Question:
1. How many miles a week or a year can a 1st year driver with no experience expect on average with a company such as Swift?
2. How many hours a day are drivers allowed to drive legally in the US, i'm assuming there is a limt.

Answer:

I would expect that you would probably run about 2500 miles per week, but Swift may be different

11 hours on - 10 hours off

Answer:
1. There really is no hard and fast answer to this. Industry average is around 2500 miles per week. A new driver can expect to get between 2000 and 2500 per week for the most part.
2. Yes there are limits.
After a 10 hour break:
You may not drive more than 11 hours
You may not drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty.
You may not drive after accumulating 70 hours in any 8 day period.
After 34 concecutive hours off duty you may restart you 8 day period and have a full 70 hours.
Answer:
Of course the above answers are corect. You are allowed to drive 11 hours and must take a 10 hour break before driving 11 more.
Some thing to keep in mind. Swift states they are a short to medium haul company with the average load being under 500 miles. You would most likely do alot less than 2500 with them. Most short to medium haul companies like heartland expres, JB Hunt actually manage about 2200 milesa week with lots of waiting time.

Answer:

If you follow the maximim allowable of 11 driving between 10 off, you can drive up to about 13 hours every 24 hours -- if you barely stop to use a bathroom.
But as described above, you only get a 70 hours "budget" every eight days unless you take significent time off to re-set that 70 hour limit. If you keep running the maximum daily allowable, you'll run out of your 70 hour "budget" before the week is over.
Once you subtract required logged time for fueling, inspections and paperwork (etc) your daily MAXIMUM driving AVERAGE is 7.5 to 8.25 hours a day over each eight day "week". Most companys like Swift won't let your do quite this much driving so you don't risk breaking the law when you run out of time. And many never come close to running you this hard, so I too would assume a 2200 weekly mileage average to be on the safe side..

With most irregular dispatch trucking companies -- moving a variety of loads as they come up -- your seniority doesn't have much to do with how many miles you're assigned. The senior drivers make more money per mile, but everyone does about the same amount of work once they complete their training and probationary period.

Answer:
Because you are allowed to work a total of 14 hours a day it is easy to drive 11 hours. I do it every day. About the 6th or bottom of the 7th day I hit my 70 hours and do a 34 hour reset. Funny thing about the 34 hour reset is you don't even have to miss an entire day driving to do it. Since I prefere driving at night I can run all night and shut down at 6am. The next day I can go again at 4pm. That gives me 6 hours driving the first day of the reset and 8 hours the second day. I can be done with drivers who prefere days also.
Doing it that way I can drive 11 hours a day except those two. But driving at night or doing the same thing during the day I am basically putting in an 11 driving shift daily (my work day that is)and up to 3 hours working or slacking daily. Of course I get one night off a week as it should be. No one needs to drive or work 7 days a week for weeks on end. Trying to plan it so you can is only going to wear you down. Plus taking that one day off gives you a fresh 70 for the next week so your not constantly bumping 70 hours and trying to work it all out everyday. Why have more stress than you need.

Answer:
The situation Stuffs has- - running hard six days in a row and then taking a 34 hours off at home to "reset" his 70 hour budget -- is not typical of most over-the-road semi drivers working for Swift (you mentioned) and similiar "entry-level" trucking companys in the united States. A lot of drivers wish they had this arrangement, since it offers maximum miles (pay) and gets him home once a week.
But Swift and most entry level trucking companys have a limited number of positions like this. It's more likely they'll want you to stay out in the truck for 2-3 weeks at a time, followed by 2-3 days off at home. Therefore, they'll probably assign you fewer average miles each day so you don't run out of hours (from the 70 hour buget) before your eight day, compared to Stuffs' more effecient schedule.
But Stuffs' example is informative, as it illustrates what many consider an ideal situation: Touching base at home each week, while getting paid for the maximum driving time allowed by law in between, satisfys what most drivers want -- regular visits to the house and the largest possible paycheck. Stuffs gets to compress his 70 hour limit into 6.5 days, then go home for the 1.5 day he'd can't work anyway because he's hit the legal limit.
Many believe there's a trend in OTR (over the road) trucking toward the type of schedule Stuffs has. Without going into a lot of detail, recent changes in federal regulation give trucking companys new financial incentives to extract downtime from the driver's daily 14-hour work window, which gives Stuffs more time to drive each day. The problem is matching the transition from one load to actually run that many miles every six days. The vast majority of "irregular" freight run by Swift and other entry-level companys is difficult to schedule this precisely while maintaining reliable on-time service to customers. There's downtime at and between delivery/pick-ups, and extra time built into your day to allow for unexpected delays that might otherwise affect on-time service. Trucking companys are making big strides to reduce these downtimes and become more effecient under the new "Hours Of Service" regulations. But most "irregular" freight assignments are still matched to drivers on a flexible "random" basis, and triggered when the driver actually emptys one load and is available to go pick up another.
Therefore, I'd still assume a 2,200 mile average per week, times the cents per mile that specific seat pays, plus any extra payments for loading/unloading, performance bonuses, ....... to establish an estimated weekly income. With Swift and their ilk it's probably $650-800 average weekly gross (before taxes, insurance co-payment, etc) over the course of your first year after completing orientation and training. Some of this will be paid retroactively in monthly or year-end safety and production bonuses, so you have to stick around a while to actually collect all of it.
In time, many drivers can use their experience and good record to qualify for a good "niche" job that gets away from conventional "irregular" freight assignment. You might actively find or stumble into a situation like Stuff's. New drivers sometimes land gigs usually reserved for experienced drivers. It may depend on how close you live to trucking facilities that offer these "dedicated" or "regular" or highly-effecient "turns" that squeeze this much driving into six days, then let you go home for a day. But again -- on the safe side -- assume you'll be running 3 weeks on the road, followed by 3 days at home, making $33,000-$40,000 annual gross. That's the most frequent opportunity for new drivers entering over-the-road trucking in the United States. [/code]

Answer:
Shuffler,
That's the best post I've ever read in this forum.

Answer:
Good post X 2
Answer:
it's not wise to make assumptions of what Stuffs does or how he does it.
That is a nice informative post but it could do without some assumptions and misguiding statements. First off , I am scheduled to be in my truck and on the road for 3 weeks at a time. No going home every reset.
I also make no claims on miles driven. A typical 11 hour pure driving day for me would consist of 450-500 miles( I made 615 today) with an average week of 2800 miles. Without going into alot of detail as I have in my BLOG I can say it is not always about the miles. With my average load running anywhere from 140 to 260 miles of US highways and 2 lane roads each day you can't think in terms of mileage pay. You especially can't think in terms of high mileage. You have to see the big picture.
There are alot of drivers on the road who can and do safely manage 11 hours driving daily and usethe reset each week. it has absolutely nothing to do with their company maximizing their time and loads. It has everything to do with drivers who know the system and work it legally. You have to know how to manage your own time wisely. if you don't no one will. I do 4 loads a week normally and if I'm feeling energetic I may do 5. I load my trailer and I unload it with no help. There is lots of wasted time with paper work and the normal problems that come up. But planning for those things and using the 3 hours extra you have each day for something other than a nap you can still run the maximum hours available. The problems arise when your company waste your time. Most OTR companies waste far to much of a drivers time waiting on loads or at docks. I'm fortunate that way and that is why I work where I work. If I am waiting on a load it's because I don't feel like making the call. I would say my average wait time for my next load when I've finished unloading and done the paper work is about 2 minutes. Some times around 7 if I feel like having a smoke first. When i make the call is when I have a load. When I get there is when I get loaded and when I get to their customers thats when I get unloaded. It's not that way with most OTR companies. You are at the mercy of a Fleet Manager otherwise known as a dispatcher who is also taking care of 60-80 other trucks. Your time will be wasted.
That is where the only difference is in maximizing your time. How much of your time your company waste. I will add, that is not the total time you might waste. When your new you'll be wasting quite a bit of time all on your own looking for addresses, getting lost etc. After that it all depends on who you work for.
It also might depend on if your lazy. Some people will not do what I do. it's to many loads a week, to much paperwork, to much backroads, etc.. I've heard it all and it amounts to exactly one thing. They can't run 300 miles and then spend 4 hours in a truck stop playing CB rambo or yanking the one arm bandits willy. Their lazy azzes who don't want to work for a living. It has never failed to make me wonder when I hear of drivers who can't do 300 miles a day. To my amazement and maybe yours there are alot of drivers who can't do 300 miles a day. Their just not capable. These clowns work for every large and small company out there. I think their the ones who gripe about the new Regs because they can't get a nap during the day. If your lazy then Swift., Werner and alot of others is where you want to be. Jobs like mine and others absolutely no one bothers you during the day. I call them, they don't call me. But I run my truck and don't stop until the log book is done. I don't know of any other way to make money.
Bottom line, You have to know how to manage your own time wisely.
My job is not typical of most OTR drivers. It is actually harder to manage time and run the maximum hours everyday. I have more stops and loads than the norm. I have always considered the new HOS as the best thing they ever did for drivers. Even 2 years ago when it was first changed. It gave us 11 hours driving each day, 3 hours to load/unload etc and the ability to reset each week at the end of 70 hours driving. Every driver with the slightest bit of common sense learned to work it to it's fullest very quickly. It didn't and doesn't matter who you work for when it comes to time management. You simply have to learn to use the time you have available to it's fullest. If you do that you will be ahead of those who can't figure it out. For those who are stuck in the dark ages and think you still can't drivemore than 8.5 hours a day like it use to be you can leave them in the dust.

Answer:
Another good post by both Shuffler and Stuffs , shows there is a bit of a science in how you work ( work habits ) and use the hours productively

Answer:
damn dialup

Answer:
Stuffs, when you said:

...I took it to mean what my company and our drivers mean by time "off". When the reset was first introduced by DOT, our managment made a big deal about how they would not replace "time off" at home with resets on the road. As a result, we've come to use the words "day off" or "night off" or "time off" in reference to hometime only, when being specific. Your use of "off" apparently inclues time on the road away from home, and I should have noticed that before saying all those nice things about your employer. I apologize for not catching your context.
Never the less -- Yes -- managing your time is a science of sorts. The driver has some influence on their overall prouction by effectively managing their time. But you can only drive as many paid miles as you're assigned. Logging 11 hours "every day" and hitting a reset before your eighth day is the exception, not the norm. A new driver should assume they might produce an average of less than 400 paid miles a day -- usually less than 8 logged hours unless they're lumping a lot of freight -- for the purpose of estimating the low end they might experience at a company like Swift with a typical irregular dispatch position. Regardless of how hard one of these drivers runs when under a load, or how intelligently they manage their time and make themselves available for additional work, they still may only be assigned a daily average less than 400 miles -- usually when available drivers exceed available freight. This will sometimes happen at Swift and the similar companies the original poster asked about.

Answer:
Very well put!
Funny how a big pizzing contest was going on last year when I said something similar about managing and utilizing my time wisely for max productivity, though my situation is the opposite of Stuff's concerning loads per week, load length, etc.!
Keep in mind that I too, tend to take a day off during the week wherever I may be, usually by a friend's house at one end of the country or another which helps with the logbook, keeps stress away, and allows me to "recharge my batteries".
LOL, y'all be safe out there ..."Pain is weakness leaving the body."
"Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat."
U.S.M.C. '89-'95 0351, '95-'99 6531 (I.Y.A.O.Y.A.S.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/cyanide971/Carlo8919.jpg

Answer:
I run every load as precisely and as much ahead of schedule as possible. i penny pinch every 15mins no matter how much I have in my 70. It doesn't always pay off when fright is slow -- like right now -- but when things get busy and we're "over-booked" again, I have an established reputation as a reliable hard-runner. Carriers never have exactly the right amount of freight for their available drivers most days. It swings back and forth. When it swings busy, it's best to be known as someone who wants -- and can manage their time to accomodate -- as much as the law allows.