3 months in otr and I like.......

If you stay with swift for two years your leaving thousands of dollars on the table. Start looking at the one year mark. If your in their hiring area magnum will hire you at .47 per mile plus up to 8.5 cpm in monthly bonus’s (my bonus averages 900 to 1000 a month) plus their trucks come with a tripac apu, inverter, fridge, and you can add direct tv for 5 bucks a month. And that’s just one option to look into. Shop around and find the best deal for you.

 

What if Swift is the best deal for that member? If he's content, I don't saying this to him. I get you're trying to get Magnum out there, and I concede they appear to be a nice option as I nearly went to them, but while Magnum works for you, it may not work for the next guy. Just like Swift does work for some drivers. That's a other thing that messes up drivers. Talking to other drivers and hearing recruiting speeches when they're already happy causes some of them to second guess their situation. My friend is terrible with that. He has left good outfits just because drivers pitched to him while he was happy where he was at, only to go to that other company, and it doesn't deliver to what the original driver said. Not saying that Magnum won't, but if a driver's happy and not looking to move at the moment, I'd say save the recruiting pitch.

 

Not pitching magnum as much as giving him motivation to at least explore his options. Magnum might not be a fit for him, but another company might. I just hate to see folks leave money on the table when they could be making more for the same work. Swift rarely is the best deal for a driver with some experience.

 

Maybe I'm in midlife crisis.
i enjoy the road now more than ever.
And I loved it to begin with.

Tried everything else. But the highways always
Call me back.
There's nothing like it.
I wont do any other type of trucking again.
Give me a 1000 mile load to anywhere, I'm in.

 

Thanks for the advice. This whole trucking thing for me, is about much more than the money. I am semi-retired but still need some income, but it is about alot more than just the money. It is a wonderful adventure this far. Swift has been very good to me and I work with a Driver Leader, Manager and Terminal Leader who are great to me. They have kept their promises and thus far earned my loyalty. They understand my motivations are not quite what most others are and seem to tailor my loads to my desires (going different places, occasional days off just because I like having regular breaks and don't wish to constantly run on recap hours, etc.). I'm not sure if I would find such elsewhere very easily. That said, I do like the idea of having a truck with better amenities, such as an APU. Also, I get no push back shutting down for weather or anything else related to being safe. If I don't feel comfortable and safe with something, I don't do it. They actually seem to prefer that I am on the cautious side where safety is concerned. My DL explained it like this, it is alot easier to contend with a late pick-up or delivery than to deal with a wreck, property damage, resulting lawsuits, etc. I explained to her, that for me, it was more about self-preservation. It is my butt in that seat and I am not an adrenaline junkie. If I'm not comfortable with conditions and don't feel I am safe doing something, I ain't gonna do it.

 

I started my career with Swift. Spent 2+ years with them. My only complaint was lack of miles and no long haul OTR for solo drivers, at least not for this solo driver. Always seemed to get stuck in a region and run like a local driver. Particularly California. Once you got in, you never seemed to be able to get out! I seemed to average about 2000 per week. Seems like a good fit for you. Good luck.

 

Then go, not being nasty, but do what you like, You can make just as good of money. Back in the 80's I had a great little side businees going int he Marina Marine electronics, and did not have anyone tell me, If you enjoy it and it will make you a good living what are you waiting for, Nike say's it correct, "Just Do It", Looking back If i were to have hung in there just a bit longer it would have built a great business...

 

So far, most of my loads are around 1000 miles. I've had several in the 1500 mile range a couple 2000 or more. Sometimes I do short runs of like 60 miles or so. I think it is kind of an, I help you out, you help me out. They know my load preferences and how I like to run and plan trips. But, I let them know, I will do what you need me to do. So, sometimes I'll get a couple quick short runs, but they always follow them up with several runs that I really like. Seldom, almost never, have I been 'stuck' waiting for a load when I wanted to run. Usually, if things are a bit slow, I take advantage of it and take a day or two off. Get my batteries recharged a bit and ready to run again. I did have an issue getting hometime when I needed to be home for a Dr. Appointment. But, learned some stuff about it and what I can do to help my chances in the future. I have that appointment rescheduled for the beginning of June. We'll see. I did tell my DL that if it looks like they will be unable to get me home in time for this one, I'm gonna park my truck at the nearest Terminal and rent a car to get home. I used to rent cars fairly regularly in my last job, so I still get really good rental rates as a loyal 'platinum ' (or something like that) customer at Enterprise. In the end, you just gotta be patient, flexible and roll with what's going on. Reality doesn't care how you feel about it. It simply is what it is and wasting bad emotional energy on something you can't change because you are frustrated and upset that it isn't going your way is a completely wasted and useless thing to do. Besides, sometimes not getting what you want turns out to be a good thing. I got 'stuck' for a weekend in Kansas City with my truck in the shop (I was just passing through KC on the load I was taking) and it just happened to be Superbowl weekend. Ended up having a marvelous time being in the city that won the Superbowl. Total haptance that I was there. If I had been all flustered about the unexpected inconvenience, I could have missed out on having such an unexpected wonderful time.

 

No need to hang out in Truckstops. Fuel, shower, maybe sleep.

 

Understood, but people pick certain carriers for reasons unbeknownst to you and I. Swift does seem to have many options so that is a check mark for them in my book. As far as it being the best deal for an experienced driver, that's a subjective statement. For example if they are on a dedicated run, that has decent hometime, that may be a good deal for a driver and his/her family. That way they run the same lanes.