Swift Transportation

I heard Swift's school got busted for just giving out CDLs

 

There are worse companies out there. Just talk to someone from Covenant.

 

Having never driven with that highly questionable "operation", I don't really have a dog in the fight per se, however I have seen more swift truck wreck pics in the last few months than I can remember. A quick seach produced the following, and trust me, I am missing some DOOZIES, like the steering wheel holder who burried his swift rig down into a creek, missing a house on one side and a bridge on the other. (somebody dig that up, I think it was posted here at TR)

Personaly, I'd be ebarassed to be seen with a swift trailer coupled to my truck.


http://video.aol.com/video-detail/swift-truck-stuck-under-kinnickinnic-bridge-milwaukeewi/533358297

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXTZoITrypY&feature=related











Here's one more reason to look elsewhere. A train pulling your trailer!!

 

I did a 4 month stint with Swift a copuple of years ago. I am now etired with 15 years over the road experience,of which 5 yrs. was as an owner operator. I know Swift is the bottom of the barrel. I operated out of the Columbus,OH. term.And believe me that term. is ad news. Oh yeah there are a few drivers there who are on the dispatchers goody list. The dispatchers seem to rule the roost,and definitly dont like experienced drivers who they cant BS. If the so called DMs dispatchers find out you know more about trucking than they do ,man you are in deep doo doo. They will give you lousy runs,then they will lie like he!! to the fleet mgr.Well anyhow,it didnt take me long to figure out that Swift was no place for me,and I got out.

 

Swift and its drivers catch alot of flak, mostly for being slow, secondly, they have a number of drivers who dont need to be driving. I drove for them for 13 months and saw alot of non-driving fools in their trucks. But most of the drivers are good drivers and even better people. I started out running J.I.T. loads, which I wasnt supposed to be allowed to since you were supposed to have to have at least 8 months of employment with them. Then I moved from J.I.T. to a Sears dedicated account. Good money too. Was making $1,000/wk for being out 4 1/2 days. I never had a problem getting hometime, my DM's were the best, one of them being the assistant head of operations at the Columbus, OH terminal. And before I got on the dedicated route, I was always pre-planned. I never sat mt. I was always rollin. And I wasnt an exception to the rule. There were alot of drivers there that I knew that never sat idle. But there were a few that did, but they were the typical types that just wanted to sit in the terminal or truck stops and talk with other drivers and just hang out, then cry and complain that they werent making any money. So yes, they got to sit, and no, they didnt make any money. But you will find that at every company you go to.

 

Just a couple of comments about a couple of posts here. rdonovan1, it is interesting you say that Swift treats customers poorly and yet from what I read, they have received many awards from many major customers as "Carrier of the Year". 379, some say a picture is worth a thousand words but that is not totally true. Without knowing the specifics of what caused the accident the picture is just inflammatory. The truck off the edge on a curve could have been avoiding a car travelling in the opposite direction. I would venture to say the one of the trailer being pulled by a train is a doctored picture seeing as how the truck on train cars are not attached to the cars with a fifth wheel connection. As to the on you referred to of the truck in the creek, again, since the roads were wet it is quite possible the driver was avoiding a collision and all we see is the aftermath.

 

Paw,

Hey no offence.

But word to the wise dictates that Swift is one shady operation. Defend them all ya want, and I'll grant you personaly some props if indeed you are a safe driver as you say you are....But trust me, in closing, my opinion of Swift upper management, as well as their drivers, will remain in the cellar.

How Swift continues to fill seats is beyond me. Suffice it to say, that some truck drivers are just plain retarded.

Lastley, don't even dare bring up "specifics" to me regarding Swift transportation WRECKED trucks.

I have driven everywhere, and under every condition. The next time I burry a truck will be the first.

One of the biggest injustices th trucking industry has seen, is all the nerdy office middle management type people who were let go after the dot.com bubble bust, who thought they could master driving a large car. Much less hit a dock.

25-30 years ago, trucking only appealed to those who had the desire, and #### well knew they had it in them. Today, it's entry level players are comprised largely of pussified ####### who never wanted to be on the road in the first place.

(someone find those pics of that Swift truck burried in the creek. It's not so much the truck wreck itself, rather it's the image on the face of the steering wheel holder who navigated it into the water.