Looking for info on Swift and Prime

Well I used to drive for swift and I drive for prime now. So if you have any questions shoot.

Other then that I'm not gonna give my opinion to try and swing you either way.

 

Go with your gut. That is what my father always told me.

 

Oh, the lightweight thing is true. But you don't have to, If you request a full size you can get one. I did. But the lightweights do pay 5 cent more per mile, so youll start at 39cpm in a lightweight. Thats extremely good pay for a rookie, for anyone really.

 

All I have to say about Prime is what I see going on now, little tiny sleeper units for company drivers and major advertising leasing a truck everywhere with normal sized cabs and sleepers. That crap just isn't right.

 

My husband LIKES his lightweight. He DID have a choice. (Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. He upgraded in Pittston, and they had a plethora of trucks to choose from. By plethora, I mean 8.) At least one guy on here asked for a full size because he wants to take his wife with him on trips, and got it. JCW didn't pick any of the 8. He chose to do a retrieval of an abandoned lightweight. The pictures are in my album. He gets 5cpm bonus for driving that truck. And better fuel mileage, by and large. Which means more cpm. So, last week he made 40.6cpm as a rookie driver. The week before that? 39.6cpm. The one before that? 41cpm. See a trend here?

If that extra 5cpm adds up when you multiply it out. Why is he out there? Well, he wanted to drive outta high school. But went into the Army. Then he took his Army skills and started wrenching. Now there's a career that will break you down. He loves what he's doing. His stress and anger level are WAY down. Even being away from his family. He is HAPPY. In his job, not necessarily about not being able to crawl into bed w/ his wife on a nightly basis. Since he's gotta be out there, might as well take the bonuses where he can. And driving a smaller truck pays him 15% more per mile (before fuel bonus) than a standard size.

He was NEVER pressured to lease. And both of his trainers were L/O. Both think he can make it as a L/O. We don't know the business well enough to take the risk at this time, so he is company. By the way, his truck is almost brand new, had 25k on the clock when he got it. It's a beautiful color (to him).

What works for us won't work for you. That's fine. Most people don't have 5 cows in the pasture, either. Plus 5 sheep, and 7 goats. We do. Most people can't butcher their own meat. We can. But I'm not here saying that it ain't right that you can't and don't. In the last two years, I've butchered more animals than I care to count. You should see the looks I get from some people. "Oh, I couldn't do that!" Fine, so don't. Go to Walmart, and buy your meat in pretty white packages. Fine with me. But don't tell me that "crap just ain't right." It's a choice we made. And he made an informed decision about the lightweight. He still gets 7.2(?)mpg across the Smokeys hauling a heavy load. And he's sitting at 8.2 right now.

You don't like it? That's fine. I'll take his fuel bonus to the bank, and get that $2500 mattress set that we want.

 

I started with Swift, ran for Prime for almost two years, lost my arse, came back to Swift with, literally, nothing except my pickup truck that I was two payments behind on, had to take an advance on the very first load I ran, and now I'm running this dedicated account that nets me over $1,100/week consistently for the past five weeks. Did a little shop time and some vacation time before that.

Prime is good for company folks, but getting home can be more of a challenge. They do not have the freight base a company like Swift does. Considering Swift has five times the number of power units Prime has.

Which flavor of BS is more palatable to you?


Also, ask your buddy how much money he gets if you sign on with Prime. Swifties do not get a thin dime. No Swiftie has a personal gain whether you sign on or not. When I was at Prime, I got $500 if I got someone to sign on and they stayed for 90 days.

 

Drivers wouldn't do that,

would they ???

 

Lately with prime?, im seeing a lot of trucks with coffin size sleepers, If these are your only two conciderations?, swift

 

We have said it before, lightweight is a choice.

But lets break it down sense I drove for both as company driver
Injun i believe was lease

Started pay
Swift 25cpm
Prime 34cpm 5cpm bonus if in a lightweight

PRime has apu and interters in all trucks
Swift nearly fired me for having a small 350w inverter
Prime allows dogs, swift does not.
Swift is more leaneant with hometime, but makes you turn in your truck.

I know this is a swift forum thats why so many are bashing prime. I like aspects of both. With Swift I felt a little more free on the road. Prime I get answers when i ask a question, Instead of a network of people over me, There is one.

As far as the frieght base. Prime actually dispatches me faster and for more miles then swift did.

Now, I'll be fair here, the negatives to Prime that swift doesnt have
1 must keep mpg about 7.0
2 Have to get Hazmat, twic, and passport
3 Must be willing to go into canada
4 very few terminals