I was unemployed for a few months when I first moved here, I was told that the trucking industry was hiring so I went to a few places. I spoke with Swift Trucking and I looked at their website. They advertised a great program-but it was (I later learned) deceptive. You need to have a CDL license to drive a truck (well obviously-but I was a "newbie" and ignorant) They put you through THEIR school (some government support for putting you through that, but they still charge you) and then they deduct the fee (for the school) from every paycheck-75.00 a week-but they will kick in 1/2 of that. After the school you are assigned to drive with a "Mentor" for 6 weeks, and that you will be paid 450 for the first 6 weeks and 500 for the last 2 weeks. The company says that you will get "more home time" and that you will "earn" one day off for every day worked (that seemed pretty fair... Ooops) I signed up and borrowed some money so that I could make it through the school (about 3 weeks).
When you complete the school, you are sent to an orientation where you start to learn THAT some of the stuff you were told is... Well... Kind of, a bending of the truth. The 450 and the 500-that is for working 7 Days-because as you are now told-You are paid 64.29 a day AND THEN 71.29 a day for your last two weeks. I was assigned to a truck where I was home every 4 to 5 days, so that 450 that I counted on was considerably less-even though I was "working" 15 hour days... My first check (and subsequent checks) was under 200. I complained to my mentor and he said-you need to come down (on the days that you are off and log into the truck's system (qualcomm)-I told him that would be lying, and he shook his head at me, and said that this was what all of the trainees did so that they got their full 450. I was amazed that he was so upfront about that-and I just told him that I would not feel right doing that-he responded with something like-"you're an idiot, they will never find out". I stuck with the smaller checks, rather than committ fraud/steal.
I finally made it to Solo. The one day off-for every 6 worked is a credit, and my first trip out kept me on the road for 21 days. I was sent into the snowy regions-I thought that was wierd&here I was-an INEXPERIENCED DRIVER-lacking the confidence to drive in those areas, and yet getting assigned-continually. I had some "interesting" experiences.
I could go on and on, about how Swift took advantage of me. The truth is-that Swift does not care-THEY EARN A LOT OFF OF THE NEWBIES-so they will push you to your limit. Most of the Swift drivers that I spoke with, have some bad stuff to say about their experience with this company. I regret that I believed that this company had some integrity-The truth is-THEY DO NOT.
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