Orienjoktion

Here we go. After all the research I did I still went to Swift's orentation (bad on me). First off let's go through the steps. Keep in mind I went into the orientation with as open a mind as possible. I tried giving the company the benefit of the doubt (mistake #2).

You will get a recruiter that will promise the world. Mine didn't I just wanted to know what I needed to bring. They didn't tell me all the paperwork I needed. I ended up jumping through hoops to get everything taken care of.

The orientation is totally disorganized. Expect to be sitting around doing nothing and waiting for the "instructors" to find out what to do next and gathering paperwork.

On the paperwork side expect to be filling out the same information a lot. I filled out less paperwork getting into the military.

With that said. IF you have any medical conditions expect Swift to hand you a stack of documents for your doctor. Expect your doctor to refuse to fill out and expect to ride the dog home. In short Swift wants your doctor to guarantee that your medical condition will not affect your driving for life.

I got a rubber stamp of PTSD when I was discharged from the military. I saw a VA doctor one time over two years ago for half-hour. The doctor sent a page from my medical records on VA letter head which stated I was fine. That didn't suffice, the doctor had to guarantee my condition was stable for life. Needless to say he thought Swift was nuts for even sending him the paperwork to fill out.

I was not the only one with this problem. 3 others had the same exact problem as me. Another had heart surgury. Another had a pin in his arm.

All that said, know that Swift does not pay for their three day joke orientation and only covers the cost of getting you to orientation, a hotel room, and lunch. Orientation starts on Tuesday and runs through Thursday. You may have a truck on Thursday but no runs until Friday or Monday. So there is a full week of expenses you need to have up front.

As far as Bouses, forget it. There is a $500 bonus if you choose to go out with a "trainer" for 6 weeks. You get the bonus AFTER your second solo run and you get to keep it IF you stay with the company 30 days.

Look at the conditions of the bonus and ask yourself why they set it up this way. Red flags should be going up.

As for the fleet. So called new trucks were a mess. Maintenance had not been pulled on many trucks. New drivers were assigned trucks that had no oil, no A/C, smelled like piss, had anti-freeze leaks, etc. Minor items like lights needed to be replaced. In short total disorganization.

Here was another big one for me- No power inverters, period. They are not allowed on the trucks. Doesn't matter how small they are, safety issue.

Needless to say, I packed up and went home. They called me the other day. Told them to take a flying leap. If they can't run a simple orientation or keep their trucks in proper running order I can imagine what it's like running for them.