Trying To Choose Between Swift And CT Transport

I'm having a difficult time choosing between these two companies that I have narrowed it down to that I want to start my trucking career with. With swift I would be on a comfort zone my recruiter said I would average $900-$1400 is that realistic? I also was curious on if after orientation with swift do you usually get a trainer right after or is there a little wait for one to go along with that how long could I expect to be out training? Now for CT transport they told me I would be doing short haul and that I would be home a few times during the week and would make about $800-900 a week do these numbers sound about right if anyone knows? Thank you

With swift I would be on a comfort zone my recruiter said I would average $900-$1400 is that realistic?

First 6 months $600-900 gross is realistic. $1400 at $.36 per mile. Nope. Do the math.

I didnt know sharing ones opinion on a company is bashing it. i never said "absolutely avoid swift at all cost for your life depends on it." now that would be bashing. i said that personally id choose not to go with swift for the above reasons. primarily for the guy i saw get put out at the truckstop in person who was in fact a swift driver and for that youtube link listed above about a driver with a similar situation who was also swift driver. and i also noted at the bottom of the post that if swift is your foot in the door to the industry then by all means take it and use the time your there to learn the industry and gain experience but if there were other companies i personally would choose the other options. That's not bashing that's giving an opinion and if it was bashing i wouldn't have added that if its the posters only way into the industry to take take the opportunity. Someone else could post that swift is the best company they've ever worked for and that also is their opinion. it could be true or faux, its simply ones opinion on a given subject matter, just like your opinion of considering the post to be bashing on swift.

Chris,...we post advice based on what we know to be true, from our personal experiences and firsthand knowledge, not what we heard or what we read on the Internet.

Over four years at Swift,...more than happy to share what I know, have experienced and why I think it's a really good company to work for.

Keep it real.

Chris doth protest:

I didnt know sharing ones opinion on a company is bashing it. i never said "absolutely avoid swift at all cost for your life depends on it." now that would be bashing. i said that personally id choose not to go with swift for the above reasons. primarily for the guy i saw get put out at the truckstop in person who was in fact a swift driver and for that youtube link listed above about a driver with a similar situation who was also swift driver. and i also noted at the bottom of the post that if swift is your foot in the door to the industry then by all means take it and use the time your there to learn the industry and gain experience but if there were other companies i personally would choose the other options. That's not bashing that's giving an opinion and if it was bashing i wouldn't have added that if its the posters only way into the industry to take take the opportunity. Someone else could post that swift is the best company they've ever worked for and that also is their opinion. it could be true or faux, its simply ones opinion on a given subject matter, just like your opinion of considering the post to be bashing on swift.

Considering you have never worked for Swift your opinion is based on nothing of substance, it's feckless.

Again, please offer advice based on your personal experience and what you know to be true and factual, not second hand stories, YouTube, or what a disgruntled driver complained about.

Tell us who you drive for and why.

No i have never worked at swift, nor did i give any indication that i had ever been employed with their company. I do not have any experience working for swift but i know of their reputation. all companies have one, sometimes the reputation is good other times its not good. and unless youre an owner op or lease you will be driving a truck and trailer with your company's name and logo plastered on it so its that logo and name that everyone will see. Whether its the truck rolling down the highway looking good centered in the lane not weaving or in the ditch on the side of the road, its the drivers action that determines the companies reputation and every driver is either improving that or reducing it for his or her respective company. So hopefully you're improving the image for your respective company and kudos to you if you are.

However since you do work there im assuming, what do you recommend about your company and why would it be ideal for someone new starting out in this industry? whats their stance on weather? average haul length? freight lanes? gps navigation equipped trucks? - if equipped how are the gps units configured? fastest route or shortest route ? - example fastest route traveling on interstate mainly for a longer distance vs cutting through towns on highways for a shorter distance haul apu/inverter? customers they deliver to? who unloads the truck ? driver unload, no touch, lumper unload ? where are the operation centers located? are they forced dispatch ? what do you dislike about your company ? what could management do better ? do you see yourself being there for an extended period of time ? how safe is your company as a whole? are you regional , local, dedicated, or otr and can you change between them easily if you lifestyle changes? what happens if you get sick on the road and does that count against you ?

those are important issues that new drivers should know for any company.

and my company isn't really all that special, its a mega carrier, one of the safest though ill add. which is why i chose them based on their safety record since i wanted a company i knew id have safe equipment and operated in a safe and legal manner so i wouldnt rack up any csa points starting out. and i've done just that no inspections, my truck goes through the scales generally only when they dont have a prepass site and thats as far as it ever goes. so thats why i chose my company for their safety record since if you have to pay out money in fines doing your job that defeats the purpose of doing the job in my opinion. so that's why i chose my company i got my cdl through a private school and had no contracts to sign so safety was my main concern when choosing a company to sign with and its paid out pretty handsomely thus far.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

• Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
• Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

CSA:

Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)

The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle

Interstate:

Commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the Federal Department Of Transportation (DOT).

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

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.

EPU:

Electric Auxiliary Power Units

Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices

I couldn't tell you personally which is more realistic or which will be better for you, as ive not started driving yet. However, after lurking here for a while and spending countless hours spamming youtube vids from various truckers at various companies I CAN tell you that at swift 800$ monthly during you first 6 is likely to be average.

Obviously during training amounts will be lower, and itll take a little bit to find your stride but there are guys six months in showing their paycheck/miles/hours driven on their qualcom. If you dont plan properly, and you dont pay attention to detail, you turn down loads, etc.. youll sit a lot longer and make a lot less. That said, if you drive hard, and drive safe, the miles and money will be there pretty much no matter where you go.

At the very least thats what my research has pointed to... take my 2cents for what its worth brother.

if there were other companies i personally would choose the other options. That's not bashing that's giving an opinion and if it was bashing i wouldn't have added that if its the posters only way into the industry to take take the opportunity. Someone else could post that swift is the best company they've ever worked for and that also is their opinion. it could be true or faux, its simply ones opinion on a given subject matter, just like your opinion of considering the post to be bashing on swift.

Christopher, let me welcome you to the forum, but the first thing you are going to have to do is understand a few ground rules in here. This is not the kind of place where we just let everybody throw around their opinions. What good is it for us to hear everyone's opinion, if as you put it those opinions "could be true or faux." It seems to make all those opinions useless if we don't have any hard or relative evidence to their veracity, wouldn't you agree? There is a reason we call this web site "Trucking Truth," we expect the information shared in here to be as factual and helpful as possible. There are plenty of other places which will let truckers foment silly talk that seems to entertain other drivers, but here we are making an honest effort at helping new entrants into the industry make a decent start - we stick with the facts.

All that being said, you also gave a lot of questions that you thought were relative while searching for a company, and most of them we consider to be not so important. The following links will help you get an idea of how we approach these matters.

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing Your First Truck Driving Job
• Article Category: Finding The Right Truck Driving Job
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Trucking Company"

Finally, a company's CSA score has nothing to do with your ability to maintain a clean record of safety and not having points on your CSA score. I've been driving for a good number of years with no points at all on my CSA score. My first year and a half was spent at Western Express, and their scores were terrible. CSA scores are a reflection of the driver's ability to recognize problems or issues with proper pre-tripping, safe driving, and making sure that his truck is well maintained. Those three items are on the driver, and are not a reflection of the company's reputation as a good place to start their career or not.

I am convinced Swift gets so much bad press simply because they're so big and have so many people who either work for them or have tried to be trained by them. Do a Gogle on truck driving schools and there's an add for them the first thing in the list. That's how big they are. Increase the numbers of apples in the bunch and you're going to get more and more bad apples. You will hardly ever hear success stories on YouTube because the ones who are successful don't sit around gripping because they're too busy working. To give an example there was a lady who went to Roehl and after a couple of post singing their praises she was singing the blues on how it was the worst. Then she went to Prime and it was great for about a month. Whats her job now? She is trying to make a living off YouTube content advertising work at home jobs. Well, good luck with that. If those jobs were so great why doesn't she take one and do the YouTube thing on the side? Simple, she doesn't want to work which it seems is more and more common these days.

I am NOT saying that's anyone here. But that is how the Internet grapevine works.

Christopher rambles:

blah blah blah why would it be ideal for someone new starting out in this industry? whats their stance on weather? average haul length? freight lanes? gps navigation equipped trucks? - if equipped how are the gps units configured? fastest route or shor

Yes, everybody has opinions. But here we deal more in personal experience. Also, Brett had done a massive amount of details research to answer the kind of questions new people might ask.

Swift Transportation Co., Inc. Company Review