Swift..?? Why Not????

I have read a lot of comments here on Swift the drivers how about Swift the company??? HIstory/financial stability/retention per hire/training program/equipment/terminals/major freight lanes/HOMETIME/rider policy/insurance benefits/perks*if any*//Why not Swift if they are moving freight, a driver goes out and keeps his head up, aware of his situations pays attention, learns as he goes as we all have or must do.. Why would one not want to give Swift a shot?? Looking for some decision making info.. not how you were treated, or the trainer would not stop and let you eat whien you wanted. Or he raised his voice at you, I need some solid upfront inside info>> Thanks

 

Swift isn't going to go away anytime soon....

 

Take a look at the "Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here" thread off of the main page. The swift thread is on the 2nd page. It is 26 pages long..happy reading!!

 

Show me a workplace,I'll show you a complainer.

 

My dad drives for swift. He likes it and he doesn't ever say anything bad about them. He enjoys working for them. Their not going anywhere soon. I think from what my dad says somedays their worth giving a shot.

 

Swift just has a bad reputation due to some of its drivers'...(I'll be polite)....inexperience...But that's no different than any other major carrier.....Swift btw....being one of the largest...gets a lot of publicity....good or bad....

 

Another thing i notice, is that a good chunk of negitive remarks about Swift, are from people who have been fired from them. They'll make it out to sound like they were just up and fired, but wont tell you they had 5 speeding tickets, 4 log violations, 3 complaints from MAJOR shipping accounts, 2 backing accidents and a flagrant overspeed.

What ever company you choose to drive for, regardless of their reputation, it is what you want to get out of it. its all about your attitude. Be open minded, and take everything with a grain of salt.

 

My hubby says they are a good way to start out in this industry. He used to train drivers for them. There aren't alot of companies that will take drivers with no otr experience, so by all means start with Swift. Just don't believe anything/everything they tell you unless you see it in writing and do go into this venture with your eyes wide open. Read the good, bad and the ugly here. You can find two extremes and the truth is somewhere in the middle usually, but there are exceptions.

 

I worked for them for a yr, and had no major issues with them. They gave me a start in the industry, had a excellent trainer, and now drive locally for the last 2yrs. Here is one thing that they won't do to you, and that is charge you for fuel when you idle your truck for heat, or ac..

 

The drawbacks I see are. The pay is way too low. And they use inexperience drivers to train inexperience drivers. But with todays driving market you just can't be picky and you have to take what you can if you've made the choice to drive. I think you'd be lucky to make $400 a week with any large freight company nowadays.

Years ago a driver would start out and have a goal to move up into a great job that fit his or her needs. They'd keep their record clean and think of a future and retirement. Now drivers are forced to take what they can and the majority of years ago are now the minority. Drivers have flooded the market and the larger companies, that could care less for their own drivers, know they can get another driver with a simple phone call.

It's really not the fault of the driver that needs to feed his family but if the job pays lower than it should he'll take it because it's better than no pay at all. I believe that if a person has another type of job and responsibilies he or she should stay where they are because driving a truck is not worth the risk. If you have no one to answer for and some money put aside and you really want to drive then go for it. But driving OTR takes a special type of person and like we used to say it's got to be in your blood.