Swift: Free School for Veterans, Big Discount for Reserves/National Guard

Working for one year making .22 cents per mile is not a "free" training opportunity. I'm active duty Army myself, IT'S not free, BECAUSE you can get it free with OUT any obligation for your GI BIll. Even if you want to stay a year, they can fire you and you'd have to pay the tuition! Don't expect a "Thank's for your service!" Honestly, if they really were doing something good for the Veterans, there would be no obligation. ONE MORE TIME, with the GI BILL, you don't need their bait and switch scholarship, have it paid for out right. There's probably more than 1,000, probably unlimited amount. Just like those "Hurry, the next 20 callers will get DOUBLE the offer! Act now!" 20 or 20,000 callers, they all get the same offer because its a gimmick!

 

RickG, you hit it on the head too! I wonder how they make so much money?

 

Swifts turnover rate is right at 90%.
40 terminals putting 35 new drivers through orientation every week times 52 weeks=72,800
Now only half that number make it the first week, thats 36,400
After 6 sixs weeks with a mentor only half that number will stay to be put in a truck, thats 18,200
Then 90% of that number will not stay or will be let go within the first year leaving 182.
Thats the way it was explained to me by the COO himself.

As for pay swift starts at .25 a mile solo but quickly goes up, nobody is driving a year at that pay.

http://swift.drivers-central.com/swift-transportation/driver-pay.cfm

 

Why the HECK would a veteran who has already been to hell and back want go to SWIFT to be put through more hell?

 

I do have a family, but am not going to focus on time home per say for the first year or so, hopefully I will have proved myself by then.

I will be moving back down to southern Arkansas before I take my CDL, so I will be hired out of that state.

I have started thinking that if I use my GI bill for the truck school, then I won't be able to use it for anything else if the trucking thing doesn't work out, and there are some other companies that have a better tuition program than swift, from what I have read. I think experiences vary by who is going through it, as does everything. If your a lazy dirtbag with a bad attitude, more than likely you are going to have a horrible experience with whatever company you go with. I am finding it hard to believe that these big companies that have to have thousands of happy drivers are really as bad as some say they are. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't, just saying something doesn't add up with all these "horror" stories.

I guarantee if I can handle the Army's BS, i can handle any so called "bottom feeders" BS.....

 

You'll be surprised.

 

Dude, the people on this board KNOW trucking. I know trucking too in a sense. You know your job, the truckers on here know theirs. There are have been hundreds of posts on this, just take our word for it. You would have better luck driving motor coaches.

 

My grandpa, father, and uncle are all truck drivers, i know a little bit about the life. Don't understand you guys coming on here trying to talk people out of the industry. WORK sucks, I did HVAC for 10 years, it was nice, but its all relative. My father, grandpa and uncle have made a very nice living for themselves and seem to be rather happy. they are all hard workers and have done very well at the companies they work for, because of there work ethic and attitude. Seems like most of the posts on this site are from a bunch of whiny cry baby's who would complain no matter what JOB they had. I have been around the type, always complaining about the boss and conditions, and to a certain extent that is fine, heck i even do it sometimes, but to the extent I have seen on this site???? When all I hear is nothing but horrible complaints about the largest most successful trucking companies in the world employing the most people, something does not add up to me. i am sure there are some who got the shaft, happens in every trade or business out there, life is not fair. But I am on the statistics side here and gonna go out on a limb and say that 90% of the employees at said "horrible", "unethical", "crooks","frauds" companies, i.e., bottom feeders, those 90% are happy and glad they work for a reliable company.

I am afraid this site has become a place for the fringe group of people who just have to complain to come to to do just that, complain and have there drama, and tell their side of the story instead of the whole story.

Bottom line, no matter what job you choose, you are going to have to make sacrifices and do a whole slew of things you don't want to do, i have been doing it my whole adult life, trucking is no different.

I have been away from my wife and 3 kids for almost 10 months, we cope and press on. Do you think I wanted to come over here where everyone hates me and is constantly trying to kill me ever day? No, but it is my job, and I am glad i am doing it and taking care of my family in the process. Same when I did HVAC, i didn't really enjoy driving an hour and a half to work one way into the city and try to make something fit that some stupid fresh college graduate drew and worked on paper and now I am sitting here cussing him cause he is an idiot and now I have to change up my whole game plan and am holding up all the other trades from getting there stuff in and now all the bosses are breathing down your neck, plus you have 2 other jobs going on at the same time and your not gonna get home till 8 or 9 at night because you have to go get a job set up for tomorrow and make sure your guys have something to do....what i am trying to say, WORK SUCKS, period, end of story. maybe in different ways, but I can assure you, if you have to work for a living, it is going to SUCK and drive you INSANE.

Maybe I will go back to HVAC, just so I don't have to be around such negative whiners in the trucking industry. With the right attitude you can make anything fun and enjoyable....Dude

So to all truckers out there, turn that frown upside down.....

 

Part of what you posted is true- in regard to the thousands of whiners on this forum. But a minority of us are not- we are experienced drivers still driving- still keeping on keeping on. I, for example, have just shy of a quarter century doing this. You would do well not to dismiss us out of hand and thus deprive yourself of some good, hard won experience. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff of course, but the wheat is there believe me.

Mark

 

I appreciate your comment Mark, I'm not trying to dismiss guys like yourself, but this site in a sense has been taken over largely by these thousands of whiners. I came to this site for research and wisdom and life experience from truckers, but most of what I see are posts from guys with less than 5 years exp. in most cases saying how (insert company here) has screwed them, so don't go there. Well, beings that most of the companies getting a really bad rap have thousands of steady drivers and a solid company, something doesn't jive here. You can't build a good solid company with a bunch of employees that hate your guts, can't do it.

I have taken this thread so far off topic now it is not even funny, so I digress....