What is it like to work for Swift?

Umm...my husband drives for swift on a dedicated route, the told him the average was 1400 miles a week, he typically does 1900-2300 (at .58/mile loaded or empty with additional stop pay and weekly on time bonus with less than one year experience) when he was otr he averaged 2400 but if he would have chose to drive full days he could have easily done 3000 or more a week. It is not about being a swift lover, it is just what actually happens.

Does everyone get the miles? Nope. But his dm loves him and she takes care of him.

 

During my two years with Swift, all but six months of it OTR and most of that running solo, I never averaged less than 2500 miles per week. Most terminals have charts showing fleet average, and it always seems to hover somewhere around 1900-2000. Fleet average includes a majority of drivers that can be found at any Swift terminal, complaining about not making the miles and usually in the same breath explaining WHY they aren't making the miles:

"I don't run east of the Mississippi."

"I can't drive at night."

"I always turn down JIT loads."

"I trained my driver manager (dispatcher) that I only drive a maximum of 7 hours a day."

"I always stop a couple hours early to get a parking spot. I gotta have a hot meal and a shower every day. Eating out of the truck is for losers."

The list is longer than these examples I heard with my own ears.

Averaging at least 2500 miles if you are willing to actually work was pretty easy in my experience.

As for a previous comment that you are doing nothing but driving while OTR, I found plenty of times when I had much more than a 10 hour break and had time to enjoy places out in this beautiful country. Sometimes freight may be slow, you may have an appointment for a live unload that can't be moved up, or sometimes the next dispatch will mean a 16+ hour break until you can arrive to the shipper. The trick for being successful OTR is to sleep when you can, where you can AND to look for those opportunities to kick back and enjoy life a little when you have time.

 

My experience with them was fair. I ran for their flatbed division out of Eden, NC from 02 until Uncle Sam wanted me to go for a bit of fun in the sun in 03. Did I have gripes? Sure. But I don't regret it. They helped me get my foot in the door and take that first step towards moving on to bigger and better things.

 

Hello, not sure if you have been over on the Swift thread but here is a link from a ex-military that is just finishing up school. If you have not been there, there is plenty of information and I think even one person that is going through the school in Fontana.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...-free-veterans-training-is-it-bs-scam.276527/

From the person that just went through school in Fontana in March

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr.../starting-at-swift-academy-in-fontana.276695/

 

I used to work for Swift, my advice,run don't walk as far as you can from them. Recruiters will lie to you about pay,miles, and home time.

 

Don't feel you are stuck going with a Mega company. I went to the local college for my CDL and got a job right from there with a local Heavy Haul outfit. And if you can afford the time, go with a local college 160 or 320 hour course (mine was 320) over the private 3 week places.

 

First, one vet to another, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

I had a similar dilemma and spoke about it with an old army buddy of mine who is a swift driver and, on the whole, he doesn't regret it. If he had it to do over again, he would've done his homework first, as opposed to using the veteran scholarship they offer for their training / licensing program. Being tied to the company for a year meant that he was not as free to choose his employer or his initial experience.

If you can afford to "up front" your costs for a CDL school, many employers will pay you back after you are ready to be either a solo or team driver (don't make that decision until you have been on the road with your company trainer for a while), and offer high $ per mile.

 

You went right into heavy haul as a rookie? What kind of training program did they have?

 

3-4 weeks out with trainer, will start off with reg flatbed loads and move up from their with exp.

 

I know CREngland is the worst of the worst, but are you seriously so delusional as to believe that you didn't deserve to be fired for rolling their truck? You destroyed their equipment in a preventable accident and they "screwed" you because you got fired? How exactly do you figure they broke the contract?