Swift Transportation - What The Recruiter Didn't Tell You

Is there a contract of any kind regarding
commitent to Swift for any length of time
after time with the mentor?

 

Correct, no charge.

If you went to a Swift school there may be a contract. If you are like me, not having attended a Swift school, there is no contract. As a new driver you will have 240 hours behind the wheel training (at least first 50 hours with trainer in passenger seat), then have a final road test before being assigned your own truck. After that you are free to leave Swift at any time. In fact if you take more than 3 days off they want you to clean out your truck in case you don't come back and get reassigned a new truck. After you've proven you're a valued employee you can take days off without having to "slip seat".

 

There is no contract to drive regardless whether or not you went to a Swift school. You can go through the school and leave the minute you get your CDL.

If you go to the Swift school you will sign a contract for an unsecured, no interest loan for the tuition and if you leave you will still be obligated to continue paying the loan. Your loan will not be accelerated unless you default on your payments. Compare it to a car loan; nothing changes if you move to another town.

There is no contract to drive for Swift. You are hired as an "at will" employee meaning you can leave or they can terminate you at any time for no reason.

 

I'm assuming that you are coming in as a "greenhorn" (no experience), and will be going out with a mentor.

You get paid by time while out with your mentor; your state's minimum wage for On Duty Not Driving, and $1/hr more while Driving. My first week, I had 75 hours on the clock. (Yes, the last 5+ were ODND.)

You can take an advance each week, for up to $105. There is a $5 charge by Swift for this, so the full advance will deduct $110 from your next paycheck. That won't leave much on that check, so you'll be tempted to take another advance, and the cycle repeats...

Pack lightly. There's a good chance that you'll be sharing your bunk with everything you brought, so you may end up spending 15 minutes every night rearranging stuff so you have room to stretch out...

 

My situation is I graduated a local college trucking school
in March of 2012, and all things considered I guess I am
fortunate to be offered a chance to get behind the wheel
with a mentor! I had originally applied to Western Express
and have heard too many horror stories about that outfit.
I ran across Swift's mentor program by chance.
Will be going to orientation in early April, hoping for the
best.

Does anyone know how long it will take to make reasonable
money with them. After receiving your own truck, will money
improve?

Thanks to all that responded to my questions, it was relief
to find out that there isn't a contract to work for Swift as a
result of being "mentored" by them.

 

You start at .25 cpm, and by your 12th month you will be at .32 cpm. I made 34k my first year with Swift and took off every day I had coming to me. 1 day off/ 6 days out.

 

I went solo at the end of last June through December, then hopped onto a team dedicated gig. During the last 6 months of '13 I averaged 2489 miles per week. Even starting out I was running right around that number, week in and week out. It may be that some DM/planners in some terminals may have difficulty getting miles for their drivers, but I was pretty happy with my group out of Fontana.

I remember running into another driver at one of the terminals on a smoke break. He'd been driving for a few months longer than I was and was complaining he was averaging only 1500-1800 miles per week. Then he changed the topic to proudly note he'd "Put his foot down" and refused to haul any loads east of the Mississippi River. There might be a connection. Personally, I ran anywhere and anytime I was dispatched as a solo driver, day or night, East or West. Just shoot for 400 miles per day on average, manage your hours, figure out your trip planning, and it shouldn't be hard to average 2500 miles per week.

I'll be coming up to my anniversary in May. I figure I'll be somewhere around the $40K gross figure for my first year, with the boost in pay as a dedicated driver helping that.

 

Take every load you can legally do, and deliver it on time, every time. Don't gripe about the Northeast; the simple truth is that something like 75% of the freight is north of I-40 and east of I-35. You start rejecting loads without a valid reason (and HOS is the ONLY valid reason), and you will soon find yourself pretty low on the "favorites list". Establish yourself for getting whatever they throw at you delivered on time, and you'll find yourself getting chains of preplans that keep the wheels moving, because they know you'll do it.

The first couple of weeks, you may get only 1500 miles, and at 25 cpm, that's not a big paycheck. You'll get short to medium length runs with huge delivery windows. If possible, be there waiting at the beginning of the window. Keep your DL/DM (driver leader/driver manager; same person) updated with your ETA. They get paid when a load is successfully delivered, so it's in their best interest to keep you rolling. They talk directly with the planners, and if they know that you *will* be delivering tomorrow morning, they can have a load waiting for you to pick up that afternoon.

Also, if you're delivering on the weekend, be SURE to let your DM know by midday on Friday. Otherwise, you're likely to be sitting until Monday...

 

Well it looks like the only way to make
good money is to work off your tail, makes
sense to me, it seems that the cry-babies
don't do well in the industry!

Thanks for all the great input!!