SWIFT driving academy? That's an Oxymoron! this is the same school that the D.O.T. shut down. several hundred CDL holders that went there had their CDL's revoked & had to go to another school to retrain.
i bet you anything swift had a sign up behind these cameras so the drivers say what they want you to hear. you forgot to tell everyone that the company is soo big u wnt make a damn dime. well my biggest check was 220bucks at 25cents a mile never got to pay ne bills working with these crooks. they told me to come to lancaster terminal to talk to me i quit so i made them pick there own truck up and might i add dont let a company fire you better quit before they fire u cuz u wnt get a job
Swift is a labor mill and a disgrace to the industry. Their moto is "pay as little as possible, treat drivers like shit, and if they quit then we will just bring more unsuspecting trucking students in to replace them". Most of their human resource / training / dispatch employees are under qualified trash off the local streets who love acting like they are doing YOU a favor. TIP TO ALL NEW STUDENTS, FIND A DIFF CARRIER THAT OFFERS TRAINING. (Schneider, USexpress, or countless others). NO SWIFT
I see these so called driver on the road everyday.Hay Swift why don't you finish training them before you send them out?You need to put a weight limit on theses so call drivers SAY under 400lbs!
Do yourself a great service and stay away from this company! There training is a joke, all the in truck training is done in the yard and you get no on the road and highway training while you are in school and when you are done with the academy and get back to your home state they will assign you a trainer that is a rookie with a year or less of OTR experience and you will probably have a hard time finding a decent company that will hire you when they find out you were trained by them
@1966omc nothing suprises me about Swift Transportation. Beause of their size alone they are poorly run and their training is overpriced and you get paid very cheaply to start. On top of that they will intentionally miss expenses at the frequency of every other trip and that is shit you shouldn't have to put up with. The reality is you are not guaranteed a set pay per month and you can't realistically live off that. Anyone gettting into the biz, find companies with established lanes.
@truckersteven09 if you do have your CDL, don't be afraid to try out different parts of the industry: Hauling gas cylinders, hauling gasoline and expand if trucking is what you want for a career. More importantly find the lifestyle that fits you. If you want to be home more often, then stay local. Good luck.
@truckersteven09 Swift will miss expenses on every other check when you are not looking. That is how disorganized it has become. Having to backtrack 3 months to be reimbursed for major expenses such as lodging was nothing but gross misconduct on the part of Swift. I was doing loads into Canada for them and not getting and flat pay so in effect that .40 cpm I was making was shit. I was doing Volvo Driveaway for them out of Dublin, VA back in 2004. They never got that right.
@truckersteven09 then entire industry needs to pay a minimal salary to drivers of at least $500/wk while keeping the cents per mile pay rate intact (whichever is greater) so the driver is guaranteed a stable check. And perhaps if Swift would stop with the over hiring of drivers, then it would be well worth it as there would always be work 24/7. That and go back to 10 hrs on and 8 hrs off where a driver can run tighter. All of the above is just a pipe dream.
I agree trucking should be paid salary or at lease a min of $800 per week for someone with less than 1 year experience as long as their available to work 5 days a week
Best advice I can give to any up and coming CDL driver is shop around for a company that fits your needs. Don't serve the company interests and don't assume any one company has the best training program.
Solution to driver retainment: $30,000/yr starting salary sounds about right with annual raises. So either way when freight is slow, then you are getting paid regardless.
Also remember companies will say you can make a lot in your first year. Bullshit. Fell for that line with Swift once.
I still have my CDL to this day, but seems like when one takes a break from driving, then trucking can be a difficult industry to get back into if you go off and try something else. I felt having a job where I'm home every night after all my traveling would be best instead of making a meager wage working for Swift. If the money is not there, then it is NOT worth the life sacrifice.
Until general frieght companies start treating truckers right, then there will always be turnover.
Keep in mind trucking academies and other facilities will over charge you for getting your CDL where you will be in debt for quite awhile to slave labor general freight outfits. It cost me $1,200 to go through Swift out in Sparks back in 2002. The higher the price does not necessarily reflect the best training.
The reality of the industry is that we are underpaid for working long hours up to a 14 hour workday.
Yes that may be correct, but what Swift doesn't tell you is that a bunch of you won't even clear over $30,000/yr for a while. Here is what I made working for those con artists:
2002: $21,095
2003: $27,981
2004: $22,900
Any company that pays you by the mile, cheats you out of miles, and governs your truck means you will never make top pay with a general freight outfit such as Swift and a bunch of others.
Either these industries start paying drivers a flat salary or hourly.
SWIFT driving academy? That's an Oxymoron! this is the same school that the D.O.T. shut down. several hundred CDL holders that went there had their CDL's revoked & had to go to another school to retrain.
kdrapertrucker 3 months ago
drive a bus..make more money.
chadberry75 7 months ago
i bet you anything swift had a sign up behind these cameras so the drivers say what they want you to hear. you forgot to tell everyone that the company is soo big u wnt make a damn dime. well my biggest check was 220bucks at 25cents a mile never got to pay ne bills working with these crooks. they told me to come to lancaster terminal to talk to me i quit so i made them pick there own truck up and might i add dont let a company fire you better quit before they fire u cuz u wnt get a job
Protrucker24 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Swift is a labor mill and a disgrace to the industry. Their moto is "pay as little as possible, treat drivers like shit, and if they quit then we will just bring more unsuspecting trucking students in to replace them". Most of their human resource / training / dispatch employees are under qualified trash off the local streets who love acting like they are doing YOU a favor. TIP TO ALL NEW STUDENTS, FIND A DIFF CARRIER THAT OFFERS TRAINING. (Schneider, USexpress, or countless others). NO SWIFT
gu151 8 months ago
@truckersteven09 So what truck company would you recommend that a rookie start off with
RomelloJohnson2011 9 months ago
I see these so called driver on the road everyday.Hay Swift why don't you finish training them before you send them out?You need to put a weight limit on theses so call drivers SAY under 400lbs!
tom09981 11 months ago
Swift sucks.
SilverFox466 11 months ago
Do yourself a great service and stay away from this company! There training is a joke, all the in truck training is done in the yard and you get no on the road and highway training while you are in school and when you are done with the academy and get back to your home state they will assign you a trainer that is a rookie with a year or less of OTR experience and you will probably have a hard time finding a decent company that will hire you when they find out you were trained by them
1966omc 1 year ago
@1966omc nothing suprises me about Swift Transportation. Beause of their size alone they are poorly run and their training is overpriced and you get paid very cheaply to start. On top of that they will intentionally miss expenses at the frequency of every other trip and that is shit you shouldn't have to put up with. The reality is you are not guaranteed a set pay per month and you can't realistically live off that. Anyone gettting into the biz, find companies with established lanes.
shaithis80 1 year ago
@truckersteven09 if you do have your CDL, don't be afraid to try out different parts of the industry: Hauling gas cylinders, hauling gasoline and expand if trucking is what you want for a career. More importantly find the lifestyle that fits you. If you want to be home more often, then stay local. Good luck.
shaithis45 1 year ago
@truckersteven09 Swift will miss expenses on every other check when you are not looking. That is how disorganized it has become. Having to backtrack 3 months to be reimbursed for major expenses such as lodging was nothing but gross misconduct on the part of Swift. I was doing loads into Canada for them and not getting and flat pay so in effect that .40 cpm I was making was shit. I was doing Volvo Driveaway for them out of Dublin, VA back in 2004. They never got that right.
shaithis45 1 year ago
@truckersteven09 then entire industry needs to pay a minimal salary to drivers of at least $500/wk while keeping the cents per mile pay rate intact (whichever is greater) so the driver is guaranteed a stable check. And perhaps if Swift would stop with the over hiring of drivers, then it would be well worth it as there would always be work 24/7. That and go back to 10 hrs on and 8 hrs off where a driver can run tighter. All of the above is just a pipe dream.
shaithis45 1 year ago
I agree trucking should be paid salary or at lease a min of $800 per week for someone with less than 1 year experience as long as their available to work 5 days a week
hammakes2003 2 years ago
A to Z how funny may be A to B have'nt seen a swift driver yet that could drive
LONEWOLF3288 2 years ago
Best advice I can give to any up and coming CDL driver is shop around for a company that fits your needs. Don't serve the company interests and don't assume any one company has the best training program.
Solution to driver retainment: $30,000/yr starting salary sounds about right with annual raises. So either way when freight is slow, then you are getting paid regardless.
Also remember companies will say you can make a lot in your first year. Bullshit. Fell for that line with Swift once.
X23109 3 years ago
I still have my CDL to this day, but seems like when one takes a break from driving, then trucking can be a difficult industry to get back into if you go off and try something else. I felt having a job where I'm home every night after all my traveling would be best instead of making a meager wage working for Swift. If the money is not there, then it is NOT worth the life sacrifice.
Until general frieght companies start treating truckers right, then there will always be turnover.
X23109 3 years ago
Keep in mind trucking academies and other facilities will over charge you for getting your CDL where you will be in debt for quite awhile to slave labor general freight outfits. It cost me $1,200 to go through Swift out in Sparks back in 2002. The higher the price does not necessarily reflect the best training.
The reality of the industry is that we are underpaid for working long hours up to a 14 hour workday.
X23109 3 years ago
Yes that may be correct, but what Swift doesn't tell you is that a bunch of you won't even clear over $30,000/yr for a while. Here is what I made working for those con artists:
2002: $21,095
2003: $27,981
2004: $22,900
Any company that pays you by the mile, cheats you out of miles, and governs your truck means you will never make top pay with a general freight outfit such as Swift and a bunch of others.
Either these industries start paying drivers a flat salary or hourly.
X23109 3 years ago