Dreamed Of Trucking For Years

Hi all!

My name is Justin. Im 32, have been a mechanic for awhile and have always been daydreaming about driving for a living. I wanted to do trucking straight out of highschool but felt pressure to go to a college. I didn't do so well there. I found a trade I enjoyed enough to call it a career. I couldn't daydream anymore. I applied to start driving for swift on their west coast dry van fleet. Im well aware of swifts reputation but I feel like they're a great way to get my foot in the door and they do seem to have the most opportunities. Now, I've done some reading, but most of what I've read about the company seem to be from several years ago. I'm wondering if anyone knows if things are better at swift. Also I'm curious aren't there some new laws that might have helped increase pay? One more thing, anyone who has driven for swift. If you're told you get to go home for a 34 hour reset every week, how does that work for you?

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read, I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Swift has over 20,000 trucks.

It's not that swift is less safe or whatever it's just that they're EVERYWHERE.

A company with 20,000 drivers is gonna have more incidents than one with a few hundred lol.

I'm not a swift driver or anything but I think their reputation is unfair.

One of the mods here spent years and years at swift. He can answer all that. Best of luck.

Justin, Swift is the butt of many jokes, but you would be fine starting out with them. In fact, having a job offer is a big thing right now, so you might be well advised to go with Swift if it’s a sure thing.

Any company is going to be what you make it. If you expect any company to be an Adult Daycare operation, you won’t last long anywhere. Companies value drivers who are safe, reliable, punctual, conscientious and honest. It would be rare for an established company to mistreat such a driver.

Hometime commitments can be difficult for companies to plan for, given the unpredictable nature of long distance travel. Just try to be as flexible as possible and give the company some slack.

If Swift is willing to hire you I'd jump at the opportunity although it never hurts to apply everywhere and consider the pro/con of all offers. They didn't get big by being a terrible trucking company. If they were in fact as unsafe as most people seem to think they'd have been shut down by the FMCSA long ago. For every disgruntled driver there's likely a long line of them that are very satisfied.

Being at Swift has its benefits. Swift has many more options to find what you enjoy. There's a ton of dedicated options out there that they have. DC to store delivery, hauling cars or flatbed though both of these are rare and I believe primarily down in the south. Also depending on where you live they may offer home daily jobs, home weekends, or your standard Over The Road.

As far as how being home for your 34 works. Depending on where you live in proximity to the terminal they may have you (or you choose to) park at the terminal. Otherwise they would find a load delivering/picking up in the general area and have you take the truck home. Many drivers utilize truck stops nearby to leave the truck while they go home. When the time comes others may be able to better guide you on ideas where to leave the truck.

I forgot to mention, I got my CDL class A license at the company I work for as a mechanic. Unfortunately I have hardly any over the road experience. Luckily that doesn't seem to be an issue for swift.

If Swift is willing to hire you I'd jump at the opportunity although it never hurts to apply everywhere and consider the pro/con of all offers. They didn't get big by being a terrible trucking company. If they were in fact as unsafe as most people seem to think they'd have been shut down by the FMCSA long ago. For every disgruntled driver there's likely a long line of them that are very satisfied.

Being at Swift has its benefits. Swift has many more options to find what you enjoy. There's a ton of dedicated options out there that they have. DC to store delivery, hauling cars or flatbed though both of these are rare and I believe primarily down in the south. Also depending on where you live they may offer home daily jobs, home weekends, or your standard Over The Road.

As far as how being home for your 34 works. Depending on where you live in proximity to the terminal they may have you (or you choose to) park at the terminal. Otherwise they would find a load delivering/picking up in the general area and have you take the truck home. Many drivers utilize truck stops nearby to leave the truck while they go home. When the time comes others may be able to better guide you on ideas where to leave the truck.

Thank you for the encouraging words. Swift also has nice new trucks with many new features. I'm eager to learn more. I was told for my 34 I could be home every weekend for that. Seems like it's not a terrible thing!

Justin, Swift is the butt of many jokes, but you would be fine starting out with them. In fact, having a job offer is a big thing right now, so you might be well advised to go with Swift if it’s a sure thing.

Any company is going to be what you make it. If you expect any company to be an Adult Daycare operation, you won’t last long anywhere. Companies value drivers who are safe, reliable, punctual, conscientious and honest. It would be rare for an established company to mistreat such a driver.

Hometime commitments can be difficult for companies to plan for, given the unpredictable nature of long distance travel. Just try to be as flexible as possible and give the company some slack.

Thank you for the encouraging words!

Swift has over 20,000 trucks.

It's not that swift is less safe or whatever it's just that they're EVERYWHERE.

A company with 20,000 drivers is gonna have more incidents than one with a few hundred lol.

I'm not a swift driver or anything but I think their reputation is unfair.

One of the mods here spent years and years at swift. He can answer all that. Best of luck.

That is a great point! Didn't they just get even bigger recently as well?

What's on the other end of "being home each week for your 34"....Were you offered a special, dedicated account?

What's on the other end of "being home each week for your 34"....Were you offered a special, dedicated account?

I have family here in Oregon and my fiancee. We have no children and most likely won't have any. I wasn't offered a specific dedicated account but a freight lane that would take me to Northern California, through OR, WA, ID, NV, and maybe UT. I'm told I'll be started at 43 CPM and able to hit about 3000/week. They also talked of bonuses for safe driving, showing up on time, and conserving fuel.