Going with SWIFT...

My husband started at Swift through schooling. We thought this would be great. LOTS of money. (Yeah right!!) So I found I was pregnant and told him he HAD to go anyway. He was gone for six weeks and had to pay for his way there and all his food. We took a loan for almost 3000. YEAH!! He finished schooling and came home. It took them almost two weeks to find a mentor. So he finally gets in a truck. He was with them for about one week and I had some problems with my pregnancy and needed him home. I was eight months along. He came home and went to work for another in-town trucking company. This experience was OK
So he worked for this other company for almost two years. He wanted to go back over the road. He called Swift and they hired him back immediately. He had to go through orientation again and had to wait for a mentor again. Finally he was on the road. They put him with the mentor for two weeks. (He was on the bus on his birthday to go to Lewiston. Id. They found him a truck of his own and his mentor dropped him off. Mind you this is in the dead of winter when he gets his own truck, finding that the tires are bad and the air filter was not taken care of and the few other small issues. Ok so now he is in his own truck and finally gets to come home on New Year’s Day. So Christmas is over and we get a little time with him. Off he goes again. BUT, he is STILL driving on bad tires and the road is slippery.
He was supposed to be home for Christmas, NOPE that didn't happen. He was home the beginning of January. FINALLY some home time. At this point he has been gone for almost five weeks. We got to have a few days with him, and then off he went again. So into February, valentines, my birthday, all missed. I wanted to go with him but we have two small children.
Now he not only is fighting to get some home time but also to get paid. March, April, May, all go by and he has not gotten paid for layover, breakdown or reimbursements. By this time we have been late on every house payment, skipped a month on our loan, all our house bills are late and they say it is because he is not accepting loads. (He never turned any of them down even if it meant he was not home for a holiday.
We have now sold our home and moved out of state. He was informed that he was trained incorrectly and still has not been paid for some services. If you are really considering Swift make sure you are young and single or old and your kids are grown.
In the end he quit, in May, because Swift owed him over $800 dollars in layover and breakdown pay; he got $600 of it and Swift screwed him out of $200. So if your heart is set on Swift my advice is, BEWARE and defiantly keep track of your pay and what you spend on the company. Make sure you get reimbursed for out of pocket pay.


Good luck and drive safe.

 

This sounds more like your husband isn't cut out for the trucking life. Being out for a month or more at a time is not uncommon. I don't know what happened, but I have no idea why you would your husband to start as an OTR truck driver when you're 8 months pregnant unless you had no other options! While it's good that worked out, the life of an OTR trucker is very, VERY different than a local driver...and it's just not healthy for most families with small children. Not being home for holidays, birthdays, or when you're hoping to is par for the course no matter what company you work with. I hope he gets the local job again so he can be home with his family, but really, nothing here is Swift's fault except for the reimbursements. I would still fight for those.

 

It's Not a Job, ( for the young man or woman with a family )


OTR is a lifestyle, as SayNo2Swift2011 found out the hard way! Hometime? What Hometime.

These are the same pitfalls you will find at any Over-The-Road Fleet. Forget about being home for holidays ontime unless you live near a hub city (DFW, ATL,CHI, NYC, LAX. etc...). If your from some small town in BFE It's just harder getting home cause there has to be a load running your way. I saw my Significant other 4 times in one year, I would take a whole week off duty. It actually was better than trying to squeeze 3 days into a visit. It turned out she lost her job due to Layoffs, and we shutdown the house, put everything in storage. she is now my partner on the road. We run two to three weeks and then pick somewhere to take 3 to 4 days off in a hotel, it's our choice. we spend half as much living out here on the road and get to travel coast to coast. After five years of driving I can't imagine going back to a regular 9-5 job and running back and forth on the same streets day after day just to make a living. To me Living is getting up knowing we are not strapped to a mortgage and all the crap that goes into maintaining a living space. That is fine for some, but Living ON-THE-ROAD is a lifestyle we have come to enjoy, The USA is not as Big as you think and Solo drivers will tell you its fairly common to become Nation Wide! meaning you know all the best places to hang out when traveling.

Honestly, there are too many new drivers coming into the system only to find out it is very tough being seperated from family and friends the first year or two, but look at how many Old-Timers there are out here. Most know the sacrifices and yet they still do it. My estimate the average joe driver is over between 42 and 62 with a wife and grown kids. With todays creature comforts in the truck, TV, Refrig, Cell, Laptop, and Cozy little Bunk! (Sleeper Birth) It can have its benefits.

 

To PopMartian

Thanks for your post about husbands and wives living together in the truck, something we are talking about, sure glad it will work for some people and am so looking forward to spending my days and nights with him. Thanks and stay safe

 

yes the passport card does allow you into canada and mexico by land only ...i have one and it works greats

 

Hi folks.....Id like to lend my 2cents worth if i may.....I currently work for Swift and have for the last 2yrs. I have never had an issue with my Driver Manager getting me the accesory pay like breakdown layover or even detention pay. As long as you do the proper macros on the qualcomm system you will get the pay. To Sayno2swift, Congrats on the pregnancy, sorry to hear about the family problems, yes drivers are gone for long periods of time..me i average 3 -4weeks on the road, and 4 days off. Im out of the Syracuse NY Terminal. theres a saying thats true for all job types" you go where to work is" I do go all over and yes my wife does miss me...I started this job 2 days after we got married. now i do make more money on average ten i did as a licensed electrician.....yea i know a shock to me too. downside yes i do miss birthdays,holidays etc....been home for xmas every year so far..yes it is a lifestyle change but it can be done.....good luck and i will answer any questions if you or anyone else have any

 

So one guy bad experience makes the company worse company in the world??I don't think so.Also that's trucking,there times where you be on the road on a major holiday like Xmas,unless you put your home time request in early,your not going to get home on time.Swift an't the greatest company but its by far the worse.

 

I had to fight tooth and nail to get my DM to promise to get me home on Christmas. 3 days after they sent out the message "anyone not requesting to run on Christmas? We are working to get you home." I had to remind her of that.