About to go very OTR with Swift

Discussion in 'Swift' started by Driver#3141592, Jun 26, 2020.

  1. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

    13,778
    16,235
    Nov 1, 2010
    Burnsville, MN
    0
    Stories is right.
     
    3523 and Metalicious Thank this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Antinomian

    Antinomian Road Train Member

    1,927
    2,931
    Feb 17, 2013
    0
    It's a plan that can work if you stick to it. I lived in a Swift truck for four years. Left Swift with 50K in my pocket.

    FYI: They used to make you take a refresher course at a trucking school if you didn't have recent experience. That may have changed though.

    Not a lot of freight out of Florida. Swift did have a contract with Michaels, shipping pre-loaded from somewhere near Ocala - don't remember which city. I ended up working a dedicated account out of Memphis, but my home base was in Georgia. It doesn't matter. They'll get you where you want to be for home time. Swift was always good about that.
     
  4. Driver#3141592

    Driver#3141592 Light Load Member

    54
    92
    Jun 26, 2020
    0
    I worked for two local carriers. I'll tell you what I remember.

    Heyl:

    OTR Reefer out of Zephyrhills.

    Made about 55k per year.

    Home time was atrocious.

    Heyl also used to send us to Tyson or other slaughterhouses many hours or even DAYS before we'd get a load all the time.

    Frequently tasks drivers with repowering loads which turn out to be badly overweight putting drivers in no win scenarios.

    Average length of haul was probably 1,400 miles. I had several Florida > Oregon loads and one Florida > Washington load.

    The second carrier was ReedTMS:

    OTR Dry Van out of Tampa.

    They installed driver facing cams in every truck. This is why I quit. I would probably still be there if they hadn't done that.

    Pay was fantastic. I made around $78k per year.

    Tractors were comically awful. Far, far more frequent breakdowns that I've ever even heard of with another carrier. I've never once seen one of their trucks that DIDN'T have a check engine light on. That's just the level of maintenance to expect there.

    I was running a cushy Florida to Dallas and back loop. They don't have that run anymore. Without it, I doubt you could pull down that kind of money with them, especially with the unprecedentedly insane amount of breakdowns.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2020
  5. Hottub

    Hottub Light Load Member

    149
    59
    Oct 2, 2008
    0
    How long ago did you drive for Heyl?...Hometime was atrocious, can you go into detail.
     
  6. Driver#3141592

    Driver#3141592 Light Load Member

    54
    92
    Jun 26, 2020
    0
    Heyl advertised as home every 7-10 days when I applied. As soon as I started they changed their advertised hometime to every 10-14 days. They would get me home maybe every 25-35 days. I complained to my DM a lot. He did nothing. Eventually I gave my two weeks notice and someone above him (it's a smallish company) contacted me and said they'd guarantee I'd get home every 10-14 days if I stayed. From that point on I got home EXACTLY on day 14 every time, and never a single day sooner. It seemed like he was doing that our of spite. If he happened to get me to Florida after, say, 12 days he'd make me run local freight for two days. I NEVER got home in 13 days or less. I finally quit for good since exactly 14 days does NOT equal 10 to 14 days. If they promise a range it should be possible to get a number in that range besides the max.
     
    Metalicious Thanks this.
  7. Metalicious

    Metalicious Road Train Member

    1,161
    1,219
    Sep 27, 2015
    0
    I been there with a few companies. But there was one exceptionally good, and I didn't mind staying out longer than advertised if I was really raking in the money. When you were running local loads for 2 days, were you at least able to go to the house and sleep in your own bed? Or is "local" in that context just defined as running in the state you lived in, still not being close enough to sleep in your own bed?
     
  8. Driver#3141592

    Driver#3141592 Light Load Member

    54
    92
    Jun 26, 2020
    0
    Zero chance to go home between. The terminal was a good drive from my house so going home during a 10 hour break wasn't an option. Also, these local runs pretty much never had me shutting down at the terminal at the end of a day.
     
    Metalicious Thanks this.
  9. Hottub

    Hottub Light Load Member

    149
    59
    Oct 2, 2008
    0
    PTI (Paper Transport Inc) was hiring out of Florida. I believe they offered 1.5 days hometime for every 7 days out.
     
  10. Atlanta trucker

    Atlanta trucker Road Train Member

    1,546
    1,856
    Jan 25, 2017
    0
    Why Swift ?
    There are so many companies out there that are so much better and pay more.
     
  11. Aamcotrans

    Aamcotrans Road Train Member

    1,045
    1,802
    May 24, 2016
    Strasburg, Va
    0
    That just kills the value of “stuff”. Sell what you can and give the rest away. Stay out of hotels, save your cash, buy a 120 inch sleeper and run for yourself.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.