Swift vs....others

I for one would go with SEC. They have battery apu's but when they run out, you can idle. Hopefully Tow sees this thread and will chime in about SEC. Big G Express has apu's and is a pretty good company. I hardly see a complaint about them. Have you thought about a company called UZ trans. They do both dry van and reefer.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr.../253763-uz-trans-inc-maryland-heights-mo.html

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...3410-joe-tows-new-trucking-adventures-ex.html

 

Taking a week off is a time-honored way of getting a different truck at Swift. Ya rolls the dice and takes yer chances.

Sorry to hear that you ended up with a lousy DM. There's a way around that, too... switch terminals. You don't have to be based out of the terminal nearest your home.

Swift has been picking up a LOT of dedicated accounts. They've been aggressively going after Walmart and Target accounts. Ask the other drivers around the terminal who's running dedicated, then go talk to the account manager. I landed a spot on a Target account only six weeks after going solo. (Yes, I'm a Swift company driver.)

If you are looking to change companies, take a look at Prime. Decent pay, good miles, and all company trucks have APUs and inverters.

 

I'm wondering whether emerald's insistence to not run nights might be an impediment with most all the companies that have been recommended to her? The comment from her new DM (or was it the TM) that she was "half a driver" might have some truth to it. Remember that the DM doesn't really control what loads you get, other than to perhaps give some extra face to face time with the planners to get good loads for you. The planners are the ones that make decisions regarding loads at Swift. I had an opportunity to watch a planner at work, looking at a screen with available loads versus a screen of available trucks on a map and a screen of what kind of drivers are in those trucks.

If the planner has a hyper focus JIT load they aren't going to give that to a driver with a lot of service failures. The OP mentioned being stuck for days with no available loads, but what she doesn't know is whether there were loads available that she didn't qualify for because they required night runs. Once you are tagged with a label like "doesn't run nights" that is like waving a red flag to a planner that disqualifies you from half the loads.

Think about it like this: you are a sales clerk in a clothing store that sells both men's and women's clothing. However, you insist on only selling to men and refuse to talk to women. Would you hire you?

No matter what company you decide to go with, I think the issue of night driving will raise its head again. It's the nature of the business. Sometimes when running solo OTR you have to be ready to adjust your preferred schedule to fit with customer requirements.

If you really only want to run during the day, then you need to be up front about that with whatever company you go to.

If backing at night is the issue, then improvise. Get extra flashlights and attach them to the back of the trailer or set them out on the ground to light your way. I carry several cheap flashlights just for that purpose. I had a complicated back in an unlit yard one night that required placing flashlights on dumpsters, a boat trailer, and a fence that I had to avoid just to back off the street to get to a tight yard and THEN get in position to get in the dock. Several goals and pull ups later I made it. Without those flashlights I'd have been blind.

 

That flashlight tip is a good one and has saved me on more than one occasion, as there certainly are numerous docks out there that are poorly lit. Good luck to the OP!

 

I'm guessing that if they don't call their dispatchers "driver managers", it might be more of a team effort, elsewhere.

 

Emerald, you can get a new DM, it's easy. Also, just call HR or write a note to them, and that a-... DM will get a reprimand. Big corporations don't grow or stay profitable with that kind of stuff, and believe me, they care. I drove for Swift for 13 months, and did fine, good miles, pay on time. (not a lot of pay) Swift compensates drivers more after a little time goes by, they don't just give the income increase away to any driver. So, you're about to start making better money. When you jump, there's always a lag in miles due to process requirements, so there's a cost to jumping. I for sure wouldn't jump until I had something better nailed down hard. Good luck, and don't let one bad apple impact your future path.

 

As long as I do my job they leave me alone.
However if my truck gets scratched and I let them know about it they send me to defensive driving course. true story

 

You know Emerald, I think driving flatbed might be more your style since you don't like night driving. They deliver mostly during business hours due to the nature of their loads. Getting loaded/unloaded and tarping burns up a lot of their on duty hours. You'll have to drive at night sometimes to get a load close to the receiver so you can deliver it at 8am, but it'll be daylight when you pull in to get unloaded.

Or if regular flatbed jobs don't appeal to you, you could go into heavy hauling. Some of those heavy haul companies like Transport National, and Rinaudo hire students right out of cdl school and pay them at least .40cpm after their training is over.

 

Interesting thread emerald079, hope you keep us posted on your decision!

 

Heavy haul would be a good choice. You can't drive at night.