Swift drivers...

I can't comment on the miles that Werner gets but when I started solo with swift I got 2,600-2,800 miles during the slow season. And it won't take long to get even better miles as long as you work hard.

 

Just relax and you shouldn't have issues and if you do they will usually just make you do a local close quarters class or something like that and then re test you. They do the driving test to see where you are at as far as your skills are concerned and to see if you need any additional training.

 

Just thought I'd throw my two cents out there...

I spent 6 years with Swift. They paid for my CDL training through an outside school (I lived too far from any of their academies) and once I finished training I started making pretty good money. After 3 years I became a Mentor and eventually leased and started running my own truck with Swift. The miles were good even though the initial rate they paid me was pretty low by industry standards (I started at 26cpm) the pay raises came with time. They were (and as far as I know still are) a great place to get your foot in the door of the trucking industry.

The only reason I left Swift and moved to another company is I eventually figured out that I no longer had the patience to be a trainer and therefore I would lose almost half of my income. The bottom line is I'd certainly recommend them as a good place to start despite the amount of crap you'll hear on the CB. Just understand that there will come a day that you'll want (or need) to move on to a better company.

On the other hand, 7 years into my driving career and I have yet to hear a single good thing about Werner. Not once. Ever.

 

Swift is the McDonalds, or Microsoft, of trucking.

A great place to start and learn. Maybe even a great place to stay.

They are the biggest, and that has some advantages.
Miles is the main one. Swift is, simply, everywhere.

They are a starter company, which has some disadvantages.
Low overall pay would be the main one.

But they keep the trucks in good condition, for the most part. And I doubt any Swift truck has more than 550k on the clock.
They are easy to work with, for the most part (and if you know how to work the 'system').

Even the paid miles are getting better.
When I started I could count on driving between 10 and 20% more than my loaded miles.
But recently my paid miles have been VERY close to miles driven.
My current load has empty miles of 43 and loaded of 725. Actual miles are 50 empty and 728 loaded.
More and more I see this, and it is seldom now that I drive much more than what I am paid for.

I can shut down when I think conditions are unsafe to drive in, and I have never been hassled for it.
The same can not be said for so many companies.

I have never been asked to over drive my hours, as in cooking the books.
The same can not be said for many others.


Swift may not be 'the perfect company'. But there are far worse.

 

Yes, we run e-logs. As for the APUs: It would be nice, but I haven't ever "needed" one. The trucks have bunk heaters so in the winter you can stay warm without idling and in the summer if the temp is above 68 degrees you can idle the truck without it shutting off on you, most of the trucks you can idle anyways but mine is a new cascadia and there really isn't another way around the idle shut off.

 

Without an APU, and only a small inverter, I have a Coleman cooler to keep stuff cold, power to run my computer and charge my phone and whatever else, a lunchbox oven that I can cook some pretty good meals with.

Tonight I had baked salmon with vegies and rice.
It does baked potatoes as well. Yum!


And yes, e-logs.
Which means they won't be trying to make you run illegally. (well, as long as you pre-plan your trips correctly)

 

Can someone explain the pay during training. I have a CDL but have not driven for about 61/2 years. They prehired me today and the recruiter was explaining something about hourly pay for on driving and off driving time but was at work and not sure I understood. She said if I passed road test I would go to orientation and out with a trainer and if I did not I would be trained.

 

Also with a choice between Swift And Western Express could I get some honest opinions. Checked with Western Express because they will train on flatbed which I wanted to drive but vans would be ok also. Had originally wanted to train on tankers with Schneider but without recent experience that was a no-go.