SWIFT

ok i just started reading this post....BUT i do have a serious question....about swift's turnover rate...did it ever occur to some people that maybe just maybe swift aint all that bad...not standing up for them nor am i putting them down. but what im saying is...maybe its not the company on why they are leaving...maybe they are using swift for a starter company so they can get somewhere else who pays more cpm and more home time...like home weekly every other day something like that? think about some of the possible reasons people leave after a yr or 2

 

Well,, so far from my experience with "SWIFT",, it's not so much the company as a whole ,but the poor attitudes of the office personnel,,who seem to think you as a driver are less than the dirt beneath their feet and are treated as such.

 

I actually don't run into that very often. Only twice in recent memory that I can think of: once in Denver when the woman behind the counter actually expected me to hook and drop three trailers to get to mine without paying me to straighten out the yard when there was a yard jockey on duty. Like I'm going to tear up my equipment for free because they can't seem to manage a yard.

And the evening ECT woman in Lancaster who can't even be bothered to face you when she's talking to you. The effort is just too much to look at the person she is addressing, so she talks at the computer screen instead. There will be a day when I will say something to her to the effect of, "I don't know where you come from or the ways of your home, but where I come from, we face each other when we speak." But that only scratches the surface with this woman. It's gotta be pretty bad for me to be muttering, "gawd, what a b****" as I'm walking away.

But overall, the office people I have dealt with are decent. You have to understand that a large enough proportion of drivers at those windows either have a major attitude problem or they reek to high heaven. There's a guy in Laredo with a fan in the window pointing out for the purpose of keeping some of the stench at bay.

 

One of the reasons why i LOVE my home terminal, Edwardsville. I can go in there annoyed at something, and leave in a neutral mood. Can't say that for all terminals. Gary for one. always a few who need hearing aids because you have to yell, because they're too lazy to actually listen.

lets not mention the guy in the shop who puts me in shop status to generate an R/O # for a spare set of lines for my truck, then forgets to take me out of shop status and i end up sitting all day Sunday. (actually think it is Memphis who put me there because i msged them twice in 10 hrs about a load, and each time they told me "planners are working on it"....then after the last time i was told that, I told them i was told that 10 hrs ago, and that maybe i needed to transfer to memphis so i didnt get passed up for diecent loads. =)

 

well i can give you first hand info as i am working for swift right now and will tell you stay far away. I am in the process of leaving just waiting for my 1 year to get my vacation pay

 

where did you work before bigdawg?

beth

 

I worked for conway truck load for a while which i should not have quit then i worked for a private guy thought i was going to make good money but that didnt happen but this was the worst choice

 

i have ben with swift for two years and have not had any problems,they are just like any other large company you become a number if you let it happen ,alot of the drivers you hear ##### about them are drivers that wait around at a terminal or truckstop for the 1000 mile trip ,you have to learn that if you take the 300 mile trip it will usually put you i a better place to get the 1000 mile trip ,if you pick up ontime and deliver ontime you wont have any problems.

 

Well i am glad your experience has been good mine has been a nightmare. And i dont wait around for loads or hang at terminals as a matter of fact i try to stay clear of terminals and i run any thing. Fact is swift does not practice what they preach. As a matter of fact i am sitting in truck stop now broke down since early this morning and no one has any idea when some one can pick up my load so i can get towed only the 3 time in 2 weeks. the left hand doesnt know what the right is doing

 

I'm sorry you're having a tough time. You do make a valid point in the statement "the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing" I've found that to be true in every company I've worked with from Swift all the way down to three-trucks-in-all Celtic Carriers.

The one person who needs to know what-uppers with you is your DM. If you are in a company truck, you will get detention pay. All you have to do is send the Macro 22 Late on Load, a Macro 55 Breakdown and a freeform to your DM. Your tail will be covered.