Swift Transportation

I started with Swift straight out of trucking school. Truck school, putting around in empty 28' trailers does not prepare you for real world of 78,000 lb loads chugging up and down places like Donner Pass or the Grapevine. I had a great opportunity with Frito Lay, but I blew their backing up test. (First in a 53' trailer).

Believe me, I needed to go out with a trainer. Training consists of running OTR teams with a Swift owner operator. Pay was minimum wage for that month, but when you had been dead broke for a year and a half, it seemed like a small fortune LOL. Long story short, the guy was an A-hole..but he NEVER raised his voice at me when I was destroying his new 10 speed transmission, if I missed an exit...or the big one... I mis-shifted taking 78k lb. load up steep highway grade and stalled right in middle of freeway. He didn't even blink.
He said "move over", like it was no big deal. Long story short, Swift assigned me a truck. It was very early summer. It felt like paid vacation because I was running Western 11 and all of the sights. Just being so new and not knowing Swifts' "system" affected my pay. But by 7th week solo I was running 3k a week. Swift was so desperate for local Amazon Drivers from my home terminal, that I got hired on. Swift let me keep my sleeper 6 months and live out of my truck. They had showers at terminal. I banked 15k in 6 months not even trying. Pay was 20.00 an hour ( 2016) but 60 hours a week plus back then, Amazon runs were 5 hours of driving and 7 hours of sitting.
I ALWAYS treated my managers with respect and they ALWAYS treated me in like manner. I never had any of the night mare scenarios you hear about.
I stayed there 2.5 years and only left after they lost the Amazon acct.
Swift was good to me, I had 2.5 years of solid experience when I left. Staying 2.5 years looks rock solid on my resume.
I would highly recommend Swift to newbies. You need that paid training more than you think.

 

Glad it worked out for you.

 

I had a very similar experience with Swift. Went through their Academy in Phoenix about 5 years ago. Worked for them about 2 years total. Got solid training, drove nice equipment, picked up and delivered on time, didn't hit anything. They still send me recruiting texts and emails to this day. Very happy where I am though.

 

"I banked 15k in 6 months not even trying"

And you left? Wow!

 

I think he did that by living in his truck and showering at the terminal while being a local driver. It's easier to bank money when you don't have any living expenses other than food. You're also not going to buy extra stuff when you have no where to put it. At least that's how I understood it.

 

That is exactly what he meant. I am doing the exact same thing right now. Saving up as much money as possible for retirement. I own 3 rental units in my hometown, but do not have a place of my own to live. Tenants make my Mortgage payment, insurance and taxes, with about a 6k positive cash flow annually. When you live in your truck, and have no bills, your bank account fills up pretty quickly. It all depends where your priorities line up. The arrangement works quite well for me.

 

Was that after taxes

 

Do they recruit from outside the USA

 

I saw a few Swift/Mex trucks last week running around I-10 between Phoenix and Southern California. The drivers looked as though they had some Mexican blood lines, so my answer would be yes. I’ve also seen them up in Canada sporting Canadian plates on the trucks. Now, if you are inquiring about a third world country or Eastern Europe, you might be out of luck.

 

They lost the Amazon Acct. I was on