So If I Go to a Mega to Get My CDL and One-Year's Experience...

Yeah, I get that feeling just perusing around there.

Wow Six9er, what a great write up! Very good information I need to know.
Mind if I PM you at times and field some questions when they come about? If all goes to plan I will be attending this June after my retirement.

 

Could you tell more? I really appreciate any input.

 

It's 45 minutes from your home and you don't have to stay in a hotel.

 

Good points!

 

Good points!

 

We all like to bash Swift but they are a MEGA for a reason, if you can’t take joking from other drivers don’t be a driver, we are all professionals and here to get the product from point a to point b I really don’t care what the panel on your door says, I was raised to respect everyone and treat them the same, I treat the CEO and Janitor the exact same way. If there is a terminal 45 mins from your home seems silly to go anywhere else, get the training keep your nose clean and keep the shiny side up and the greasy side toward the ground... Welcome to the greatest job you will love to hate

 

Love the attitude. Thanks for the encouraging words, Fire.

 

The issue I had with Swift(didn't learn from them) & the D.O.T. was a few years back in a 2 year period the Swift operation was responsible for an average of "2 Deaths a Month". They still were given a good safety rating. Let that one sink in. No way in the world do you still have a good safety rating. It was because of the size of their operation they could get away with it.
That is a flawed system. The fmsca has since removed death crash statistics off their site so the general public cannot view them go figure. The general public has a right to know where the danger lies.
Yes you would have a bad reputation with statistics like that.

 

Hmm....not really sure how to respond to this.
Thoughts on this @Chinatown?

 

While I can't vouch for their safety culture prior to when I started working for them. My experience has been that they promote safety rather heavily. Having drunk the kool-aid regarding safety many years ago, I tend to give it top priority in much that I do. Swift has always supported me with that. However, not everyone regards it as well. They do try, teach and train drivers to be safe. And, they do eventually fire drivers who show a lack of regard for safety and show they are not willing or able to change. However, they can not make a driver be safe and too many macho wanna-be super truckers simply regard getting a load delivered above safety. Unsure what fatality statistics exist regarding fatal accidents with Swift and other carriers which takes into account the total number of drivers a carrier employs. However, safety is an individual's responsibility 100%. If you drive for a carrier who won't support your efforts to be safe, time to find another carrier. So, my question is, while you were driving for Swift, did they coerce you to try and do anything unsafe? Did they try to get you to continue to drive when you thought it wiser to stop for safety reasons? Did they try and get you to continue running when you were too fatigued, tired and sleepy to safely drive? Did they try and coerce you to drive when you didn't have time on your clock to drive?
Added note: I did have a driver leader who I had serious disagreement with regarding use of the safe haven provision. He thought it just fine that I show up to a shipper or receiver, for a live load or unload, with only 15 minutes left on my 14 hour clock which would force me to use the safe haven provision. I think it is an abuse of the intent of the policy. A shipper or receiver, as I understand it, should get you in and out in 2 hours or less (they seldom do), if I don't have at least 2 hours plus the time it is going to take me to get to a safe haven afterward on my 14 hour clock when I arrive, I'm gonna do a break to get time on my clock first. If they take longer than 2 hours to get me in and out, which is common, and I have to use safe haven as a result, it was because they took to long, not because I planned poorly. Anyway, that wasn't the only issue I had with that driver leader and why I didn't stay with him very long before I switched driver leaders.