beware of swift

Swift apparently is having to sell hundreds of trucks because they say they cannot get enough drivers to drive for them so trucks are sitting in the yards for months on end, this was reported to shareholders only last month. They also said they are increasing pay.....first off swift is the largest trucking company in the country, they also have a mind blowing debt of 1.3 BILLION dollars, it costs them over $2 million dollars a day just in interest on that debt before they make a dime. So nickel and diming employees saves them thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars a day as they have thousands of drivers. I know drivers whom I went through CDL training school with who where recruited by them and all but one left within weeks if not days all with stories of being nickel and dimed or treated like a dog by their trainers. Only one I know of from that class is still with them he did the leasing program, he says he is out of there at the end of the year as he said he made so little money after all his payments and maintenance he was averaging $350 a week in pay. He and his wife mostly his wife as he is on the road had to move in with her mother. I personally think its a crying shame that guys men and women follow their dreams of driving and are sold on the American dream of being in some ways their own boss and end up in the poorhouse whilst working their tails off and killing themselves with stress. I know I will be jumped on by all the hard arse pro's out there. But lets face it trucking may not entice the best educated but it does entice hard workers. To all you new guys out there get on this site read about the good and bad companies out there everyone has beefs but its plain to see who is going to chew you up and spit you out repeatedly when you graduate. I firmly believe most of these trucking companies are a mirror image of this country getting by with outrageous debt loads and mostly on paper bankrupt but kept afloat by easy money thrown at them by banks who know if they have to call in all that debt will bankrupt them again. Good luck out there to everyone driving and being disrespected and nickel and dimed everyday.

 

It's always been my personal experience as well as hearing the experience for the O/O's I work for that the mega training carriers are to be avoided. I know everyone has to start somewhere to get experience, but there are better choices out there. If you can see yourself hauling flatbed freight Melton starts their students off at .37cpm and gives you a pay bump to .39cpm after 90 days with them. Back when I was trucking in 2003-2005 I came into the industry raw and naive and hired on with CRST. I stuck it out there for 2 years and they made me regret almost every month of it. What I'm trying to say is, for your own sakes take the time to do plenty of research. Don't accept the first offer that comes along, and apply to lots and lots of companies.

 

I think it's pretty much a sad but understood fact of the industry by the already initiated that companies like Swift are going to jack you around at some point. Even some of the supposedly better ones that pay better and require experience can and will jack you around. I'm sitting here at a BJ's wholesale in Rochester for 13 hours on a load I was told yesterday could deliver 0600 this morning. I get here and of course the story changes. Where was I at Midnight last night?! Umm, on my 10 hr break is where I was. Day had started at 0730 and I'm supposed to be tending to a live unload at midnight? Gotcha. Nobody ever made that plain to me, HOS conflict aside.

See if Old Dominion or one of the local LTL's will give him a shot. The mega OTRs are all going to be the same nonsense for the most part, even the not so mega outfits.

 

Wow! I wonder how come I am not surprised to hear something like that...

 

Ok I guess she didn't read all the other post about swift to her Husband. I did my research when I started out and made a good choice not sure why she didn't do the same for her husband. Swift has been around for a while and for some new drivers it works. I have been married for 22 years and I know that my wife would never sat at the computer and wrote a story about my experiences trucking. (she would tell me do to it my dam self)

 

I've worked for Swift for the past 13 mos and went to their driving academy. I can tell you its been good and bad. You won't make enough to survive and support a family driving for them. Even with the new pay structure they are still below industry avg. They do nickel and dime you to death. They take deductions out of your check and will not tell you what they are for. They consistently try to get out of paying detention, layover, breakdown pay and extra stop pay.Every week I have to go thru my checks with a fine tooth comb and 75% of the time I find errors in their favor. If you want to run miles and not make money.....drive for them. If you want to run and make money to pay your bills and support your family....drive elsewhere for a company that has a good reputation. The COO of Swift said he wouldn't want his sons driving for swift....Houston we have a problem. LOL really? You just confirmed that the company you operate is not a good place to work if you are a driver! I've been a company driver all this time I've remained silent and have done my best to remain positive. I run hard when they have the loads but they just can't seem to get their act together. I always tell my DM (Driver Manager for those that aren't drivers) if I did my job as poorly as the planners did, I would be fired. They hold drivers accountable for other people's screw ups. They sent me a message last week asking me if I would consider being a mentor... and if not they wanted a reason why. My response was a simple no thank you. They pushed for a reason and I told the truth. I won't be responsible for lying to someone and selling a false dream. Swift sells a false dream. Swift has a poster in the Phoenix terminal and its a pasture with a few cows in it and one cows butt and the caption says, Don't believe the other company's hype and false promises. That's the pot calling the cattle black. And that's what I told my DM as to why I wouldn't become a mentor. I gave my 2 weeks now that my contract is fulfilled. I was offered a job with a company I can have a career with. Even with Swifts new increase I will be making 8 cents more a mile with the new company, and yes its in writing. That adds up to about 1000 more a month. Thanks for the experience Swift, but your new saying of we want Swift to be your choice from hire till you retire is a big joke. They sold 7 percent of a fleet of 18k trucks cuz they cannot retain drivers. Number 1 reason they can't keep drivers is because of low pay. You decide for yourself....however this is my personal and not too uncommon experience with them. Good luck on your search.

P.S. I've received several offers from other mega carriers and medium sized carriers and all of them pay more than swift!!!!

 

The real question is.. why does ANYONE drive for Swift?
Do people enjoy working for slave wages and being bent over?

 

Haha.....well live and learn. I was unemployed and in my mid 40's and thought hmmm how can I build a career without going back to school for 4 years. I would've done it differently now, but hindsight is always 20/20, right?

 

People need to research companies before joining them. Anybody getting paid .32CPM with a year experience is getting bent over.
Noobs coming out are school are getting paid more than that these days.

 

Unfortunately it has a lot to do with the career placement people at the CDL schools as to why Swift keeps getting new drivers. The first carriers the career placement contact are the mega training carriers, and if none of them will touch you then they begin working down the list. Back when I went through school they were pushing Swift and USA Truck pretty hard. Makes me wonder if they get kickbacks from those companies. I decided to let CRST screw me over instead of Swift. But the screwing hurt all the same. CRST uses sandpaper condoms on their new drivers. At least they did back when I drove for them.