Swift Transportation Company, Inc. - Phoenix, Az.

I once drove well over 1,000 miles with the seat broke and trying to lean to the back..... the cabinet stopped it. I gave a mechanic at the Swift terminal shop in Denver a pack of Marlboro Menthols..... it was his last day before transferring to Alberquerquie.... No one would fix my seat.... no one would get a work order for it, for me, but this man who took the cigarrettes, switched my seat with the unused passenger seat. lol sometimes you gotta barter to get things done.

 

this stuff is really confusing... i have no idea who is a good company and who is a bad company.

 

Honestly, it's more than just what you read from other drivers. You need to keep in mind what you want and need. Also, attitude going into this industry is important, as well as knowing that the lifestyle is completely different than anything else you have ever done. All companies have their good points and bad points, and you will find drivers that didn't do well at a company along with drivers that are doing well with that same company. It is confusing at first, but what may help is paying attention to how long a person has been driving, which usually shows up at the top of their post on the right side. The more you read the more things will hopefully make sense.

 

May's a good company from what I've heard. Unfortunately they don't hire out in Ohio, the closet terminals to you would be either Pensecola, FL or Denver, CO.

 

dear libit,
great advice and it is as you said it depends a lot on how long a person has driven as to the correctness of the advice. Yours was true and can not get any better.my stats at the top I see doesn't say I drove 17 years OTR but I did and your the tops.

 

As a newbie, you are gonna find that all these places are pretty much the same. Personally if I had to do it all over again, I would have probally went to TMC (they would not hire me out of school, due to my low score of 96%, and they wanted 98%. But I went to a small company that had about 300 trucks and a training program. I wouldnt mess with Werner or Swift myself unless you want low pay and you want to be out forever and you have no other life outside the driver seat, and you want to be treated as a team even though you are new, but still expected to run the miles. You want a company who is willing to train you and a trainer who is in it for you and not so he/she can get more miles and become rich off of you. Your chances of getting that at Swift or Werner are not good.

I dont know much about May, except that they run mostly West and are mostly a reefer operation(or at least they were)you rarely see them east of St. Louis.

If you are going to a recognised school or at least a good one, then you are being required to fill out so many apps a day anyhow--the companies will give you a pre-hire, but that is contingent upon your graduation and your ability to test satifactorily for your CDL. Most companies dont even actually hire you until that CDL is in your hand, in fact none will. Ask you counselor there for a list of prospective employers that have recruited there in the past and they probally have tons that do and dont actually come to recruit on every cycle. Never ask your instructor to give advice on any company, because most schools make the instructors sign an agreement that they wont actively recruit for any company, so most will not give you advice either good or bad about any company out there--they will refer you to the school's recruiting department.

Sometimes, based on your background, you may not be able to as choosey as you want with who hires you--but just remember that no matter what drivers say bad about a company--there are probally just as many who will tell you all the good about the same company. If you have the mis-fortune of getting hired by one of the supposed "bad" companies, just get your experience and your training and keep your feelers out for something better. Because beleive me, at most places experience is experience--they dont care if you got it at Swift, JB HUnt or Joe and SOn Hauling(made up name, but you get the point), you got what they need.

 

I think its looking more and more like I'm going to go with May. I'm going through an independent school (certified), and they seem to have the best offers and fit for my needs. Having spent a lot of time on this forum as of late, and reading up on a lot of different companies, it seems to me that for a new driver it really doesn't matter much where you go at first because you'll get the same experience and treatment from most of the big starter companies. I do however like May because they have a terminal in my city and they seem to like to do things by the book, which I think is a good way to learn from the get go.

 

You do need to do what is best for you. The local terminal is always a big plus because it makes getting you home for appointments/emergencies much easier.

Since this is a Swift thread, I felt I would share some info I got on Swift this past week. I have spoken with a few Swift drivers who have said things are changing for the better since Jerry Moyes regained control of his company. They seem to be pushing safety and legal logging (of course a lot of drivers across company lines don't like the legal log idea). In fact, two of the drivers I spoke with aid they drove for Swift years ago and left for the greener pastures that Timtruck mentions in his reply and have returned because they found Swift was the better deal. One of those had gone to another larger company that was supposedly "cream of the crop" while the other went to a small company (which most say are the best to drive for). In the end, it is not so much what anyone else thinks of the company you chose to drive for (either short or long term) but what fits your needs. The best thing is to go to a company with the mindset, "I am going to stay here for many years" as that will give you the best attitude and your attitude makes the biggest difference in how you perceive a company (that doesn't only apply to trucking). Good luck to you!

 

You hit the nail on the head, oldcornbinder. It is almost like there is abok out there entitled, "Common Complaints Against Common Carriers" and people come on here and tell stories from that book. Actually, I think it is related to today's work ethic (which is almost non-existent). People today wanta paycheck without having to work. Not to bring politics into it but I am a firm believer that that is one of the main reasons Obama got elected is he is promising to take from the rich and give to the poor and so people feel like they don't need to work hard. I see it at my current employer; the young people there have to be told what to do and when to do it even though all one has to do is look around and see everything that needs to be done.

Just like the link you were referring to in your post, it is one person's story. Some people have bad experiences and it is good to hear those but others have good experienes and we need to hear those as well. It is also more believable when people give facts because, like you said, it sounds like the same story with a different name.