Swift Transportation, Fairly Good Company So Far

Right there is one of the major problems with this industry. 71 days straight. Some people may not mind that, but most will. How many people with a family can do this. How many people want to ruin their health by sitting in a truck that long, with the only exersise being walking to the Pilot, and then back with a pizza.

Companies wonder why they can't keep drivers. Look on these forums. The two major complaints are lack of home time, and poor pay.

It really ticks me off that every big company thinks people should be a slave to then for 4 to 6 weeks, and then maybe a day or two home.

I am so mad at what trucking has become I could bite nails. The newer drivers, and many of the older drivers, never knew trucking before the mega-carriers took over the industry. These carriers are why wages are so low, and what once was days out is now weeks or months out.

Sure, the big companies don't want the driving hours of service cut to 10. They would have to pay drivers more to compensate for less miles.

It is just like when 48' and 53' trailers first came out. The industry said if they only had these trailers O/Os and company drivers would make more money because they would be hauling more freight each trip.

Bull crap. The companies used the trailers to steal loads from companies that had not switched to bigger trailers yet, but still hauled what was now more freight for the same money.

Have you drivers not noticed that your pay has not increased, or increased very little, since the 11 hour and 34 hour rule came into effect? That is the way the rules were designed. Get the drivers to go 11 hours a day instead of 10, mix in a 34 hour reset so you don't have to worry about the 70 hour rule, and now you have a recipe to where a driver can log several hundred miles more a week legally.

The company does not have to pay more per mile, just have the driver run more miles, and then the driver will think he is making more because of a bigger paycheck from more miles driven.

It reminds me of a factory I once worked at that paid by production. One of my co-workers went to the plant manager and asked for a raise on his base salary. The manager said "You're on production ain't you? Then give yourself a raise, work harder." The same thinking applies here.

I know this is off topic for this thread, but these 4 to 8 week out carriers really strike a nerve with me.

 

71 days out??well thats one way to get the miles! this will start to burn you out rather quickly though-allow yourself some time out of that truck.of course running like that i'll bet your dispatchers think you're the greatest thing they have had on their boards in a while,with so many drivers wanting home time every 5 days.did the same thing when i first got into the business,made the sacrifice-made the money,got the experience in a shorter amount of time,got the newer truck,etc.

 

Well said... about time to finally read something along these lines. Thank you.

 

It all depends on the Recruiter; if their ignorant enough they will not use common sense!! Resulting in a 3 day bus ride. I live in maryland and the recruiter insisted I had to go to Lewiston Idaho.

 

would you go to school with them i am trying to fine to some one to help me get my cdl i live in cookeville tn that is close by