Swift for Me

hello,
no they don’t force dispatch you to Canada.. i got this message over the qualcomm on 8/20/07 0938 " Attn toms board we are updating our records and need to know if u are able to or want to run Canada. please send response of yes Canada or no Canada over qualcom asap and we will work on getting the computer updated. thanks" so no they don’t force you do go to Canada. They are a force dispatch company tho lower 48 well some what I turned down 2 loads going to Brooklyn and one going to queens. one right after they other still with them they did not fire me. Been with them 3 years not that bad of a company been with 2 others one small and local. Are they the best no is there a best company no. There is no such animal as "BEST Company" only one that fits your needs and who’s BS you can put up with.

 

Yeah, you do have to find the company whose screw jobs you dislike the least, as there will always be screw jobs in trucking.

When I worked for Swift, their dispatch policy was "take it or clean it out" even on the runs to Canada. In those days, many a run was taken from Mt. Holly, NC to Ontario for Freightliner.

SwiftCo was a forced dispatch outfit back in the mid-90s.

Sounds like the USA ports are getting anal if one must take his birth certificate with him on runs to Canada. If there is a fine, how much is it if he doesn't have his birth certificate with him on the way back into the US?

 

worked for two yrs with swift never got home only because the nearest terminal was three hundred miles. I went through the training that they provided, it was a pain but i survived. They have two terminals in your area Gary and manteno. I quit twice and they hired be back both times. first time i quit I was looking at greener grass near home only to find out it was mud. Second time mud got worse. my wife who also went through there training had and accident the second time we were in the the mud no grass in site. The third time i attempted to go back with swift they said i was good for rehire but the wife had to work for another company for 6 months before they would hire do to accident. great company if you are new. It is a well oiled machine and cannot be messed with it is also ran similiar to the military. I hope u decide on any company that will help develop your dream come true.

 

It was the same way when my husband was there too(Take it ,or leave).
Back when he was running across the boarder. You were always suppose to have your birth cert on the truck. Now its a passport,I belive. If they ask for it you should have it.LOL They didn't fine him,so i'm not sure of what it is.
But he sat there several hours going back and forth between customs and brokers. Being talked to like he was some criminal. And them telling him we don't have to let you cross,you cannot prove you are a US citizen. It was the US customs.

 

Well I wouldnt mind going up to canadia up there....but if you had to...would your company help you get the passport?

 

I have been working for swift for 3 months. I can say they are not that great of a company. Hometime I get my hometime I go home every other weekend but I have to keep telling my DM every couple of days to make sure I get there. Miles I get miles I run around 2800 a week I don't do west or east cost. My truck is in okay condition still it is crappy Volvo I hate. My pay sucks but hell its not for ever. I went to swifts school in KC it was a good school not a mill like some of the other schools they have we only had 10 student make it to get there CDL we started with 30. The trainer were very experinced too. The sad thing is they closed this school cause they didn't put out enough student. WTF a least they could drive. I have seem some of the student that have came out of the other swift schools and they scare me. I don't plan to stay with swift I plan to go to create. The only reason I'm here is cause of the schooling and that create had a waiting list of 3 months for a trainer. So I'm just hanging out and learning the road. I can't rip on Swift to much because they have been good to me but that won't last for ever.

 

no company is going to help u get a passport that i know of. From 06/07-08/07 i cross the border on a daily basis. u cannot have any record what so ever. they are very thorough if you smoke they can and will take your cigs if they thin u have to many. Going into Canada is a piece of cake usually no questions asked. However on the way back is a pain.
When it comes to swift sending you to Canada it would be about 1 out of thousand runs. Besides that the roads suck upthere. very seldom will u run up there. There is a simple solution. just say no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Houdini,
I think you can make any company work for you if you want it to. Starting this career is no different then any other, if you go into it with the attitude that it will work for you it probably will. At least with Swft and the 8 month commitment you can always move on if it's not what you think. But try and go into it with the attitude that your going to stay for years and years. I'm going back into trucking with a company that sevearl people complain about, but for me and where I live they work for me and that's all that matters. If they turn out to be a bad company then I'll chock it up to a learning experience and move on.

 

I was at swift for three months I was hired on as a experienced driver doing the regional run.I was on the DCX run basically Chrysler I was happy at first and got home that weekend.
That's were the honey moon ended my regional run turned into a regional run when they felt like it.They had me all over not on my dcx run sitting for days my weedends home turned into weekends at a truckstop waiting to get home.
So I guess on screen they looked good confort zones yea right listen to those who have been there not what there internet page "say's"