Is swift a good company?

I wish I could keep my current DM permanently, he treats me great and likes to be a "team player" as he tells me so he lets me have input on loads going places etc right now.

 

Does your acceptance rate determine at all what your quarterly bonus will be? By the way, what are the factors they determine your bonus by? At Schneider National it was based on 5 things. 1. ETA accuracy (3 hrs. early or half hour late, was the range we had to meet) 2. Days worked (they wanted us to work a certain amount of days per month) 3. Fuel stops (stopping at their recommended fuel stops along the way) 4. Out Of Route percentage 5. No accidents ...Each account for 20% of the Bonus. If we totally messed up 1 category, we would not get a bonus, since we needed 85% or higher to qualify.

P.S. There were 12 things we'd have to be on top of to qualify for the Annual Yearly Bonus, those 5 + 7 more like Idling, and I don't remember the rest.

 

The target acceptance rate is 75%. On my first review after going solo I was at 69%, since I was over evaluating my hours pretrip, then putting in modified hours. Now I've learned that if the time to get from A to B looks too tight or simply funky I call my DM and ask, "What is the pickup (or delivery) window?"

Usually times are computer generated with the "Plus 1" scenario in mind, wanting you to shoot for a target that may be tight to the point you barely have time to take a 30 minute break and maybe another 10 minute "leg shaker". I've found that the great majority of the time the "window" is much wider. For example, I had a load last week running a tad over 600 miles with a tight schedule for delivery the next morning at 7:00. When I called my DM I found out the actual window was until midnight the next day. The 07:00 was simply the goal to shoot for if I wanted to maximize my time and try to squeeze in one more run for the week (the "Plus 1" thing).

On another note, I'm sitting in the Lathrop terminal taking a 10 (actually a 14) to pick up a 1900 mile load tomorrow. This is the longest load I've received since going solo. It will be nice to have a few days to cross this beautiful country and pick the spots I like to stay. I'm already mapping out my favorite stops....

.... and I've decided that Lathrop is a pretty nice terminal. Laid back. They actually have a ton of load locks, so I picked up a couple. Efficient and courteous staff. Good wide screen TV (showing the Heat vs Nets), with big lounge chairs, and decent array of food in the vending machine.

 

yeah Lathrop is a decent one and always a place to park even on the weekends when its packed. I was working that area for awhile and was there daily to turn in my lease contracts and sometimes take my 10 or I would shoot up to the Walmart in Sac and take it there sometimes since it was 10miles from where I was picking up daily. The food in the vending is a decent selection, I just dont agree with most of the prices, like $4 for a frozen burrito is ridiculous. There is a taco truck that comes along at 18:30 which has some decent food, a good carne burrito is $4.50



Worker to answer your question about the bonus program with Swift, its based on rank and miles driven in a quarter. I forgot the cpm you get but there is Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Platinum and the higher the rank then the more cpm you get for the miles you drove. If you get into 1 accident I think Silver is the highest rank you get, 2 then you dont go above Bronze.

 

Thanks Lepton and Wolfy. But I'm still a little unclear about that target 75% acceptance rate. If you do not meet that target, does it make your quarterly bonus less than if you are hitting the target? Or is it only based on your rank and how many miles you drove that quarter?

 

Don't know about the bonus. But when you have an issue, it does give your FM something to throw back in your face, if they are so inclined.

 

Since I had my first review, which was when I graduated from the "trainer" DM after going solo, I've "refused" one load. Not sure why, but it seems every time I get into the Chicago area it's a weekend... and I'm not sure whether this means I'm being planned and dispatched from the Chicago area terminals or my home Fontana outfit... perhaps it's just the weekend and night shift thing... but I keep getting these load offers that have deadlines that are either in the past, or...

... like the last time a few weeks ago I'm expected to pick up a load at noon and then deliver it by 9:00 same day...

.... huh?

Fortunately that last situation was saved by my fantastic DM Monday morning when he pulled the ridiculous load offer and immediately routed me on a nice run down to southern Mississippi.

Regarding the bonus thing, when are the quarterly bonuses given out? Not sure that I've seen any of those yet.

 

You are sent the plans by the local planners, not necessarily your home terminal.
Mine is Otay Mesa, but I never get down there, or into CA much.
In fact the only time I usually get to CA is when I request a home time there.
Then I normally get shuffled north, east, etc., and end up running the eastern 2/3 of the country until I get my next home time.

My refusal rate is usually fairly high because I normally adjust the Plus-1 times, and it seems that adjusting the times and then accepting still puts a refusal on record.

 

yeah adjusting the times is like refusing which is why my refusal rate is lower, might be much higher by now though.

Not sure when the bonus is scheduled but I saw a "performance pay" on my check I think it was almost a month ago, I would have to go back and look at all my statements to see when it was but I know it was in October.

 

4 times a year.
Last was 10/1, I think, so the next would be 1/1.
Well, the first paycheck after 09/31, 12/31, 3/31, 6/30...

I'll continue to adjust the times.

The pplan is, from what I have been told, the 'contract' between the driver and company. Once you accept it, it is a binding contract to pick up and deliver at those times.
And that is my defense with my last service failure - because the delivery time was changed with the actual load assignment, but I delivered 'on-time' by what I and the company had agreed to in the pplan.
Still no word on if that sf has been resolved either way.