So I decided to start my own Swift thread instead of hi-jacking other threads. I've only been with Swift for a couple months now, but I have to say so far it has been a great experience, with very few exceptions.
My adventure with Swift actually started in the middle of January 2010 when I attended their orientation in Columbus, OH. The people at Columbus are wonderful. Friendly, courteous, and always helpful. Apparently, there was some kind of delay with our paperwork so they could not get us coded to get us out with a mentor. So they sent everyone home with plans to get us back to meet our mentors.
My mentor picked me up at Columbus on February 1. Nice guy, helpful, always asking if I had any questions. He's an o/o with a Kenworth T2000. One of the big blue trucks. Really nice truck, lots of room and easy to drive. If you want to know any of the details about how we ran or anything, feel free to ask. I'll answer everything honestly.
After about a week on the truck, I got sick, but I kept going. I'm not the type to lay around in bed just because I don't feel well. It took a week before I started feeling better. Interestingly enough, this was the first attack that would end up putting me in the hospital, but more on that later.
My mentor had an interesting business set-up with a partner. He would run 6 weeks straight with a student with no home time. At the end of that training period, his partner would take over the truck and run six weeks with a student and the other would take six weeks off. They would share the revenues of the truck.
A couple weeks into my training, my mentor found out he was being suspended from training for a speeding ticket he got back in November. Nice to see Swift is right on top of things. They did allow my mentor to continue with me for 20 days. On March 1, they sent us back to Columbus and I got off the truck for a week and went home. I came back a week later, got back on the same truck with his partner and finished off my last week and a half training. Good times, learned alot from both mentors. Had me more than ready to get out on the road on my own.
I gotta run for now. Will add some more of my adventures later and tell you how I ended up in the hospital. In the mean time, feel free to comment. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them all.
Later.
My Time With Swift
Discussion in 'Swift' started by dodgeram440rt, Apr 13, 2010.
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Rattlebunny, The Challenger, Civilservant and 8 others Thank this.
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Ok, so when I last posted I was just finishing my training. We got back to Columbus and I tested out with no problems. I took a couple of their classes, the SIM class and the Log class, then met my DM for the first time. We talked for a bit and he explained how things work. Then he assigned me to a truck and put me on a load picking up there at the terminal and taking me thru home for some home time.
I got the truck as my DM was getting ready to go home so another guy did the walk around with me marking down all the damage that was visable. Outside the truck didn't look too awefully bad other than being real dirty. Inside, it was really grungy and nasty and smelled like an ashtray. But it's what I'm assigned to and it's what I get. I did the pre-trip, but as the engine was running, the first thing I noticed was the air pressure wasn't coming up. Great. So go over to the shop and get some help to get the truck over to the shop for repairs. After a short wait, I find out it's actually going to be a while before they get to my truck so I go in to the drivers window only to find out I'm already technically late with the load. Now I'm thinking, Great, my first service failure and I'm just getting started. So I go back to the truck and send a Macro 22 explaining why I'm going to be late then wait some more.
After about 4 hours, they half-azzed repaired the air leak and discovered there was oil in the engine coolant. Wonderful! Now the engine is blown. I'm not going anywhere. Back to the drivers window to find out what to do. They said to call my DM's number which will transfer to Memphis, which is the regional afterhours service center. Memphis services 7 different terminals during afterhours and weekends. I'm sure others regions have something similar. I spent 2 hours waiting on hold to talk to someone and never did. I filled out a complaint form about that because that is just poor service.
Sometime later, I got a call from the terminal manager at Memphis about this problem. I just happened to be at Memphis at that time so he arranged for me to meet with the afterhours manager for a behind the scenes look inot the operation. Pretty cool really. I explained what happened, gave them the number I called which they dialed and got no response. So he made some calls to tech support and about 15 minutes later had the problem resolved. They didn't even know they had a problem. It's nice to know I helped with that.
Back to my first night. I ended up getting dropped from that load eventually and spent the night on my truck. In the morning, I went in and talked with my DM and explained what happened. He got me assigned to another truck and a new load. This truck was in much better shape, but still had some kind of funky smell inside. But this time I was rolling. The best part was this was thursday and I didn't have to pick up my load until monday morning, so I got 4 days at home.
Overall, the runs have been coming pretty good. Averaging about 500 miles per load, sometimes more, sometimes less. But it gets me rolling and learning. I'm having a blast out there, things are going pretty good, until I get sick again.
Now, I'm thinking that I've eaten some bad food. I get sick then have no appetite for a week, then I'm fine for a while. Then I get to do it all over again.
On wednesday, April 7, I got hit with the worse feeling I have ever felt in my life. I was actually feeling ok that morning. Not great, but ok. I got to my destination in Quakertown, PA and was backing my trailer into the dock when all of a sudden I was sick bad. I had to stop and set the brakes so I could open the door and puke my guts out. That was fun. When I was done, I docked the trailer, unhooked and pulled forward, and sent my empty call. Since my next load was a sweet 960 mile run that picked up at the same location, I figured I would wait to get my dispatch and get my load then go find a bathroom. But I was starting to feel sick again and I knew there was a Dunkin Donuts right around the corner. The dispatch was taking so long, so I drove over to use their bathroom. When I came out of their bathroom, I guess I wasn't looking so hot, so they told me to sit down and got me some ice water and kept asking me if I was ok. The pain I was feeling was like nothing I had ever experienced before. They finally called 911 and I took an ambulance ride to the er.
After some tests, they discover that gall stones are irritating my pancreas which is what has been causing all my problems. All these times I've been getting sick and I thought it was bad food, it was actually this. All this cost me 5 days in the hospital. Swift came and picked up my truck so it would be safe. Not a good idea to leave a truck unattended in a parking lot for an extended period of time. They took the truck back to their terminal, packed up all my stuff from inside and locked it up in their safe.
In the mean time, I'm in the hospital slowly getting better. By friday, I'm feeling better and the drs are giving me the option of having surgery there or going home and getting it done. Um, let me think a minute. Duh, Send me home! During this time, I stay in contact with my DM so he knows what is going on. They got me a bus ticket home and once the drs released me, I was on my way home on sunday.
So that is where I sit now. A driver with no truck, going to see a surgeon tomorrow. I'm figuring to be out of the truck for a week or two while I recover. Swift has me on medical leave, but once I get a doctors release, I'll get a new (to me of course) truck and my adventures will once again continue. Hopefully, this time there won't any getting sick.
So that's my story up to this point. If you got any questions, just ask.Civilservant, Rattlebunny, The Challenger and 9 others Thank this. -
Thanks for posting your experiences, dodgeram. The gall stone thing bites, big time!! Had them back in '85, my symptoms were similar to a heart attack.At least the surgery is much less invasive (with a lot less recovery time) now.
It's also good to hear that Swift has done right by you.
Good luck, and keep posting when your ready to.dodgeram440rt Thanks this. -
Hang in there, companies should take care of their people and it sounds like your in a good situation in that respect. Heal well, let us know!
dodgeram440rt Thanks this. -
Thanks. So far Swift is definately in my corner, hoping I get well soon. My DM has been real encouraging and supportive, telling me to not worry about anything and just get myself better. He is a real good guy.
I talked with the surgeon today. My surgery is scheduled for noon tomorrow and should only take an hour or so. And with the laproscopy surgery, my recovery should be pretty quick. My follow up appointment is scheduled for the 27, so with any luck, I should be back in a truck by the end of the month. Got my fingers crossed!!JustSonny Thanks this. -
Hope your surgery is fast and effortless!! I am sure you will heal fast and be rolling again real soon.. Glad that they took care of you and whatnot... can just imagine what some companies would have done with you or your stuff.. lol
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After hearing horror stories about what they do with abandoned trucks and stuff, I was kinda worried when I heard they had come and picked up the truck. On the one hand, I understand why they did it. It was left locked up in a hotel parking lot, and I'm sure after a few days, someone would have tried to break into it. So, to protect their property and mine, the best thing to do was to retrieve it and bring it to the terminal. At first, my DM said it was still my truck and my stuff was still on it, but the next time I talked with him, he said that since they didn't know how long I would be out, they had to clean out my stuff so they could use the truck. Ok, I can understand that.
I talked with the terminal where my stuff is at yesterday, and they said not to worry. They bagged up EVERYTHING that was on the truck and it's locked up safely in a 30 ft storage trailer waiting for me to pick it up.
I have to say that so far I am really impressed with how Swift has shown concern for my well being. I'm sure some companies would have kicked me to the curb already, but Swift has shown that they care. I may not have a truck or any income at the moment, but I still have a job waiting for me. They even got me a bus ride home after I got out of the hospital.
I was a bit apprehensive about going with Swift at first because of all the negative stuff you hear about them. But right now, I wouldn't wanna be any place else. Say what you want about them, but they've done me right in a bad situation.Rattlebunny, Cooper09, pagan22 and 3 others Thank this. -
Quick update for y'all. I went into the hospital last thursday for what was supposed to be about a 4 hour outpatient operation. Dr said the surgery should take about an hour or so, then 2 to 3 hours in recovery and I'd be on my way home. Well, that would have been nice.
My 1 hour operation turned into 2 hours and my recovery period turned into 5 days. I guess my gall bladder was in much worse shape than they anticipated and ran into more complications trying to remove it than expected. As a result my recovery was more difficult than expected as well. They kept tabs on my bloodwork levels and how I rated my pain. They even had a tube sticking out of my side to drain some fluids. Over the weekend, they expected a left over gall stone stuck in the ducts from my liver so they did a procedure on monday, but didn't find anything. Since my bloodwork levels were looking pretty good and I was moving around on my own fairly well, and their procedure showed no remaining stones, they let me come home today. WooHoo!!!
Still having some pain, but that is to be expected and will get betterover the next few days. I have a follow-up appointment with the dr next week and I'm hoping to be doing well enough by then that he will release me to go back to work. I know I should just relax and work on getting better, but I can't afford to be out of work for too long. And I want to get back in the truck and back out on the road.
Just wanted to give you all an update on my condition. Will update next week when I find out if and when I'll be getting back to work.wildbill123, david07003, HAMPY and 2 others Thank this. -
Wow, thanks for that great story about Swift..they are actually one of the companies I have been concidering. Its a hard choice when your limited on expericance. But what is really refreshing is to actually hear someone say something positive about a situation whether it be your health in dire straits or, a truck or your employer that you decided to give a chance (or is it the other way around? its them giving us a chance).. I think the hardest thing about trucking isnt so much the crap you endure on the road but the amount of crap you have to listen too by negative comments. No job is ideal, No trucking company is going to be perfect,, but negativity breeds more negativity. Thanks for the positive side! And have a speedy recovery..
And yes I know what my profile says but I did drive back in the day..just returning.Civilservant and JustSonny Thank this. -
Negativity is a bad thing for sure. What's even worse is when it is spread by people who often times really have no idea of the truth. They just go off of what they hear from others. I have to admit that I was buying into the negativity when I first started looking for a company. Swift was one of the companies I wanted to avoid based soley on the heresay of others. So I went with one of the companies that I thought was going to be a good one and ended up getting screwed. They put me in a situation where no one would hire me because I had been fired from my last job.
But Swift gave me a chance, and so far it's been the best thing to happen to me in a long time. And I haven't seen many of the complaints that others have mentioned. In fact, if you do some research, you'll find that ALL of the complaints laid against Swift have also been laid against every other company mentioned on this board. Even the so-called "good companies" have someone claiming how they screwed them over in the same ways that Swift did to someone else. So I just don't listen to it anymore. I'm not saying that Swift is the best company out there, but as with everything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. And also realize that the only control you have over any situation is your own part. So all you can really do is give your best effort and admit your mistakes when you make them. Then when things fall apart, you'll know you've done the best that you can and move on.
Hope for the best and expect the worse. Then, no matter what happens, you won't be surprised.cowwboy, Civilservant, HAMPY and 5 others Thank this.
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