the good and the bad.

I was homeless living in my car when Swift decided to give me a chance and put me up in Phoenix. I went OTR for them for a year and a local position opened up in Phoenix on one of the daycab fleets. I had been living in vehicles for close to four years at that point, so I decided to take it and ended up getting an apartment, a cat, a car, etc. I was on that fleet for the last year and a half.

Over the last two and a half years, I've had a spotless safety record. No accidents, no service failures, 100% on time, etc.

I never had a problem with home time, or getting home on time.

Overall, I have been very happy with Swift. They were the only company I talked to that was willing to take a chance on me and I will always be grateful. Swift helped me not get my old life back, but start an entirely new one. I'm happier and healthier than I've been at any point in my life.

So why am I leaving Swift?

Swift is a good company but they have a very set business model. They know that the majority of their drivers will be coming to them with little to no trucking experience, stay with them for a few years, and move on. The pay reflects this, and just doesn't become competitive after a few years. That's what led me to look elsewhere and throw out some feelers, just to see what else was out there.

I got a job offer from Ruan as a local/shuttle driver that will still have me home every night and pays two and a half times as much as what Swift was paying me. Longer shuttle runs, activity pay much higher than Swifts, and large jump in CPM.

Some people have wrongfully said that other trucking companies don't count Swift as experience. It ended up being a favor in mine, especially with my clean DAC. The head honcho over at Ruan joked "If you put up with Swift for two and a half years, you should be able to handle anything that WE can throw at you!"

I start orientation there tomorrow.

Swift will work you, but you have to meet them halfway. If you prove you're a dedicated worker, they'll be throwing more loads and miles at you than you know what to do with. It will have its ups and downs, but they are common in every trucking company that's a "starter" like Swift. The same problems you have at Swift will most likely be the same ones you have at Werner, Prime, Schnieder, etc.

There were issues, but I never had an issue come up that I couldn't resolve in a timely manner. Truck issues, payroll issues, benefits, etc. I had some great driver leaders as well. Maybe I just got lucky.

Good luck to everyone who decides to go to Swift. They will give you and almost anyone who wants it the opportunity - but that's all they will give you. It's entirely up to you to make the most of it.

One other thing to mention here, as was mentioned to me - A lot of drivers will get with a starter company and leave after 3 or 6 months to go to something different. You might be able to get a job that pays better initially, but some of the higher paying companies might see this job hopping as a detriment and that you have a lack of loyalty. I believe that sticking with Swift for nearly three years was something that helped in that regard, instead of jumping ship to a new outfit every six months.

 

Do you drive for them? I'll make sure not to miss anything.

Ruan actually had a pretty rough year last year regarding accidents, so I think my clean DAC and MVR really worked in my favor.