Ok Who Should A Newbie Work For?

jerryl,Sounds like you just might be a recruiter for good old Swift.Out of your entire post,there are perhaps two sentences that make any sense at all.I of all people realize that trucking is a job,and must be done correctly.I have never posted on this sight just to downgrade a company,and I doubt that anyone else would either.However I have had experience with Swift,and I honestly feel they are one of, if not the worst trucking company out there. And I dont believe there is a perfect company.Trying to compare Swift with a company like Roehl is impossible.There is no comparison between the two.I have no idea where you are coming from with your remarks,but you sure sound like a Swift recruiter to me.The remarks I have posted here are from experience with these companies.Passed on to possibly help another driver to make a wise decision on where to hire on.You post that this is just a site to run down trucking companies,better read further down the list.Most of the people posting here are just passing on information that could possibly help others.I think it is a great sight,and even tho I am retired,I still like to look in once in a while.

 

Obviously, one of the statements that did not make sense to you is this one (copied from my post), "I have been doing this over the past few months as I have researched who I want to drive for when I return to OTR driving in a couple of months." I am not a recruiter but believe that honesty is important. Part of that honesty is that the complainers on here would take responsibility for their part of the problem but they don't. I have heard of Roehl drivers who feel Roehl was dishonest and treated them unfairly. While only a couple of my statements made sense to you others seemed to have no problem seeing exactly what I was saying and agreed that I was making a good point.

So you had a bad experience with Swift. Were you always an ideal employee while there? Did you always do your best to satisfy the customer and represent Swift in a positive manner? Did you do all you could to prove your worth to the company at all times? What part did you play in making your experience a bad one? Get a little mouthy on the Qualcomm or phone? See that is the problem here, it is easy to say "it's all the company's fault" but in reality it is never all one person's fault. Have you ever been to a defensive driving class? They tell you in each of the examples of accidents that there are RARELY unpreventable accidents. There is always something the professional driver could have done to avoid the accident. Fault may be assessed to the other individual but there is probably something that the professional could have done. I have been through a couple different defensive driving courses, both for the school bus company for which I currently drive and for Swift as a part of my training and so I speak from experience here.

You have your opinion about Swift and others have theirs. MANY like Swift and it works for them. Others don't like it. Like I said in my post Swift is not the greatest but don't call it a BAD company just because your experience wasn't good. The problem I have here is with things like "XXXX company sucks" or other comments like that. If the idea was just to inform then come on here and say, "this is my experience with this company," without all the name calling or derogatory comments. State the facts.

 

You still sound like a Swift recruiter to me. As for what I have posted it has all been fact.Point number one.. I drove for Swift and found them to be a very bad company.I have always delivered freight on time,and got along very good with customers.No problems there. I also drove a company truck for Roehl,and there is no comparison between the two companies.I realize there are drivers out there who would find fault with Roehl,and thats their right.I also posted that I had a few issues with Roehl,but that they were taken care of by making a phone call to either my DSR,or Fleet Mgr.There is no ideal company out there,and as I stated driving a truck is a job,and it isnt easy.I could go back to any company I have ever driven for and they would rehire me.I always left under good conditions,even with Swift.As for you ,if your that happy with Swift stay there. As for me I feel I always did a good job for anyone I drove for..I am now 70 yrs. old and retired,but my CDL is still up to date.If I needed to go back to driving I could be working by next week.

 

Again, you obviously did not read, or understand, a very key statement in my previous two posts so I will list it again. "I have been doing this over the past few months as I have researched who I want to drive for when I return to OTR driving in a couple of months."

I came off the road a couple of years ago to be with my son during his final two years of high school. I drove for the local concrete company for awhile and am now driving school bus.

If it weren't for a new policy of "no dogs" at Swift I probably would return. I drove out of one of their highest rated terminals and had a great DM. Was Swift perfect? Absolutely not. Were there times I wanted to through the keys on the TM's desk and say, "I'm outta here!"? Most certainly. Did I have some responsibility in that? Absolutely. I developed a bad attitude based on a few events and began to display that attitude in my QC responses. That caused me to get dumped on. The difference is, and I don't say this to build myself up as being some "perfect" driver because I am far from that, I realized that I was causing my problem and rather than quit and come some place like this and rag on Swift being a terrible company, I decided to try changing my attitude. I began to reply nicely on the QC, even when things were still as bad as they were. But you know what? In a few weeks, things began to turn around. They turned around so much that when it came to my last trip out to California and back the folks in Phoenix worked hard on getting me a load back home to turn in my truck. The sign stated "No Eastbound Freight" and yet they ended up giving me a load that was only supposed to be hauled by dedicated drivers so that I would get home on time.

No matter what company there is out there, some drivers will love them and some drivers will hate them. After all, if there was a perfect company out there, wouldn't everybody want to be driving for them? The problem I have here is that rather than mature conversation, people come on here and call companies names, they rant over and over about how terrible a company is and yet, that company has often been around for a long time and is successful. Why not come on here and say this is what I was doing, this is what the company was doing, I found it just wasn't a good fit for me and I moved on?

Do you think when a company puts something on a DAC that they rant and rave about how stupid that driver was and call them names and everything that happens on this site? No!!! They state the facts of the incident as they see them. That is why DAC allows a driver to place a rebuttal statement on the record. The driver is allowed to state his/her side of the facts. But think about this. If the company says, "Driver XYZ was late for three appointments and had two minor accidents which were deemed preventable while with this company and turned the truck in in such bad condition that we consider it abandoned due to the amount of work to prepare it for another driver," and the driver rebuts with, "That stupid company never gave me miles and I was treated like dirt. My FM was an absolute idiot, the equipment sucked and I had all I could take. No one should ever work for this company," who do you think the other companies looking at the DAC are going to find more credible? And it is the same with this site. Rather than coming on here and stating things in a rational, mature manner this place sounds more like the lunch counter at the truck stop or the CB. That devalues the information on this site.

I am currently seriously considering a company that most on here put in the bottom of the barrel. Why? Because I have talked with the drivers that currently work for them, I have read the good and bad on here and on ripoff, and I have also asked the opinions of drivers on another site that is made up of primarily O/O (where, by the way, the comments are more rational and mature then here), and I have weighed them altogether with the research and believe this company may be a good fit for me.

 

Enough said,I am thru with the subject.In closing,everything I have posted here is fact.

 

New here.

I'm sure you'll all be just thrilled to see another newbie/wannabe

I have paid attention to what I have been reading and a common thread keeps coming up.... everyone keeps complaining about how truckers work more hours than they get paid for, get to spend little time with their families and don't make much money....

I have been lurking for quite a while and I would like to know (from you long time truckers)..........

How many teachers in this country get paid for every hour they put into their job?

How many men in the military leave a pregnant wife and come back months later to meet their 6+ month old child for the first time?

How many farmers end up harvesting a crop that is actually going to end up costing them money because the market is so bad?

What is your idea of a "good" job?

Too bad there isn't an incon of a big bullseye for me to put by my name.....


Dictionary.com........ WORK: exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil; the result or product of exertion; to make way with effort or under stress...

 

... Actually RoadDog, I think you are the only one overexcited. I agree with Jerryl again and also with TST.
... Very good points were made. I think we all believe that your experience could have been bad. Not questioning that at all. But just because you had a bad experience, does that mean that everyone else did as well?
... Heck No! Matter of fact, try asking everybody on here who they think the next president should be. Think we would all agree? And most likely not a single one of us have any REAL as in Actual Experince or First Hand Knowledge for the reasons we beleive in our choice or why the other candidates don't deserve our vote. Everything we hear about any of them is actually hearsay. Isn't it? What someone else said or wrote about them. But let me get back to what we were trying to get across to you in my opinion.
... Let's say you and I go to work for Swift. Unless we both encounter the same exact experiences such as routes, loads, mgrs, dispatchers, pay check errors, equipment problems, personal differences with individuals and make the same smart arse remarks, THEN we really didn't have the same experience and can not really compare the two. You had a bad one, I had a good one. Because you had a bad one, does that make the company bad? What about my good experience?
... Last logic <> Ever realize how many people go in a store or restaurant of any kind and say nothing at all? Who do you actually hear saying things? Usually, ONLY the people who had an unrealistic complaint that did not get what they wanted or something else similar. Wanting refunds with no receipts, over the time limit for returns, etc.. Or complains that a steak ordered med rare is too rare or not rare enough. Get the point? True?

 

Guys I will say this: Do your research to which company will work with you. Right now tricking is not for me as home time is my current need. till I obtain my AA degree, truck driving is on hold.

I have done my research and would go to the roadmasters trucking school in Orlando FL hoping to get on with superior out of Lakeland or Arnold out of Jacksonville. I would give Swift a try but only as a last resort.

Kinghunter

 

I understand what you are suggesting however...in my personal life experience I have found that lots of people, including drivers just love to Bull***t and tell "stories". Even if you inquire at truck-stops, CB, etc...be willing to sort them out too. I would listen to all info, sort it out, and just go with your gut feeling. HOWEVER.....as you posted above, if 5 people tell you it's an orange and 2 tell you it's an apple...guess what, it's "probably" an orange.

 

Like I have said before............ I don't mind all the negative bull****..........

I mean......... why do I need to be warned about postive stuff?

I want to know the worse case scenerio that I might be walking into....... then I can be prepared...........