Swift Transportation Company, Inc. - Phoenix, Az.

Het guuys and girls just wanted some info on swift i thinkin about starting with them in a couple of months after my son is born th e main reason is for the family and the benefits im not lookin toget rich i jut want a steady pay check to support my family . It will be hard but we can manage we are strong so justa little info would be appreciated thank you

 

OTR trucking is not a good career for raising kids. Driving a dedicated run or taking a local gig will give you the proximity necessary for being where you should be...in your child's face. Every psychological study suggests that face time with kids, especially between age 0-6 is paramount to having a well adjusted child. Money and "stuff" is not even close to having the impact that face time gives kids.
I am entering a Swift cab next month. But my kids are gone, wife is history and, unlike the restrictions I encountered with 6 years of auto/truck driveaway, I can now carry my skiis and clubs for recreation anywhere. Home is wherever I park and I use the internet for developing and keeping friendships around the country.
I suppose you could get a web cam though....

 

Rockpanther speaks the truth! I would never had done trucking when the kids were young. A divorce resulted a move to the west coast. My girls are adults in their own places and my son turned 17 last year. It's actually cool for him that I live here, it gives him a place to come and visit. I wish I was closer to him though..

 

Hey RP, what is the deal with driveaway? I looked into that, do you have any companies I could check out? Any info on how it works, the pay ect?
thanks!

 

The pay sucks...run 1000 miles and by the time you back out expenses you might break even. Mostly cars and mini-vans for pharmaceutical companies. Moves are a little better because you aren't restricted with speed and time but overall its brutal...schleping your stuff, lots of greyhounds or you might rent a car one way to the next gig. I do not reccommend it as a career move or if you have family responsibilities. I wanted to do some national research for a business plan so I was OK with it. I worked for 6 years with Amerifleet Transportation. Mamo Transportation is out there too and I ran some class B vehicles for them but they are mostly CDL moves. But these companies are very sensitive to economic swings as are their clients. Getting stranded in some city for days is common and that REALLY eats up your revenue. No...its still just a way to travel free. You know...sign on but only take rides when you feel like going somewhere. Excellent for someone retired who has a steady but low retirement revenue stream.

 

depends on the parent. My sperm donor being OTR made me properly adjusted. Because he wasnt.

 

Having a kid is like buying a truck before you have loads to haul with it. And having said that most of us do it. It's tough for the kids sometimes.

 

This board was covered up with negative Swifty threads; what happened? Did Swifty become the best OTR company to work for all of the sudden? Had to go back four pages to find the last response dated 4 weeks ago!

 

There was a point and time I would agree with you quickly. However lately it seems Swift is going downhill RAPIDLY on that type of stuff.

I had the low air pressure alarm going off steadily, it would not stop. Air pressure read 110 psi (volvo) and had enough to drain the air tanks and would rebuild to 110 psi shortly after draining. Anytime I would move the alarm would go off again and would not stop until I stopped. Called breakdown and they wanted me to complete the 350 miles left (with 45,220 in the box) and then get the 350 mile backhaul to Decatur Ga and put the truck in the shop then. Told them they were nuts, I was not driving the truck with that alarm going off constantly. They called Decatur parts changers (ain't a mechanic in the bunch that I have met yet) who said the truck would be fine to drive that way. After ten minutes of being adamant about HUGE safety concerns (and it being an out of service violation according to DOT) over driving the truck with a low air pressure alarm constantly going off they relented and said drive it 60 miles to the terminal. Told them hell no send a hook for the thing that I could not guarantee I could safely get the truck there. Took another thirty minutes to get them to do that.

Has been my experience lately with Swift that driver safety has taken a back seat to saving (or making) a dollar.


*for those that want more info*
Parts changer kept saying it was nothing but the air pressure sensor reading inaccurate. Would be fine to drive that way and would not be any issues. It would be 100% safe. Told him there was no way he could know that for 100% fact diagnosing over the phone but could only know for about 60-70% and I was not risking my life over that. After finally getting towed and them changing the sensor, tractor was still doing the same thing. 2 other shots at them "fixing" it and failing I was given another truck and that one went to Volvo.

 

I have to throw my two cents in, if I may. My wife used to work at SWIFT and now she does nto, but for a very serious reason. She went to swift, because at the time she was driving a school bus and decided to upgrade her license. She had never driven a truck before this. But since she had gotten her CDL-A a few weeks before she applied at swift, and had over 10 years driving school buses they let her apply. They forgot and did not give her an initial road test. To this day, had they have given her that test, she would have at a minimum would have been required to attend some type of driver course.
She drove OTR with a mentor or 6 weeks, when she returned to the Swift Terminal in Lancaster was given a road test. Passing with no problem. They put her in a relatively new truck, and sent her out to make the company money. A whole whoping .26 per mile. I will say on Swift's behalf, they haul alot of freight. She drove for 6 months and found herself a nice dedicated local route, that she had to work her butt off. I will add here that she was making more than het OTR people because it was a salary job, not by the mile.
Now to TurboTrucker's point, Swift has some terrible drivers Not ALL, but more than their own fair share. They even hired my father-in-law, this man does not have a business driving a 4 wheeler. The "company" knows how bad these drivers are, and I think they dont care. They are expecting to loose 12,000 driver when CSA2010 kicks in. This just shows me the quality of driver they are keeping until then