Called A Driver Complaint In

Swift company issued. “Lytx” is the camera technology.

BTW, I read your great article about ego being the downfall of many CDL students. While I am still "considering a career" I did contact my doctor about a prescription for humble pills. I will make sure to have the strongest dose allowed by law before I start school.

And I hope that you and the other experienced drivers will continue to impart your wisdom to me, even on those days that I forget to take my pills.

G-Town:

Something got deleted on my post:

I had said you keep on giving Swift a good name, going against the grain of all the Swift bashers.

had said you keep on giving Swift a good name, going against the grain of all the Swift bashers.

There are always those who want to "kick the big guy's ass". I doubt Swift would have over 15,000 drivers if they sucked so bad. I'm a productive Driver, and get treated as such.

And G-town's got a double whammy, because he runs a Walmart dedicated account. Another number one company everyone likes to bash, because they beat their competition with good business practices.

Rob, don’t be so quick to heap praise on WalMart . They don’t just have good business practices, they have ruthless business practices. Do some research and get a balanced viewpoint. I have some dear friends that were put out of business because WalMart came to town. Vlasic Pickles was bankrupted by WalMart. I’m not trying to start a debate here, but I know WalMart is a love/ hate type of company.

Bruce why do you insist on escalating non-trucking type exchanges, sprinkling them with anecdotal truth as if it were fact?

Rob, don’t be so quick to heap praise on WalMart . They don’t just have good business practices, they have ruthless business practices. Do some research and get a balanced viewpoint. I have some dear friends that were put out of business because WalMart came to town. Vlasic Pickles was bankrupted by WalMart. I’m not trying to start a debate here, but I know WalMart is a love/ hate type of company.

"Yesterday's Newspaper", decades old "Brick and Mortar" media headlines. Get real here...

Vlasic was already in serious financial trouble and operationally under-performing years before Campbell's Soup cut corporate ties with them. WalMart did NOT bankrupt them, it was inevitable. Please stop spreading superficial crap like this.

Every piece of credible documentation specifically written on this subject will support my point. Oversimplified truth; Vlasic did not consider the long-term affect on their profitability and production capacity before they decided to allow WalMart to sell gallon jars of pickles for under $3 in 2400+ retail stores. Consumer demand quickly outstripped supply. If you objectively study the Walmart model, the long term affect of providing products and services to them is a game of survival. Either adjust and aggressively adopt a continuous improvement strategy or fail. Simple. It's the essence of consumer driven economics. As a society, a dynamic we have all contributed to with little understanding of how it affects US based manufacturing production jobs and arguably the underlying roots of off-shore production. WalMart is only delivering what we, the consumer demands. Lots of stuff, readily available under one big-box roof, and dirt cheap.

And the mere mention of ruthless business practices immediately draws my focus to WalMart's #1 threat, Amazon. Amazon is to us now in 2019 what WalMart was to the retail business in the 90's. The major difference? Withouth the costly customer facing brick and mortar stores and the employees. Amazon is far scarier and potentially culturally disruptive than WalMart could ever be. If you don't believe me (which I expect Bruce won't), I encourage you to read the book entitled "The Four', the Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google". WalMart is a mere footnote in the text...a dinosaur on it's way to present-form extinction. A taste of their own medicine perhaps.

All that said; I am a far better truck driver and "grew-up" faster as a result of driving on the WalMart Dedicated account than I would have otherwise. I would not trade it for anything. Same holds true for the nucleolus of drivers I work with. Indeed its an unappealing churn to most. Like I said as it applies to all of the WM vendors and service providers (like Swift and their drivers), adjust quickly, perform or fail fast.

GT, sorry for posting something offensive to you. I have the utmost respect for you and do not like to or want to butt heads with you.

GT, sorry for posting something offensive to you. I have the utmost respect for you and do not like to or want to butt heads with you.

Sorry, I was heavy-handed, but definitely not offended. There are many Mom & Pop stores that were put ot of business because of HD, WalMart, etc. but "we", the consumer set the stage for that to occur, and the brilliance of WalMart took full advantage of it, redefining how a generation of consumers buy goods and services. Besides as you know, I like a good scrum once in a while...

No need to apologize and not butting heads with you. I was merely trying to set the record straight based on ALL of the facts and also request we try and stick to trucking. It's not just "us" reading this stuff...hundreds of newbies every day that want to learn about trucking and how to effectively enter the industry.

Read the book, you might enjoy it.

G-town and Bruce,

Didn't mean to start a fire storm.

Just reiterating Bruce's anecdotal point that people like to dislike the "big guys."

Rob D wrote...

G-town and Bruce,

Didn't mean to start a fire storm.

Just reiterating Bruce's anecdotal point that people like to dislike the "big guys."

using the internet

Rob...you did not create a firestorm. Not even close...

Of everything I said, here is the "newbie driver" takeaway:

All that said; I am a far better truck driver and "grew-up" faster as a result of driving on the WalMart Dedicated account than I would have otherwise. I would not trade it for anything. Same holds true for the nucleolus of drivers I work with. Indeed its an unappealing churn to most. Like I said as it applies to all of the WM vendors and service providers (like Swift and their drivers), adjust quickly, perform or fail fast.

Today marks my 6th year anniversary as a Swift driver. End of May will be my 6th year on the Walmart Dedicated account. I have never felt like I had a "double-whammy" on me, as you put it. The overwhelming majority of the information you read about Swift and the other so-called starter companies is pure fiction, written by former employees who for a variety of reasons failed, ducking all accountability and responsibility. They blame the company for their failure. My very first question to someone spewing venom like that; "do you currently work for Swift?" Most of the time the answer is no. I thank them saying; "that's what I thought" and I walk away. I do my job...that's what most Swift drivers do. There are close to 17,000 of us, so there is bound to be highly visible mistakes that others will use as evidence in support of their "Swift Stories". Here are a couple of blog links that address NOT using the general internet for researching trucking industry topics and dispelling the myth that Swift is a bottom-feeder starter company.

Web of Lies and Misinformation

Working For Your Starter Company Beyond the 1st Year

Take a look.