Questions/advice re: Swift

Bsrlinmaz

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I'm currently in a private 160-hour CDL school in Phoenix, AZ (start 4th week tomorrow, Monday), and have some questions after talking to recruiter who came to the school from Swift; and hoping current Swift drivers can give me some answers and/or advice:

1. When I finish the training at the Phoenix facility, I then go out with a driver/trainer...how long does that last and what is the pay rate?

2. Recruiter "says" I can get a dedicated route, where I would drive to same stores/locations, and know where/when I'd be driving each month...but aren't those type of positions something a driver with more Seniority would be getting, while the F.N.G. (me) gets left-overs/crap?

3. Because of legal issues (which I'm not going to go into here) I cannot do O.T.R. in the normal sense (where I would drive and deliver, but not know where next trip would take me until I get the next load from dispatch)...so I need a position where I would know ahead of time where I would be going to/from each month...that's why I asked question 2 above -- so the recruiter "says" I should be able to get a dedicated position. But my experiences with big corporations is that generally the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing...so I'd go from the recruiter into training, finish training and then get a truck somewhere down the road and when I ask about dedicated positions be told something like "Don't know who told you that...currently have no available slots in that section/division..." and then I'd end up sitting and not be able to drive?

The length of the runs does not matter, I can drive to any of the lower 48, as long as I would know where I will be going to/from before hand for each month. Can a driver from Swift with experience regarding how such things function there advise me whether I'm going to be able to drive there with the current restrictions I'm dealing with?

It appears to me that all the big companies like Swift that are willing to hire someone like me with no experience, and brand-new CDL have a bad reputation...but since I am brand new with no experience, etc., my options are limited, so my thinking is pick one and make the best of it until I get the experience...because without the experience I do not have enough information to base a decision on, regarding what makes a good company to drive for, etc. Anything really wrong with that way of thinking, am I overlooking something, etc.?

Sorry for rambling on...but have a lot of questions/concerns, and have mortgage payments etc. looming and need to get into $$-making gear soon. Really hoping I've not screwed the pooch by paying all this money to go to the CDL school, and then finding out I can't make money with it (because of my legal issues) -- if it comes down to it I'll drive a garbage truck in the city if that's what it takes to keep the roof over-head, but that is way down on my list of options/preferences.

Thank you for your time and assistance.
 
I would say you need to find a local company. Recruiters will say what it takes to an ass in a seat, they have to make their numbers or they're looking for work. or get it all in writing.
 
I would expect that 'dedicated' run to be a garbage run to stores like Bottom Dollar or Dollar General where you have to unload yourself and wheel the merchandise inside. Swift is one company that has a bad reputation and I would suggest you look for something else.
 
Greetings Bsrlinmaz and WELCOME to TruckingBoards!!

MANY freight relocation companies are not doing so well what with their lowered standards in hiring qualifications & requirements, as well these new "drivers" rolling vehicles, being LATE to pick ups and deliveries, somehow getting lost, hitting low overpasses (sometimes repeatedly), not wanting to come back out from home as they agreed or simply wanting to get paid without working.

Swift is not the worst company nor anywhere near the best, yet it IS A PLACE TO START.
Stay away from their reefer division and in fact, stay away from ANY reefer outfit.
Dry Van or Flatbed are their best options.

RUN if they offer you a Lease To Own deal as it is not for newbies till, maybe, after 2 years as a company driver.

Since most of the major carriers are "Forced Dispatch", you would not know specifically where you would be rolling each month as you would probably be rolling Random Routes.
Unless one is in a Dedicated division or Regional division, the only certainty in Trucking is nothing.
Training times out vary with possibly as little as 2 weeks to 1 month ( Southern Refrigerated Carriers stated in 2009 their training period was 3 months with a trainer). You'll know during or after Orientation.

Your "recruiter" is merely there to get people into orientations and they have ZERO POWER to promise results thereafter.

Too many trainees actually believed/believe their recruiters and whine, for example, "my recruiter said i would be placed in dedicated after training" and other statements.
As you stated, usually Dedicated is offered to experienced drivers yet not always is such the case.

Legal issues are to be worked through with Human Resources or Safety or other.

I Hope Safe and Pleasant Journeys To Thee and Thy Loved Ones.
CHEERS!!
 
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