Considering Switching To Dry Van

Eckoh doesn't know when to quit:

Eckoh once again encourages a rookie to look towards greener pastures:

If you some experience (over 6 months) you do have options.

There are a number of companies that will hire guys with limited experience. Some also might be better suited for the way you want to run as well.

If you are even open to new companies look around and see what's out there.

Eckoh,... at least you're consistent.

I don't agree with you...every time a rookie driver is faced with adversity and challenges, does not warrant moving on. It doesn't seem like Paul has an issue with Swift, so why encourage him to leave? He wasn't asking for advice on changing companies.

Try to stay with your initial employer for at least one year. Care not if it's Swift, Prime, Schneider, Roehl...give it a chance to work...a chance to actually make good money with a so-called "starter company".

Sometimes staying with a company where a person is not happy will make them quit all together. I did not stay at Swift a full yeah and i am FAR better off for it. One thing i do sorta knock on this site for is they call it trucking truth but only want the truth if it is happy and cheerful.

Not every company is for everyone there is a VERY good reason swift has the reputation it has in the industry and it has earned it. It is a good company to start with but in the long run you will make far less money and enjoy less "perks" of trucking by staying with a company like Swift.

I did not tell anyone to switch, i'm just letting people there are options and the stay 1 year regardless how much you dislike who you work for is not the best thing. Not every company is a good fit, for some its night and day switching companies. sometimes the grass is more the greener.

Eckoh you bash Swift every freakin' chance you get. Frankly I personally don't care why or how or what. My paychecks are as good as yours. The truth is had you given Swift more than a few months you would have realized better money and perks. But you didn't. You made your choice for your reasons and it made sense for you. But don't you dare come on here touting the truth about Swift, influencing impressionable rooks and newbies with your biased opinions, until you actually experienced it, all of it! You gave Swift less than a year, this does not make you an expert, only a former, somewhat disgruntled driver.

And for the record, Paul never expressed dissatisfaction with Swift, he wasn't asking the question you gave the answer to. You encouraged him to look elsewhere. I checked many of your past posts, you target Swift with that type of remark.

I could go on, but I have better things to do with my time and it's pointless to waste everyone's time reading any more. Keep it real.

And please understand that you can't be vague. You can't say things like "Not every company is a good fit" or "for some its night and day switching companies" because I need to know the specifics. I need to know exactly which companies are bad companies. I need to know exactly how to identify when it's time to move on. I need highly specific information that I can use to chart the course of my career so I can establish a fantastic foundation and do it safely because I have a wife and little children at home that are counting on a solid paycheck and my safe return.

To answer your post, I would say start with reading the blogs on this site as well as reading the "Becoming a trucker" section on this site. It will help with letting you know what involved. Also go on YouTube and look up the early videos of TrainerJames, AllieKnight, JCannel, and Littleguytrucker as they go various aspects of trucking. Littleguytrucker starting with his journey though Roadmaster truck driving school then on to training with TrainerJames. AllieKnight has daily episodes of her life on the road as well as numerous Q&A videos. JCannel has some flat out funny stuff thought his days as a driver.

Just a quick note here.

I don't particularly want to be drug into the middle of this or used as an example here. What happened to me isn't up for debate by you (or anyone else for that matter) as to whether it's my fault or Transam's fault.

So if appreciate it if you wouldn't use my experiences, either good or bad, as an excuse to go on rant about switching companies.

Everyone has different experiences at different companies

Well that's not helping me. How can I use that to plan out the start of my career? And once again I still have the same question - how exactly can I identify a "bad company"?

But seriously, here's where I'm really, really confused. You said you left Swift, a "starter company" to go with a "better" company. Good for you! Don't let those starter companies hold you back, right? But I'm apparently terrible at math because here's what I'm coming up with:

You started at Swift with no experience. You turned 126,000 miles in 9 months and made $44,000.

You went to the "better" company with a year of experience under your belt and only turned 95,000 miles in 11 months and made $45,000.

So you actually turned way more miles and made more money in a shorter period of time with no experience at a "starter company" than you did at a "better" company.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Swift going to give you a raise at the one year mark and start reimbursing you for the tuition you had been paying up to that point? So wouldn't your second year at Swift have been even better than the first, making your second year at the "better company" even worse than it seems already?

Man, figuring out this trucking thing is hard. Help me out here, bro! I'm more confused than ever!

I did not stay at Swift a full yeah and i am FAR better off for it. One thing i do sorta knock on this site for is they call it trucking truth but only want the truth if it is happy and cheerful.

So now it's your turn to give us "the truth" and not just the "happy and cheerful" part. How exactly are you far better off at your current company than you were before? You made less money, turned fewer miles, spent more time doing it, and had more experience to start with! And like I said, Swift would have given you a raise, started reimbursing your schooling, and I'll add that they would have given you better freight and more opportunities your second year. It seems to me you cost yourself an easy $10,000 this year by changing companies.

Everyone has different experiences at different companies

Well that's not helping me. How can I use that to plan out the start of my career? And once again I still have the same question - how exactly can I identify a "bad company"?

But seriously, here's where I'm really, really confused. You said you left Swift, a "starter company" to go with a "better" company. Good for you! Don't let those starter companies hold you back, right? But I'm apparently terrible at math because here's what I'm coming up with:

You started at Swift with no experience. You turned 126,000 miles in 9 months and made $44,000.

You went to the "better" company with a year of experience under your belt and only turned 95,000 miles in 11 months and made $45,000.

So you actually turned way more miles and made more money in a shorter period of time with no experience at a "starter company" than you did at a "better" company.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Swift going to give you a raise at the one year mark and start reimbursing you for the tuition you had been paying up to that point? So wouldn't your second year at Swift have been even better than the first, making your second year at the "better company" even worse than it seems already?

Man, figuring out this trucking thing is hard. Help me out here, bro! I'm more confused than ever!

I also said I had truck issues.. Swift also changed the year pay raise not long after I started. No matter hoe you slice it making 10 cpm more per mile while making equal miles per week is better. So yes when I was down for over a month due to truck issues I lost money and when I was out for 3 weeks due to a hospital stay I lost money. So even with nearly 2 months down time I made more money with another company.

I will say as far as equipment overall I was lucky at swift I never had to go into a shop, not the case where I am now. At the same time one of my friends who started at swift when I did went though 5 trucks in 3 months and so far at Crete he's had 0 truck issues where I havery had several. That is part of trucking. One this that does change is how a company treats a driver. Swift overall treated me like crap regardless of how hard I ran. They also pretty much don't give a crap about their drivers comfort with their constant needling on idle times and refusal to allow decent inverters or a real refrigerators. Other companies are different they provide inverters and refrigerators as well as idle systems or APU systems to regulate bunk temperature while reducing idle so that drivers don't feel they have to burn up in the summer or freeze in the winter.

However by all means keep saying things like Swift is the best company ever when their safety rating has gone down to the point major companies have not renewed their contracts, Walmart being a big one not renewing as they expire.

Swift is not the only one but one you guys seem to defend more them most.

I almost expect to see Arrow transportation getting a positive review even after what they did a few years ago.

Still I think you missed the whole point, you guys only want the truth when it shines a good light on things, when it shows a bad experience you tend to gloss it over regardless of how many times it comes up.

Like I have said before this site is a great place without a doubt for people to read and learn about trucking, it has so many tools and so much information you simply cannot find anywhere else. The only thing I find lacking the the bad sides of the companies. You yourself has said EVERY company has good sides and bad, is it really such a bad thing that people can learn about common downsides to a certain company instead of just the upsides?? Is getting a complete picture ever a bad thing if it's from first hand accounts?

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I did not stay at Swift a full yeah and i am FAR better off for it. One thing i do sorta knock on this site for is they call it trucking truth but only want the truth if it is happy and cheerful.

So now it's your turn to give us "the truth" and not just the "happy and cheerful" part. How exactly are you far better off at your current company than you were before? You made less money, turned fewer miles, spent more time doing it, and had more experience to start with! And like I said, Swift would have given you a raise, started reimbursing your schooling, and I'll add that they would have given you better freight and more opportunities your second year. It seems to me you cost yourself an easy $10,000 this year by changing companies.

the truth is I had truck issues, I had more downtime then I did the year before. Also freight was better last year then I has been so far this year. The truth is I enjoy working for this company. The people I talk with in driver lounges at the terminals are more positive and there is not the inter-terminal politics here like I ran into at Swift. The potential earnings are far higher here. I earned the max possible at my pay rate at swift, here I have not reached the max due to downtime from equipment and medical reasons. However next year I can up my pay another 20 to 25k that would not be possible at swift while enjoying the job.

Man, I can't thank you enough for stumbling into this tonight. I couldn't have paid someone to hand me a better teaching moment than this.

I mean, you have just proven mathematically that not only did you lose a ton of money by changing companies, but you'll completely ignore black and white mathematical facts in order to convince yourself (and mislead others) that what you want to believe is true. It's predictable of course that you would have a long list of excuses for the poor results.

You come here touting your tactical prowess when it comes to career decision making and try to criticize us for not being honest or giving good career advice and then you lay out those miserable salary and mileage numbers???

Kind of embarrassing for you, bro. Probably wasn't a good idea to come at me like that either. I've been in this game a long time. If you think you've figured out a lot about this industry in the past 20 months, imagine what I learned in the past 23 years. Turns out I do in fact know what I'm talking about.

It's been a while since we've had a popcorn topic. Thanks, Eckoh.

And Eckoh, I guees you missed the unhappy truths that come out here. Like the loneliness and separation people talk about. The newer people who ask here about felonies years ago, and the answer is, "that might keep you from getting hired."

We've had our share of mechanical and driver manager issues go through.

Overall, when people bring questions and problems to Trucking Truth, we give them what they need, not necessarily what they want to hear.

And don't get the idea I'm some kind of TT fanboy. I hang out here because, like the other regular contributors, I enjoy helping others get through driving school and then watching then get better at their new career.

Eckoh you are ridiculous. I am a Walmart Dedicated Driver. The Walmart contracts are awarded at the DC Regional Level, not corporately. Swift was recently awarded several new Walmart DCs from Great Wide. Fact.

Oh, the reason Swift has DC7030, the DC I work at? Ask the three former Crete drivers who Swift hired about 5 years ago when Crete lost the contract due to performance issues, safety issues and repeatedly wrecking Wally Wagons. Fact.

I would love to address all of your feckless claims one by one, too tired for that, cause you see I ran my 14 down to 5 minutes cause of a 400+ mile, 5 delivery stops monster of a day.

I will reiterate, you are a Swift basher through and through. Not sure why, don't really care. Working there for 4-5 months does not make you an expert. All I ask is when you have something negative to say about Swift or any company that you back it up with direct, first hand experiences and facts. Don't just say it without supporting it with substance. If you can't do that then refrain from slingin' the mud. That's all.

Swift is far from perfect and like most of the major carriers they deal with a myriad of issues and not always effectively. But I, like so many, many Swift drivers are doing very well thank you very much.

The problem with them treating you like crap, well perhaps I can understand why after reading your posts. You reap what you sow.