going to Swift

I was in orientation with a guy who said his sister worked "upstairs" for Swift. He said dispatchers, etc. Got a percentage bonus of money they saved the "company". In other words, the more money you screw the driver out of, the more money YOU get. Unfortunately, with the economy how it is, you gotta be able to thank Swift for treating its people so bad. Creating job openings, ya know?

"After getting back from a month on the road, how do you know your wife is cheating with a Swift driver? You get back, and she's knocked up, and your mail box is knocked down"

 

I've been with Swift for two years now. I'm not treated badly. I get paid what I'm supposed to, I get decent miles (not the greatest now, but then most drivers aren't getting great miles now), my truck is fixed and serviced whenever needed, my dispatcher (Driver Manager) listens and works with me, I have never been asked to run illegal, etc, etc, etc......

Occasionally I even pass others trucks, and I'm not dreaming it!

Sure we get some crap from drivers of so-called "better" companies. Oh well. Some of the jokes are even funny. But if someone wants to judge my driving ability entirely on the company name on my truck, then I don't care to have their friendship anyway.

 

Yeah, thanks ionly--I was beginning to regret my choice not that I had a lot of choices. A reasuring voice in the middle of being kicked when you're down. I have unemployment benefits for another year and I plan on collecting every week when I don't earn the minumum. So, I keep tryiing to look on the bright side even when these vunderkinds throw the #### all over me. Part of the game , I guess.

 

Been with Swift over 6 years now and no "major" complaints. I'm treated good.

 

I know I talk crap about Swift (and just did) but also in their defense, you cant be that large of a company and please everyone. Also, if you have the majority of trucks in one area, and there is a wreck in that area, it's likely yours. Just a numbers game.

 

This may have been the case a while back, but the latest I heard about them is that there are no more bonuses or commission pay incentives for them. *shrug* I don't know if that is still true (or even was at the time).

I *DO* know, however, that just about a month and a half ago they cleaned house in the one of the terminals (that I will leave unnamed). They basically walked in and terminated a bunch of the managers right there. Was it for their review/performance? Or economic reasons? I'm not sure. I have also noticed that people are quite a bit nicer, and I have even had customer service call me from my home terminal to ask how everything was going (granted, I was under a high value load at the time, so I'm unsure if that is related or not, but they seemed to care, lol).

I hope for the best with them, and I'm trying my best to be a safe driver and keep making the company money, as well as myself. I have been running as much as I wanted to with the exception of my latest load (paper from Port Townshend, OR to Industry, CA) which had a loooong delivery time for some reason. I literally did 2 resets while under the load, which is very abnormal. However, I had a Knight driver pull in while they were unloading me earlier and he said that he had the same load and also had a long delivery time, so that makes me feel a bit better.

So far, with the exception of one particular incident in the shop (some clown who wouldn't even listen to me when I told him my idle system wasn't working), I have been treated as well as I could expect. I imagine if I needed to be home more often, then I might run into a problem, but currently I've been about about 3 weeks, and I'm scheduled for home time at the end of the month.

As far as the critical events that were mentioned earlier, if you lose traction or start to roll in your tractor (most have TCS and Roll Stability), and don't gain it back in a reasonable amount of time, it will record an event.

There are also other alerts, such as an over speed, over rpm, and excessive speed. The trucks are governed at 62 (mine runs 63 according to my GPS, but I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't by design, a few *extra* miles). At 64, if you are touching the fuel pedal at all, you get a warning. Nothing is really recorded on this warning, just a chirp. If you are running with the cruise on and the jakes set (I believe someone asked earlier why we drive with jakes on in another thread, this is why) then you can let it run on downhill slopes and grades up to 68 or so. Hit 70 though, and you get an excessive speed warning. This event is recorded, and they will call or message you if you don't get your speed down right away. Get it down quickly, no big deal. Let it run, and they will terminate you after a warning.

Basically on rolling hills, I normally set my cruise for 60 then drive with my foot in it. You don't have to worry when you are climbing, but when you start to decend and let off on the pedal, with the cruise set at 60, the jakes will kick in and hold it around 64. It kind of bites, but you get used to it. If it's flat, I just set my cruise all the way up.

As for over rpm, bah, I ignore that one. I'm kidding. You might hear it, most commonly on a hill when downshifting, but it's set kind of high. I think the only times I've heard it was when I thought I had hit my gear while going up a hill and gunned the thing full throttle, lol.

 

You just said a mouthful! THANK YOU! Razzing IS a large part of MOST jobs! All I can say is, laugh along with em, and let it all roll off your back! TURN THE CB OFF when it gets to be too much for ya! Other's out there are basically just JEALOUS in one way or another... pay no mind to that man behind the curtain! LOL>
Have a great day and good luck to all the truckers and Swift IS the largest co. out there, and they are at least still trying to make most people's dream of becoming a truck driver come true. YOU HAVE GOT TO START SOMEWHERE!!
sheila mae