Swift Training

Swift is the quick and dirty way into the industry. 30 minutes after I applied online they had me set up for their CDL school the following Monday, 3 weeks later I had my CDL, 4 weeks after that I had my own truck and was running freight. Stayed with them for 2 years, left making 44 cpm/55k per year running flatbed and met some great people I'm still friends with. Are there better options: yes. Are there worse options: yes.

 

I just remembered that swift is equipping all their trucks with driver facing cameras. So I really can't recommend them. I have one at my current company and having that stupid thing staring in your face all day really sucks. I wouldn't stand for it in an OTR truck especially with what swift pays.

 

Get your year with em then move on to greener pastures. Best of luck driver.

 

You signed a contract. Go through the pile of papers you signed..

 

QUOTE="GasHauler, post: 4999825, member: 2164"]I have never worked for Swift and never will. Just by reading the postings on this site you can pretty much draw a conclusion that Swift is a bottom feeder. I have heard from many that Swift will put a driver that only has 6 months experience in as a driver trainer. However, they call them mentors or something like that. I have also read many postings where this great company has fired a driver for something really small and never give a second chance. In my opinion this company is the lowest type of truck driving and they sit at the bottom with the high turn over rate.

What they will do is train you their way in their school then have you sign a contract to work so long to pay the schooling back. If you make one mistake you're out the door and the next driver that just finish school is in. They make great profits from a system like this. What they don't know is that the accident rate and court time far exceeds training and they would be smart to train their drivers more. Somewhere there's a person in accounting that has figured the cost of the new drivers against the freight costs. The only thing that keeps Swift in business is the fact they have just about cornered the freight business and they can afford to trash the trucks and drivers.

You will be doing yourself a huge misjudgment if you blindly jump into a contract with these people without checking the others. This site is a great place to find drivers that have been there and done that. You've got to do a lot more research on what's available to you and what path will benefit you the best. Do a lot of comparing and look at the numbers of drivers that have quit against the number of drivers that have retired. I'd bet you'll have a hard time even finding a driver that retired from them. A company like this is for drivers that get tickets and have bad records. If you're coming out clean then you can use that to your advantage and it would be a great waste if you didn't. Good luck and remember recruiters do not work for you.[/QUOTE]

Wrong . There is no contract to repay the tuition loan. You readily acknowledge you've never driven for Swift which is important in that it makes your entire comment your opinion based on nothing more than the opinions of others . I would recommend the op take your opinion with more than a grain of salt .

 

It's a break in driver starter company. I recommend everyone start here. If you can take the heat driving for Swift, Knight, JB, etc., then you can tell if you want to be a truck driver or if the road will have you. Just don't get sucked into paying a ridiculous student loan or leasing a truck. They want to make money legally... . Grow a very thick hide for the zingers on the CB and while backing. Make the commitment and stick it out then stay or leave when there is no commitment or financial obligation.

 

Actually there is a contract to repay the loan, as well as your housing cost during training. There is no contract to work for them, you could leave right after you get your CDL if you so wished, but either way you must repay the loan and will sign documents stating so. In fact, if you go a certain amount of time into the training and leave you still have to repay the loan. As far as how I know. I went to their school, I repaid my loan that I signed a contract saying I'd pay.

 

Exactly . You signed a contract to repay a loan , the same as if you bought a car . It was a contract to repay a loan . Only . You , nor I nor anyone else who went through the Swift Academy system signed an indentured servant contact to drive for Swift until the tuition (and hotel ) loan was repaid .

My previous comment was incomplete and I hope this clarifies it .

 

Just a point of clarity, the driver facing cameras for SWIFT are supposed to only be in dedicated, local and mentor trucks. So far the program is on pause pending review. OTR trucks have yet to be equipped as a whole, and most of the ones that were supposed to get them never did.

Apparently enough of thier own drivers either dropped keys or threatened to drop keys.