"prehired" at swift looking for advice

I hear that!

 

I keep telling people "I'm going to drive a truck for Swift but my real job is being Nana". LOL

 

as a swift driver, and like many of us will tell you, you have to make your own opinion of them, with swift its who you know if you make your dm look good, he will return the favor with miles which makes your wallet look good, swift is a good company, but it is always new, most of there drivers are new, and like i said you will form your own opinion, just like any job out there it is what it is, you just have to look out for # 1......you, good luck to ya, and i would also recomend going with the richmond acadamy very good people, and more teacher student ratio, millington's classes are usually very large.

 

I could see admitting to being a nana, but a swift driver?

 

Notarps now you be nice! *swings my pointy stick at you*

 

From page one of this thread, I love this line..."performance/fuel economy bonus that you never really got unless you were on a light/flat gravy-train dedicated run." So if you Get the chance to earn this bonus, you need to turn fast laps and somehow save fuel in doing so? I'm looking at the best option for my school of hard knocks also, but that looks like a double edged sword with a carrot dangling just passed the tip if I ever saw one.

 

Unfortunately Swift told me you have to go to the nearest terminal to your home for training even with my CDL, which is NY for me....

 

I would call BS on your recruiter for that. I went to Richmond. The reason they send you to the closest one is that they pay for the bus ticket. If you're willing to drive yourself, you should be fine. Some of the guys from PA that I went to orientation with went to school in Idaho and last time I checked the map, Richmond is closer.

As for working for Swift, it's like any other job...Somedays you're the bug, somedays you're the windshield. So far, I like it. I got a great mentor and so far, there's been no smoke and mirrors games. Any trucking company is what you make of it. If you run your miles, accept your load assignments and generally don't be a pain in the butt, you'll get better trips and more money, no matter who you work for.

After all, do you know what the difference is between a Swift truck and a Schneider truck is?



30 gallons of orange paint.

Think about it.
Russ

 

I'm on a Swift truck with a mentor for 1.5 weeks now. Started in Fontana>PHX>Denver>ABQ>Dallas>WI>Chicago>Morris, IL>Omaha>Morris IL (where I'm sitting now). I'm happy with the training thus far, got some good miles of driving, including mtn driving in Flagstaff + Raton, NM. The truck is feeling more like a car now instead of a gigantic doom machine. My backing is decent, but I still need to work on setup.
Overall, if you come in with realistic expectations, a good attitude and work ethic, Swift seems pretty decent..

 

Guys, i will tell you the difference is night and day being on a mentor's truck and being solo. Right now you're seeing the miles, because planners/DMs know they got a truck with 22 possible driving hours on it. Who do you think will get loads, that truck, or one with some guy only has 8 or 9 hours to drive?

My last mentor's truck i was on, we ran about 4000mi the last week. I've been solo for going on my 5th week now, and i'm only getting 1600-1700/wk average.

I probably have been a bit annoying bugging my DMs on the qualcomm wanting to roll. I tell them i dont care if i get 5-100 mile loads or 1-500 mile load. it all basicly pays the same. I came off as a bit impatient at the start, but the past few days and this whole next week, i am going to do nothing but just not pick up that ###### q-comm unless i need to punch in a MT, loaded or an arrivial message.


OH....as far as an answer to this thread...... =).....

I lived in Iowa. The closest Swift school was in Memphis. But they sent me clear to Idaho. In my class alone, we had 3-4 students who were shipped out to idaho from New York/Long Island area. So the rule of "going to the nearest school to where you live" is not 100% true. They will send you wherever they want. Besdies, a bus ticket across the US dont cost but $180-200.

NOW, as far as what terminal you're based out of, YES, you must go to the terminal closest your home. HOWEVER, if you can provide proof you have another address as a "home" address, say you live in NY and are planning to move to Phoenix, get yourself a UPS Store P.O. box (they provide their street address as your address, not a POBox address) and you can use that...but you have to have proof of address.