Swift Transportation Company, Inc. - Phoenix, Az.

Yes, I am 100% positive that they were! Google it and you will find the article.

 

The article also says that the company itself wasnt the focus of the ICE raid, but you wont hear the whole story from certian haters.

 

You are right...Swift was not the target of the initial raid. But since the license office was issuing licences to Swift drivers, you can bet that those agents will be reviewing the CDL's that were issued out of that office, and if any fraud was involved, and illegals were knowingly hired by Swift...Well you can figure the rest out. I would not be surprised if every CDL issued there in the past several years was being examined. The investigation is far from being completed, and only then will we know if Swift was part of any wrongdoing.

Face it, Swift dosen't have the most stellar reputation in the industry, and it isn't very hard to imagine them being involved.

Look at what has been happening at those meat packing plants accross the country, as well as that driving school in West Plains, MO...

 

Like Wes, a terminal manager for Swift has said, it is better having someone newer training because they are more cautious. AND you have proven how ####y a "seasoned" veteran can become. Acting like you know it all when in reality all you can give is misinformation. Many who have driven for a long time let their guard down and would neglect showing the newbie things that they really need to know. And the point we are proving on here is that you don't know how to back your bogus statements with facts.

Oh, and about the problems in Memphis, last I heard those schools have been re-opened or are opening real soon (I believe someone on this thread is scheduled to go to one of the two schools) and the investigation was not just with Swift but also with the Tennessee licensing bureau. Probably looking into the state issuing bogus CDL's for them. We had that here in my little town in NM.

It was probably just another "timtruck bogus 'fact'".

The only place that Swift does not have a good reputation is in the truck stops and on the CB. Trucking is a customer service business. It is not about you driving down the road. AND Swift has an excellent reputation where it counts, with the customers. That is why they regularly win the Carrier of the Year award from some of the top companies in the country. Most drivers complain about Swift because it is the "in" thing to do. AND the majority who complain and say how terrible a company they are have never even driven for them. And before you start telling stories of how many Swift drivers you have seen do dumb things remember it is the law of averages. If 5% of the drivers on the road do dumb things, 5% of 17,000 is alot more than 5% of 2,000 so OF COURSE you will see more Swift drivers do dumb things. There are more of them out there.

 

Tim you may have stated in an earlier post what company you started with but I was just curious what outfit it was? The school I'm attending also states 100+ companies they recruit from and funny that I got "prehired" to Werner when I got there and I noticed all the Werner swag, calendars, pens, model trucks about the recruiter's desks!! Not to say that they are bad to work for, actually I've read in numerous posts they were a good place for new grads but the conflict of interest is there at schools etc if one is paying attention.

I'd rather stay away from the biggest outfits but with frieght declining a bit and consolidation, a new driver may have to suck up that .26cpm and get your year in?! I haven't heard anyone dispute Tim's figures for 1 year newbie at Swift either so they sound pretty close?

I guess my question is can you get those miles at other outfits because Swift etc are larger companies and they have more fright sources than smaller carriers. Someone can pay more but if your miles are cut in half with the economy downturn right now you're not better off.

 

I have read so many of the comments about Swift and understand that yes people have had problems with the company, but why is it the TOP Company right now....so many companies and I am sure they all have the same set of issues..

 

Oh rollnrock, he wont tell you, he is too proud to disclose where he works such great hours, and makes such good money, and is so happy. He is so happy about where he works, he wont tell anybody. How logical is that. Regardless what 'fact' you have or whatever reason you might have, such as in my case, just to get your foot in the door, doesn't matter with him. Whatever course of action you choose, it will be wrong, for his reasons. Forget the situation you might be in. In my case, I start with Swift training August 13th, and should be on my own by the end of September or shortly after. And if things go the way they should, i leave Swift in a year (if i am unhappy) and get on with another company. My goal is to put in my 2 years with Swift...then haul cars. My plan is my plan. His plan is his plan, and yours is yours. Whatever works the best in any given situation is the right choice. REGARDLESS whatever stories you hear on here.

I'd go with Werner only because they allow pets in the truck (from what i've been told) And eventually, if i go O/O years down the road....

 

I started driving at a small company in Southern Kentucky. The original company went bankrupt, but they are back in business under a different name. they had approx 300 company trucks and about 45 O/Os and they had an excellent training program, and they paid pretty good also. Top company drivers were making $.48 cpm back 7 years ago when I was there. A newbie started at $.30 cpm. I have not said what driving school I went to--Im not sure I can say on this board. I will tell you it was in Sellersburg, Indiana( down by Louisville) and they have I beleive it is 10 other schools across the country and they are consistently reanked in the top 4 or 5 schools nationwide. EVERY single instructor there MUST be DOT certified to do the actual driving exam. In other words-the only time you have to deal with the state is for the written test.

In fact the driving school that I attended has a contract with Werner to train their drivers here in Indianapolis--but you are not required to go to work for werner. Actually the school I went to was big fans of TMC and Covenant--or at least the management was. They all have their favs, but by law, they CANNOT either tell you that you should or should not go to a particular company. If they do so they are breaking federal laws and could be subject to loosing their license. 2 of our instructors were million mile drivers at TMC. You had to be at least a millionmiler with 10 years experience in order to teach there. One of our instructors was a former driver development mgr for Covenant.

The facts are that the beginning salaries have gone up some, but they havent gone up substantially

Im not sure where these guys are getting the "fact" that Swift is one of the top companies out there. Their safety rating is in the toilet and has been for quite sometime. They are consistently late in getting freight where it goes and they have a national reputation for not being that upfront or nice to their customers on the pricing end. The reputation is not just with the drivers like some of these pro-Swift people think. Also If Swift is so great, then tell me why their drivers are constantly defending the place. If they are "the place" to work for, then they would not need to be defended and their reputation and merit would carry that company. But it does not.
You have to remember that this is a company who ousted their chairman because he got caught being an inside trader--I agree that he didnt plead guilty, but he did pay the fine.When you pay a fine and dont fight allegations, that does imply guilt. And then 2 years later they sell the company lock stock and barrel to him for cash.

I can tell you about customer after customer that Swift has been booted out of over the last several years because they just cant get it together. They can do the cutthroat prices on the freight and operate more than 35% of their company trucks at a loss (which they do either operate at a loss or are barely breaking even on them), but you can only do that so long until your quality catches up to you. A customer will pay the high prices if he can get his stuff intact and timely. As far as the "carrier of the year awards" Sears, for example had 8 "carriers of the year" last year--so that says nothing.

You know, you should read the rules on this board before you spout off about what you know nothing about. I am not disclosing a job history or a school history to satisfy you. The rules say that you cannot advertise for jobs with a company or with a school, and our company is always hiring all over the country and the school I went to is well on the way to having one of their best years ever, but Im not gonna advertise for them. I hope that when you get with your trainer, you dont have this know-it-all attitude or he will throw you off the truck rather quickly. I have thrown trainees off for arguing with me and have never had a company tell me that I was wrong for doing so.

 

Wrong.

Your example is flawed because you assume that the percentage of poor Swift drivers is equal to that of every other company.

The notion that the number of proficent Swift drivers is equal to that of each and every other company is laughable...The rate at which they churn out new drivers, and unleash them on the highways prevents it.

For example:

How many Swift drivers have 1 Million mile accident free awards? 2 Million? 3 Million?
How many Swift drivers have even driven 1 million miles, regardless of accidents?
Not many I'll wager.

Many LTL companies have lots of drivers with 1 Million Mile (and more) Accident Free awards, and the more selective TL companies do too.

Try and sell that garbage to someone else, I'm not buying it...

 

A guy that I went to driving school with-totalled a Swift truck in his 1st week. His "trainer" was right there with him while he did it. Needless to say both were fired on the spot. Room for 2 more new drivers. As far as this supposed downturn that I saw that somebody else is talking about. Jerry M himself told the truck load conference this year that he needed 1000 new driver immediately, so much for the downsize now.