Hello all, I have a conditional offer from Swift and scheduled for orientation Feb 26th. I also have a job offer with a mail hauler. So my question is what's it really like at swift? The training, the pay, the miles, the hometime, the fleets, the regions? Time is short so I need straight uncut dope... Thanks
The short and sweet of it.......go if you need the experience, and get out! Been there, won't go into it, but there are a big non-caring company that puts out useless students. I was experienced already when I went there, and got out as quickly as I could.
LOL! Gotta love it! There's only 10 thousand or more posts on Swift on this forum and he wants a quick scoop
Pardon my faux pas. I've been working all day and didn't feel like combing through poorly-titled, wandering-subject threads in order to eek out bits of outdated misinformation. I instead tried to seek up to date concise condensed information but that effort was apparently offensive so for that blunder I apologize, perhaps this one response is all I need to make my decision to stay with the mail hauler. Pardon my attitude, I'm a bit tired....
The straight uncut dope? That's a dangerous thing to ask for in the trucking industry. Might be akin to a 3rd grader pointing a couple fingers and saying 'bang, bang', and then being suspended for terrorist threats. I've been with Swift for over two years, and I can say one thing with certainty. Well, several. You will normally drive more miles than you are paid for. The pay is not the best. You will not always get home when you request. You will get ragged on for things like idle time. You may not feel that you get the respect that you deserve. You should be clear, and understand your situation however. You are a rookie, with zero experience, and getting into one of the toughest careers. No one is going to hold your hand, or wipe your tears. You make it, or you don't - and it's all up to you to do so. You should also understand that if you apply yourself Swift is far from the worst company to begin your new career with. Sure, they pay for less miles than actually driven. So do most. If the mark is too far off they will adjust the paid miles - if you ask them to, nicely. The training pay at Swift is near the top of the scale. Once you go solo you get several raises the first year, and yearly after that. And the starting rate is on par with just about any starting company. Home time is a big issue with all of us. In the past, well, almost a year, I have had to turn down loads only once to get there within 1 day of my request. I was stuck in SoCal trying to get to the Sacramento area. I turned down 3 pre-plans, then someone thought I was already on home time and set my PTA out by 4 days, then I fixed it and got there on the exact date I had requested. They try their best to get you home, but it is up to where you are and where the freight is running. I get ragged on every month for my idle times. I've even been written up for it once. But I still idle when I need to, and I still have a job. A good safety rating and on-time ratio helps a lot. Don't crash your truck, don't speed, get there on time - and other little things may be overlooked. And respect - is a two way street. Respect your DM, company, job, truck, other drivers, etc - and it will go a long way to gaining the respect you also desire.
Look up sheriff1/6 he has a blog running about his experience that he updates almost daily. He started not to long ago.
Just click on Swift in the dac reports section. No need to go blundering through the search feature. Never mind. I see that this is where it's posted..
Ok, I got some answers, as far as pay and running area. One additional q: How many miles per week is average during training?
I just finished my mentor training. I personally drove 20, 584 or 20,854 (can't remember) miles in 7 weeks and was home every 2 weeks for at least 3 days each time. My average take home pay was $381 each week. My mentor was awesome, luckily, and I was sad to get off his truck.
