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My experience with Swift.

Discussion in 'Report A BAD Trucking Company Here' started by RaiderWolf92, Jul 5, 2018.

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BigHossVolvo Road Train Member

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driverdriver said: ↑

I believe this is the first time I've read SWIFT has driver facing camera's
Click to expand...

They were one of the fist, driver and road facing, with audio.

BigHossVolvo, Jul 7, 2018

#41
IluvCATS Road Train Member

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Audio is very important. HR needs to hear what drivers are talking about and what language they use in day-to-day life. This includes during 10 and 34 breaks. Please act natural and speak clearly.

IluvCATS, Jul 7, 2018

#42

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Lonesome Mr. Sarcasm

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Frank Speak said: ↑

I never had any issues at Swift. They treated me with kindness, courtesy and respect.

Well, there was this one dispatcher that was kind of a pest. She would nag me relentlessly about my favorite cape. She wanted to borrow it to wear with some red dress she had. I would just shrug her off.

But, I woke up one night to find her trying to lift it out of my sleeper so I bit her. The terminal manager got a little sore about that, but he let me off with a warning and grounded me from using his closet for a week. No big deal.

I just used the janitorial closet that week. It wasn’t bad once you get used to the smell of Fabuloso.
Click to expand...

You actually got used to the smell of Fabuloso? Man of the night or not, I'm calling FOUL!

No one get's used to that smell...…….

Lonesome, Jul 7, 2018

#43

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Odin's Rabid Dog Heavy Load Member

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RaiderWolf92 said: ↑

Brand new to the forum, been a while since I've posted in any forum at all. But I'm bored waiting to start my new job with CFI, so I figure why not share my own experiences with Swift.

I got my CDL through them in December of 2017, and started on January 8th, 2018 with a trainer for 30 days. His name was Dan, and he was a pretty laid back guy. Too laid back at times. He hardly ever taught me anything, I seriously learned more from complete strangers on chat rooms online. I don't know if this is because he felt I was doing well enough on my own, or if he was just in it to get that extra pay. By week three, when he started letting me drive on me own, he started to scare me. He wouldn't go to sleep while I was driving my shift, he'd get around 3-4 hours of sleep, and just sit in the passenger seat the rest of the time. So every time I crawled into the bunk, I was paranoid about him falling asleep and getting us killed.

Oh, I should mention.... The mattress in his truck was infested with bed bugs. Yeah. Fortunately, I managed to kill them off.

Anyways, fast forward to going Solo. Well, actually lets take a step back. When I was in school for 3 weeks, I never touched an Automatic. I was 24 at the time and took pride in learning how to drive a standard, to be one of the "Kids" to break the stereotypes that we're all useless, and was even one of the top students in the shifting class (I was the only one in my own truck on the first day, actually.) When I went in to Swift to get assigned to a trainer, I was asked Automatic or standard? I asked for a Standard. I got an Automatic. Okay, whatever, I know Autos are taking over everywhere now, and I rolled with it. Fast forward back to when I finished my training, I had to take a road test. And go figure, all of the road test trucks at my terminal where automatics. Again, Okay whatever. Passed my test with no issues, the tester was even impressed enough with my lane control to compliment me on it. Great! Time to get my truck!

And here's where they started ####ing with me. They had two trucks available. I won't name what city I was in, as I want to stay off their radar for a little bit, but it was a fairly small terminal. Both trucks available, where standards, Which I was fine with, I wanted a Standard. But no, they refused to let me drive one. Flat refused. Instead, I was told to go home for the weekend, and come back Monday (90 minute drive from my house to the Terminal), to see if any Automatics showed up. I said no, I will just take one of the standards. They still said no. Mind you, I have been out of work for almost two months now trying to get started at this career. I'd already borrowed way more money than I felt comfortable with from my parents and best friend, so getting to work was critical for me. Monday comes around, and I get my truck.

Now, onto the trucks and their issues...

My first truck that I finally got when I returned was a 2016 Cascadia with the DD15/DT12 setup, and it was a wreck. Body panels missing and damaged, interior was torn up and the last driver smoked in it. #### it, I'm a new driver, I'll just go with it. It actually made me feel a little better about it when I did eventually run into myself by jack-knifing in backing and turning maneuvers. And that thing was a DOG. They have all of their trucks tuned down so bad, that they can't climb hills worth a ####. The transmissions are locked into Eco mode as well, which just compounds the issue. Then going on to their "Truck Assignment" department, ugh. They're ####ing useless. I had a good run with that Cascadia, I treated it like it was my own. But like 4 months in, it decided to part ways with it's own ECM. My options where to sit there for three days, sharing a hotel room with some random stranger while they wait for parts, or I can get into another truck. I chose to goto another truck. I ended up picking, on my own, a 2014 International ProStar. Why? It was the only truck (Which had a full sleeper) that was a standard and didn't have a ####ing "safety Suite" installed on it.

And I loved that truck. ISX15 with an Eaton 10-speed, basic cruise control, no radar or lane assist ########. And it had a nice sleeper setup, and even HAD WINDOWS ON THE LOWER BUNK!! (That's RARE in Swift, and I loved it). And I got to enjoy it for a whole.... 5 days. Then I got a message on my FANTASTIC Qualcomm, saying I'm being routed to Phoenix to have my truck replaced, because it was due to be traded in on a new one. So I go to Phoenix, and I sit there for FIVE ####ING DAYS. 5 Whole god #### days, because they didn't have a truck ready for me. 5 days of sitting in my International, idling it non-stop because it's Pheonix, bored off my ###, bleeding money. And they FINALLY get me a truck. I can't complain about this too much, since it was a brand new Kenworth T680, but, I'm going to. It sucked. Firstly, it didn't have the lower windows. Which annoyed the piss out of me. Then, the issued with the transmission. Automatic, and it was a #### one, too. I've always heard people complain about the Eaton autos, and now I know why. But the worst part, was how severely they de-tuned that Cummins engine. I figured hey, brand spankin' new ISX15, this thing should scream up the hills! No. My '14 International would have outrun it without even trying. Empty trailer, up a 6% grade, I was lucky to hold 50.

Downtime and layover....

Here is one of the actual reason why I parted ways with Swift. I sat. A lot. I'm talking 2-3 days on average, if I wasn't preplanned onto another load right away. I almost never had to shut down for a 34 reset, because I usually ended up stranded in some #### location with no freight to get me out, and calling them to get something never helped. "Oh, sorry, we don't have any freight." Then ####ing deadhead me to something, you useless ####s... Infact, on my last two loads with them, I did 600 miles over 4 days. I was furious. Banging my head on the steering wheel, because I spent an entire day hooked to a load, that I couldn't move because I was 10 minutes from my final, but the set appointment was for the next day, and Swift couldn't get me in early. Then go figure for my final load, I say for 3 days waiting for them to get me routed from Boise to Denver, and I told them I don't care if you stack me, just get me there. I never made a decent check, because I could never get any #### miles in. Said issues with the trucks being gutless didn't help, either.

This got a little long, so I'll be posting part 2 as a comment shortly...
Click to expand...

This was so similar to my experience at Swift, especially going broke waiting for loads (I completed their cdl school August 2017).

You're free! Congrats on surviving.

Odin's Rabid Dog, Jul 7, 2018

#44
snowlauncher Road Train Member

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I think the biggest mistake that you guys who started out with Swift was that you didn't sign up to be a lease operator...That's why you didn't make the big bucks from day one...

.

snowlauncher, Jul 7, 2018

#45

Texas_hwy_287, Yuuyo, Coolbreeze100 and 2 others Thank this.
Rocknroller4 Road Train Member

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snowlauncher said: ↑

I think the biggest mistake that you guys who started out with Swift was that you didn't sign up to be a lease operator...That's why you didn't make the big bucks from day one...

.
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Are you serious or? They say not to do that your first year or two.

Rocknroller4, Jul 8, 2018

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snowlauncher Road Train Member

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Rocknroller4 said: ↑

Are you serious or? They say not to do that your first year or two.
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Not serious...and if you think you're going to be better off leasing on with them after a year or two of punishment, then I wish you the best of luck, my friend.

snowlauncher, Jul 8, 2018

#47

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BigMuthaTrucka Light Load Member

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RaiderWolf92 said: ↑

Brand new to the forum, been a while since I've posted in any forum at all. But I'm bored waiting to start my new job with CFI, so I figure why not share my own experiences with Swift.

I got my CDL through them in December of 2017, and started on January 8th, 2018 with a trainer for 30 days. His name was Dan, and he was a pretty laid back guy. Too laid back at times. He hardly ever taught me anything, I seriously learned more from complete strangers on chat rooms online. I don't know if this is because he felt I was doing well enough on my own, or if he was just in it to get that extra pay. By week three, when he started letting me drive on me own, he started to scare me. He wouldn't go to sleep while I was driving my shift, he'd get around 3-4 hours of sleep, and just sit in the passenger seat the rest of the time. So every time I crawled into the bunk, I was paranoid about him falling asleep and getting us killed.

Oh, I should mention.... The mattress in his truck was infested with bed bugs. Yeah. Fortunately, I managed to kill them off.

Anyways, fast forward to going Solo. Well, actually lets take a step back. When I was in school for 3 weeks, I never touched an Automatic. I was 24 at the time and took pride in learning how to drive a standard, to be one of the "Kids" to break the stereotypes that we're all useless, and was even one of the top students in the shifting class (I was the only one in my own truck on the first day, actually.) When I went in to Swift to get assigned to a trainer, I was asked Automatic or standard? I asked for a Standard. I got an Automatic. Okay, whatever, I know Autos are taking over everywhere now, and I rolled with it. Fast forward back to when I finished my training, I had to take a road test. And go figure, all of the road test trucks at my terminal where automatics. Again, Okay whatever. Passed my test with no issues, the tester was even impressed enough with my lane control to compliment me on it. Great! Time to get my truck!

And here's where they started ####ing with me. They had two trucks available. I won't name what city I was in, as I want to stay off their radar for a little bit, but it was a fairly small terminal. Both trucks available, where standards, Which I was fine with, I wanted a Standard. But no, they refused to let me drive one. Flat refused. Instead, I was told to go home for the weekend, and come back Monday (90 minute drive from my house to the Terminal), to see if any Automatics showed up. I said no, I will just take one of the standards. They still said no. Mind you, I have been out of work for almost two months now trying to get started at this career. I'd already borrowed way more money than I felt comfortable with from my parents and best friend, so getting to work was critical for me. Monday comes around, and I get my truck.

Now, onto the trucks and their issues...

My first truck that I finally got when I returned was a 2016 Cascadia with the DD15/DT12 setup, and it was a wreck. Body panels missing and damaged, interior was torn up and the last driver smoked in it. #### it, I'm a new driver, I'll just go with it. It actually made me feel a little better about it when I did eventually run into myself by jack-knifing in backing and turning maneuvers. And that thing was a DOG. They have all of their trucks tuned down so bad, that they can't climb hills worth a ####. The transmissions are locked into Eco mode as well, which just compounds the issue. Then going on to their "Truck Assignment" department, ugh. They're ####ing useless. I had a good run with that Cascadia, I treated it like it was my own. But like 4 months in, it decided to part ways with it's own ECM. My options where to sit there for three days, sharing a hotel room with some random stranger while they wait for parts, or I can get into another truck. I chose to goto another truck. I ended up picking, on my own, a 2014 International ProStar. Why? It was the only truck (Which had a full sleeper) that was a standard and didn't have a ####ing "safety Suite" installed on it.

And I loved that truck. ISX15 with an Eaton 10-speed, basic cruise control, no radar or lane assist ########. And it had a nice sleeper setup, and even HAD WINDOWS ON THE LOWER BUNK!! (That's RARE in Swift, and I loved it). And I got to enjoy it for a whole.... 5 days. Then I got a message on my FANTASTIC Qualcomm, saying I'm being routed to Phoenix to have my truck replaced, because it was due to be traded in on a new one. So I go to Phoenix, and I sit there for FIVE ####ING DAYS. 5 Whole god #### days, because they didn't have a truck ready for me. 5 days of sitting in my International, idling it non-stop because it's Pheonix, bored off my ###, bleeding money. And they FINALLY get me a truck. I can't complain about this too much, since it was a brand new Kenworth T680, but, I'm going to. It sucked. Firstly, it didn't have the lower windows. Which annoyed the piss out of me. Then, the issued with the transmission. Automatic, and it was a #### one, too. I've always heard people complain about the Eaton autos, and now I know why. But the worst part, was how severely they de-tuned that Cummins engine. I figured hey, brand spankin' new ISX15, this thing should scream up the hills! No. My '14 International would have outrun it without even trying. Empty trailer, up a 6% grade, I was lucky to hold 50.

Downtime and layover....

Here is one of the actual reason why I parted ways with Swift. I sat. A lot. I'm talking 2-3 days on average, if I wasn't preplanned onto another load right away. I almost never had to shut down for a 34 reset, because I usually ended up stranded in some #### location with no freight to get me out, and calling them to get something never helped. "Oh, sorry, we don't have any freight." Then ####ing deadhead me to something, you useless ####s... Infact, on my last two loads with them, I did 600 miles over 4 days. I was furious. Banging my head on the steering wheel, because I spent an entire day hooked to a load, that I couldn't move because I was 10 minutes from my final, but the set appointment was for the next day, and Swift couldn't get me in early. Then go figure for my final load, I say for 3 days waiting for them to get me routed from Boise to Denver, and I told them I don't care if you stack me, just get me there. I never made a decent check, because I could never get any #### miles in. Said issues with the trucks being gutless didn't help, either.

This got a little long, so I'll be posting part 2 as a comment shortly...
Click to expand...

Welcome to the wonderful world of trucking. If you would’ve been on this forum sooner you would’ve known not to work at Swift.

BigMuthaTrucka, Jul 11, 2018

#48

snowlauncher Thanks this.
tomas4569 Bobtail Member

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How is anyone (besides you and DOT) able to affect your CSA or PSP score?

tomas4569, Jul 12, 2018

#49
BigMuthaTrucka Light Load Member

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What does Swift pay? Pride Transport had cameras, then they changed it to only face road, but has audio.

BigMuthaTrucka, Jul 12, 2018

#50

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