Swift Pays Minimum Wage During Training With Trainer

They used to have it as a set pay, but they found trainees were being lazy and would milk the pay. They used to give 500 a week but when they did that some new drivers would only drive 4-5 hours a day because they made the same regardless of how hard they worked. 

I'll bet money that these are the same wonderful folks that complain about how crappy their dispatcher is and how much the company sucks because they don't "make no money." Nevermind that they won't drive at night, complain about any load that isn't cross country and have to personally inspect every truck stop on their route to check for quality accommodations.

I'm done with this soapbox, anyone else need it?

Don't get me wrong Antoine. I wasn't trying to "female-dog-slap" you here. You were likely just providing useful information to the board.

I know it looks like a pile-on - but that wasn't my intention (at least, not really).

But so many people come into the industry, with such "great expectations".

People get the impression that they are "giving companies the great opportunity to have an awesome truck driver" - when in reality, the opposite is true - it is the company that is GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME AN AWESOME TRUCK DRIVER.

If people LOWER THEIR EXPECTATIONS - then the "bad stuff" won't come as a dissapointing surprise - while the "good stuff" will be an exciting and positive reinforcement. This is true also for TRAINING PAY.

Keep in mind - the Mega/Training companies see literally HUNDREDS of "new recruits" a year. And of those - probably 90% (or more) are gone before the 12 months is over. Most don't even make it to through the first year, those that actually make it to a year, will usually move on to a "better situation" after their obligation is up.

So the "slave pay", long hours and hard work - is all part of YOU SHOWING THEM that you are committed to your choice of profession and company.

Personally - I'm getting rid of all my "stuff" - so I will have a bunch of cash banked away, and a very low overhead. I'm not looking at my first company, based on what they PAY. I'm looking at this as a place to "develop my road chops", and get the necessary experience to move onto a more "optimal situation". I have more companies on my "year two" list - then on my year one.

Rick

The way the company I work for (Watkins Shepard) does it is rare in the Industry, but is one of the main reasons I went with them. If you get your CDL from a third party, like Sage, as I did, you do a ten day orientation with Watkins Shepard during which they provide transportation, pay you eating money and provide accommodations (usually a hotel). After the orientation, you are solo on the road, even if you are a brand new CDL holder. Experienced drivers have a three day orientation.

The learning curve is steep, and you've got to pass the driving part of the orientation, which includes taking a truck through city driving, highway driving and mountain driving. They are very helpful and very much want you to pass, giving you support, practice and time to pass the driving.

I joined the company because I have no interest in being in a truck with someone else for training or team driving. This type of system probably isn't for everyone, if you are unsure of yourself or do a lot better when you receive a lot of hands on training, this probably isn't for you. I felt confident that I could pick things up quickly and do well on the road. I've been pretty successful over the nearly 20 months with this company and am very happy I did it this way.

The good thing is I received full pay as soon I was in the truck by myself, and didn't have to put up with minimum wage, sharing the space, or having a trainer keep me in the truck to milk me for increased pay for them.

If you are interested in this system, send me an email, I would be glad to respond and talk to you about my experience. Watkins Shepard does primary dry van (they do have a flatbed division), we drive 48 states and Canada (if you want to drive there). The company treats us very well, they pay actual miles driven, not zip code to zip code, benefits, have new trucks and 20 terminals in strategic places around the nation. There are some additional pay benefits based on the load you have, and we are about 90% drop and hook. We do some but not a lot of food service which is nice because food service pick up and delivery often has really horrible delays.

Tracy

After the orientation, you are solo on the road, even if you are a brand new CDL holder.

In my opinion that is completely reckless and accomplishes nothing worthwhile. It was certainly thought up by bean counters who have no clue the risk they're putting people in.

When I started driving in '93 I went on the road with a trainer for two weeks before running solo. Do you know how much I learned in that two weeks? Do you know how much more confident and relaxed I was just having two weeks to bounce questions off an experienced driver while we travelled around together?

I'm a loner myself in a big way. Never married, no kids, hardly ever leave me property. Nobody enjoys being alone and having a truck to themselves more than I did. But to take someone straight out of school and run them OTR solo is reckless and irresponsible in my book. Shame on them for doing that.

Obviously nothing at all against you Tracy. You handled it and came out unscathed. But I would never allow anyone to run solo straight out of school. It's incredibly short-sighted and dangerous. Thank God they don't do that with dentists and surgeons, eh? Or maybe they should?

After the orientation, you are solo on the road, even if you are a brand new CDL holder.

In my opinion that is completely reckless and accomplishes nothing worthwhile. It was certainly thought up by bean counters who have no clue the risk they're putting people in.

When I started driving in '93 I went on the road with a trainer for two weeks before running solo. Do you know how much I learned in that two weeks? Do you know how much more confident and relaxed I was just having two weeks to bounce questions off an experienced driver while we travelled around together?

I'm a loner myself in a big way. Never married, no kids, hardly ever leave me property. Nobody enjoys being alone and having a truck to themselves more than I did. But to take someone straight out of school and run them OTR solo is reckless and irresponsible in my book. Shame on them for doing that.

Obviously nothing at all against you Tracy. You handled it and came out unscathed. But I would never allow anyone to run solo straight out of school. It's incredibly short-sighted and dangerous. Thank God they don't do that with dentists and surgeons, eh? Or maybe they should?

Got to agree 100% I know people not ready to solo after a month with a mentor. It's dangerous to throw someone who has no experience right out on their own.

I was kind of surprised by the assumptions in some of the responses here ... The OP simply stated some factual information without judgement. For all I know, Antoine is happy to be getting paid (let alone that it's more than minimum wage) while training.

400 a week is only a little less than what make now, some weeks more and i work 2 jobs for it. Some people....

400 a week is only a little less than what make now, some weeks more and i work 2 jobs for it. Some people....

Amen... I've worked 2 jobs consecutively for the past 5 years. What I have to show for: Under $228 right now (and I own two vehicles of course).