Question:
Just before I started school back in May 2003, I have been shopping and searching and studying which company to start with. I've read many threads here before signing with this group and after. It boils down to what you really want. There are pros and cons to every company. One thing for sure that it is a common denominator is DO NOT LEASE/PURCHASE WITH THE COMPANY THAT YOU ARE WORKING FOR. Everything else is a matter of personal experience and hear-say. By the time I was done in school I was pre-hire by 4 companies. Out of all, I decided to go with Swift. No matter what, all the companies that accepts "Newbies" the starting pay is low. So I figure I better chose the one I thought was better for me (time will tell) and pay my dues. Keep my positive attitude, and stick with the same company for at least a year. Once I have that under my belt than I can decide and know what to look for, etc. So in this post what I would like to do is to bring you up to date my personal experience with Swift to let those that are considering to join Swift right after school, to give them a little heads up what to expect. In other words I guess I will be the "sacrificial lamb" so others will have a smoother ride if they so decide to go with Swift. The real deal. I am not a recruiter, or being sponsored by Swift or any "anti-Swift" company. Just another "Newbie " just like the rest of the group. Hopefully this will help many.
Today I went to p/u my bus tickets after talking to my recruiter on the phone to head to Atlanta next Monday morning. I will be leaving Ft Lauderdale. I will get to Atlanta at 9:00PM. It will be a 14 hour trip with 7 stops on the way. It will be a long day. The recruiter told me that Tuesday at 8:00 AM the orientation starts and will be for 3 days until Thursday. Friday AM I will be dispatch with my trainer. They are changing the 4 x 4 program and making it into a 6 x 2. She does not know for sure if they are going to do this with our group. She told me that the company prefer for the new drivers to spend more time with the trainers (6 weeks) . The last 2 weeks suppose to team up with another "Newbie".
As soon as I can I shall return to this thread and continue my "Odyssey" with Swift.

Answer:
BOL to you....and by all means please post your views and experiences. It will be enlightening to all. Be sure to post the good, bad, and ugly so those who come after you will know exactly what to expect.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer:
Originally posted by uturn2001:
BOL to you....and by all means please post your views and experiences. It will be enlightening to all. Be sure to post the good, bad, and ugly so those who come after you will know exactly what to expect.
Yeah! What U-Turn said!
Nick, You are right on the "common denominator" thing.
*******************************
"I've always been different with one foot over the line.
Winding up somewhere, one step ahead or behind.
It ain't been so easy, but I guess I shouldn't complain.
I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane." (from Waylon Jennings)


Answer:
I sure hope primerboy will read what Nick will post here in the near future.Nick,it sounds like you have a pretty good head on your shoulders and I wish you luck in your endeavors with Swift.As I have said in a previous post--just remember that your primary goal is to knock down as many miles as you can in a 70 hour/8 day period while staying safe and accident free.Enjoy the good days and take the bad ones with a grain of salt because you will experience your share of both.My experience has been that the bad are few and far between.Pay attention,ask lots of questions,and don't be afraid to ask for help from other,more experienced drivers when you need to.
Answer:
BOL to you.... Bill of lading to you, too!
Answer:
Originally posted by Fatty Turnbuckle:
BOL to you.... Bill of lading to you, too!
Uh, driver! That's Best of Luck. Sheesh.....
*******************************
"I've always been different with one foot over the line.
Winding up somewhere, one step ahead or behind.
It ain't been so easy, but I guess I shouldn't complain.
I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane." (from Waylon Jennings)


Answer:
Originally posted by Hoss:
Uh, driver! That's _Best of Luck_. Sheesh.....
We noobs need help with everything. Hehehehehe
-------------------------------
Save the trees, eat more beavers.

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I want thank every one on the Trucknet for their support. I shall return and report, the good, the bad and the ugly!! Hmmmmm, that sounds familiar!

Answer:
Hi Everyone !!!!
Just return from orientation week for Swift in their Atlanta Terminal (Decatur, actually). Here is the Scoop:
Monday: Bus ride from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta, 14 hours, YEEUUCH !!! We arrived at the bus stop at 9:00 PM and they did not showed up until 10:30 PM. I called them at 9:30PM, the time they were suppose to pick us up and they told me that they would be there by 10:00PM. I found out that the last person arrived a little after 10:00 PM. So to make one trip, the van showed up at that time. Why they didn't explain that to me from the get go, I do not know.
They drove us to our hotel (Days Inn) which is located about 2-3 miles from the Swift terminal. We got to bed by 11:30 PM to get ready for the next morning to be in the lobby between 6:30- 7:30 AM to have breakfast and then for the van to pick us up.
Tuesday: 1st Day of Orientation.
-Introduction
-Selected our lunch menu for the week (Tuesday, Wed, Thurs)
-New Hire forms to be completed. This is the hiring application form that we had to complete again.
-Road Test Only those that has been out of school for more than 60 days has to have the road test.
-Drug Screen - Urinalysis Test -OF COURSE
Physicals- Vision Test, Blood Pressure, Hernia cough, Blood Sugar Level, also you had to squat, kneel down, stretch up and move your arms around.
-More Paper work.
Wednesday: Day 2. Videos (we had to watch a total of 24 videos. We saw some yesterday, today and the rest we saw it at the last day.
-Presentations
-Hazmat quiz for the company, Very easy.
-More Paper work for the Compliance Dept. This is the dept that does all the paper work for your hiring process. They work in coordination with the Memphis office.
-Photographs. They will take a mug photo of you.
Thursday: Day 3, Collect: direct deposit authorization form, Last of the videos, more presentations, driver code assignment, truck assignment, trainer assignment. We had a tour of the facilities and the terminal. Only one person in our class received a trainer, the rest of us, we had some info missing from the hiring process so they send us home to find out today (Friday).
By 8:00PM we were on a bus back home. I got home today by 11:00 AM. Yeeeuuch, I hate bus rides.
Our class started with 31 individuals, the first day we lost one after we did our physical, Hmmm, I wonder why??? The second day we lost another one due to the fact he was blind, could not pass the vision test, rumors was that he could not read ! The third day, we lost another one due to bad MVR. More tickets than what he claimed. Out of the total of 31, 6 of them were previous drivers, out of the 6, 3 of them had worked for Swift in the past, and wanted to return to Swift. I assuming that is a good sign, I guess. Also, my room mate had gone thru Swift before but had problem with his trainer and so he left after two days with him. That was back in May. They told us over and over, if we had problem with our trainer to let them know, so that they can do something about it as soon as possible, otherwise they can not solve the problem.
The whole time I was there, the folks in the office and the one that came to our class were very helpful and very friendly. I was very impressed by them. I am not too easy to impressed. But they made you feel at home immediately and very comfortable. Our moderator was an outstanding individual, making our class very nice and every 5 minutes making jokes. Another thing that I liked was that they promote from within. Most of the managers that we met and office personnel were previous drivers, so they have a knowledge how it is on the road.
As you know, Swift is the largest trucking company in the USA, and they do have hi-tech things. They have the Qualcomm, like everyone else and they are planning to have in the near future paperless logs. That is the way of the future and a lot of the other companies are looking into that, also. I know that is a "Big Brother" thing, what can I say. They do have the technology, to see everything that your truck has gone thru. They showed us, how the dispatcher works and how you get your loads. It is very interested. Also, they can tell, how fast your truck has gone at any given time. Where is your truck located, they have a new map program which is call, Maptuit. This will help the driver how to get to his destination from exactly where his truck is at. This program keeps updating itself, constantly. They can tell how long your engine has been idling. This computer can tell them even the conditon of the engine.
Well, my friends, this is the orientation week Of Swift at the Atlanta Terminal. I hope, that is will be helpful to those of you considering going to Swift. By the way, YOU DO NOT GET PAID FOR ORIENTATION WEEK. Contrary to what the recruiter tells you. Also, they only pay for the lunch. They do not pay for the evening meal, they used to but not any more. You do need to bring what they request from the list on their web page, just in case they will give you your code you will be ready to go with your trainer immediately after orientation. Sometimes they will keep you in the hotel for Friday or Saturday so that you can wait for your trainer to come to the terminal. In our case, most of us where from Florida, so the one that does the coordination with our trainer is the trainer coordinator from Ocala. One more thing, before I forget, they had a group of about 10 that Swift picked up from the Ocala terminal and drove them to Atlanta in the Swift van. My recruiter never mention that to me, otherwise I would've prefer that than the "Dog ride" of Greyhound.
Well, by 4:00 PM today I should have my Drivers Code and maybe by Monday I will be on the road with my trainer.
I hope this is helpful,
Nuclear Nick

Answer:
Not being paid?
Well, I hope things shape up for you Nick. Good luck and thanks for the informative post.
H.O. Wolding bound or bust.
Dodge Makes It, Cummins' Shakes It!
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If you ain't Cummin'. . . your Strokin'


Answer:
Well, last Friday I got my "drivers code" from Swift. I called my Trainer Assignment Manager and he verified my code and he will call me as soon as he get a trainer for me. He advise me to be ready at a moments notice.
I guess is true what they said, the industry is short on trainers.
Nuclear Nick

Answer:
NukeNick,
I hope you draw a good trainer;don't let him/her make you do all the night driving,be sure to try and do as much backing as you can and be sure you get out and look(GOAL) even when you are 100% sure you are in the clear.Don't overdrive your headlights at night but that is unlikely in a Swift truck.Pay attention and ask lots of questions.Create hypothetical situations and ask your trainer what he would do in those situations.Most important--stay safe and have some fun.Your trainer should pay for at least one meal a day and also pay for your showers.Ask lots of questions about your logs and make sure YOU are filling them out.If you don't understand,keep asking until it is clear in your mind.Make sure you and your trainer do the required pretrip and posttrip inspections.Good luck and stay safe!!
The Governor.

Answer:
Originally posted by The Governer:
NukeNick,
I hope you draw a good trainer;don't let him/her make you do all the night driving,
If Swift or your trainer tries to run you as a team 100% of the time, tell them/him to screw off!
When I was a trainer (never for Swift,though), I battled dispatch constantly because they tried to run us as a team. I maintain that my trainee and I sleep at the same time, and are awake at the same time, and that truck runs like a solo truck. Why? Because I can't be training when I am in the bunk sleeping. And the trainee cannot access my knowledge or benefit from my tips if I am in the bunk sleeping. My trainee did most of the driving, and when he did, I was in the passenger seat next to him.
(Becauseof my battles with dispatch, my trainees learned how not to take crap from them as well!)
be sure to try and do as much backing as you can and be sure you get out and look(GOAL) even when you are 100% sure you are in the clear.Don't overdrive your headlights at night but that is unlikely in a Swift truck.Pay attention and ask lots of questions.Create hypothetical situations and ask your trainer what he would do in those situations.Most important--stay safe and have some fun.Your trainer should pay for at least one meal a day and also pay for your showers.Ask lots of questions about your logs and make sure YOU are filling them out.If you don't understand,keep asking until it is clear in your mind.Make sure you and your trainer do the required pretrip and posttrip inspections.Good luck and stay safe!!
The Governor.
[/QUOTE]
@#*!%$^@!
Answer:
OOps, forgot to delete the rest of the quote.
Why isn't there a delete or edit feature here? Almost all other message boards have that feature, and for a goof like me it would be well used!!!!!
@#*!%$^@!
Highwayman, I have brought this question to the InfoPop program guru's. Currently the "modification/edit" option is set at zero, meaning there should be no time limit to edit posts. However, the default set by InfoPop dictates otherwise. Will let you know what they say.
[This message was edited by Retread (Rose) on August 11, 2003 at 17:59.]
Answer:
After the first week or so as my trainer gained some confidence in me,we started to run more as a team.I still think he did'nt sleep much though while I was at the wheel but 98% of the time we shut down from midnight until 6 a.m. so we both could rest without the wheels turning.