Central And Swift Thoughts?

Oh man, best decision I've ever made was to go to Prime. Right before all of this started happening!

Oh man, best decision I've ever made was to go to Prime. Right before all of this started happening!

Yes, you definitely ran for the hills at the right time.

Just to give you an idea of some of the changes that have happened since we started operating under Swift's policies, here's a few of the things that are, from talking to other drivers and my own experiences, ****ing us off the most:

Swift's fuel policies are WAY tighter than Central's were. When Swift says stop at the Flying J in Casper, WY and buy 86 gallons, they mean 86 gallons. The pump will shut off after that 86 gallons and you're not getting a drop more. Also, no more stopping to top off the reefer en route to a stop unless it's a scheduled fuel stop. Before, as long as it was an in-network location, we could stop to top off the reefer whenever and wherever we needed. Now, if you want to do that, you have to get somebody to unlock the pump using the Comdata merchant code. Which isn't so bad during regular business hours, but on nights or weekends it can take upwards of an hour to get hold of someone to do it. An hour. To make a 5 minute stop to fill the reefer. >:[

Swift's per diem program is...well, I'm not sure it's legal. Central's per diem paid 0.08 per mile per diem, which came off the top of the regular per mile rate. With Swift, they take 0.10 off the regular per mile rate, but only pay 0.085 per mile for per diem. Meaning they're keeping 0.15 of your pay per mile. Meaning that where I'm supposed to be making 0.33 per mile, I'm actually only being paid 0.315 per mile. >:[ And here's the really aggravating part, straight from their own per diem FAQ:

"Q: What happens to my 1.5 cents, why is my Per Diem rate 8.5 cents? A: There are costs incurred by Swift as a result of participating in Per Diem. The IRS disallows 30% of Swift’s tax deduction for Per Diem. Otherwise participation in Per Diem by Swift would negatively affect the company, making Per Diem costly to the company. This ensures that Per Diem stays a WIN/WIN situation, allowing for definite benefits for the drivers but not negatively impacting Swift."

Yes, that's right, they're saying that it would cost them too much to actually pay their drivers their full wages. >:[ Oddly enough, Central never had any problems with that...

Night and weekend coverage has become an absolute joke. Before, it might take a few minutes (up to maybe 15) to get a question or problem resolved. Now? You're lucky if it gets handled before your regular DM comes in Monday morning. I've literally sat on hold for 90 minutes waiting to try and get through to whoever's manning the ship at night, just to be hung up on before hearing a voice that wasn't recorded. Also, good luck getting a cargo claim handled. Swift eliminated all of Central's cargo claims personnel, and all of our cargo claims are now being handled by Swift's claims department in Phoenix. Which would be fine, if they didn't have to use a completely different protocol to process them and had a clue how to do it. I actually had one of their claims reps tell me "oh man, I don't know...um, can you ask your fleet manager?" >:[

And Kathy isn't alone in her hometime woes. Last month it took them an extra 8 days to get me home. I live outside of Seattle. So where do they send me the day after I put in my hometime request? Southampton, MA. After that? Texas via New Hampshire. The month before that they tried calling me out of the house less than 24 hours after I'd gotten off the truck, claiming that's when they had me down as available. Um, how about no. I verified my PTA with my DM before getting off the truck, your system verified my PTA before I got off the truck, try again.

There are a bunch of other issues that pretty much have everyone's tighty whities in a twist right now, mostly dealing with Swift's macros and how they're making it 9000% harder to do our jobs, and how it seems like nobody on the Central side has an answer to any of our problems other than "just hang in there, things will get back to normal someday." But this should help give you some idea of the uphill battle we've been fighting the last 2 1/2 months. And for the record, I've been with Central for just about 2 1/2 years, so I have a pretty good working knowledge of how things were before all of this happened.

eh, no good. my friend who was o/o is making like 1000+ a week. he hasnt had a issue with central.

Oh man, best decision I've ever made was to go to Prime. Right before all of this started happening!

i had my license suspended for a day for not showing up to court(damn county ****ed up my ticket) and prime wouldnt hire me.

eh, no good. my friend who was o/o is making like 1000+ a week. he hasnt had a issue with central.

Central does not have a good lease program. Your friend is screwed.

It depends on whether he is leasing from Central, or has his own truck LEASED ON to central....We always had our own truck and trailer, that we leased on to a company. I'd rather push a shopping cart with all my worldly possessions in it than lease a truck from a trucking company...

That being said....it that O/O is only clearing $1000.00 a week....he needs to change companies, if for no other reason !!!!!! Thats chump change...

Without a doubt, mergers can be an absolute nightmare. Heck, without a merger you can have companies change dispatching structure, logistics software, fuel routing, middle management, and all kinds of things that can make life a nightmare for a while without a merger involved. But try to merge two large companies into one is always a nightmare.

Things will indeed get much better but there's no telling how long that might take. Could be a while.

reeferpullingmomma - Prime and a number of other companies pay drivers 40 cents per mile or more and as long as they're safe, reliable, and hard working they can clear 2800-3200 miles per week. So averaging $1000 per week while they're on the road is not too hard for a company driver at the right company. So the idea of owning and operating your own company and taking on all of that financial risk and extra work just to make the same as a company employee makes doesn't add up, does it? That's why we always recommend against buying or leasing a truck. There's no upside to it. If things go well you'll make what a company driver would make. If they don't go well the financial hit you'll take could be devastating.

anyone drive for these companies? how about the driving school? did you like them?

They are the same company. Swift bought out Central. They still drive different trucks but all rules and regulations are Swift.

they havent made the switch yet. central is still central. regs are different. i am going to work for central. i know abunch of the drivers. swift is into some stuff so they buddied with another company

Yes they have switched as of January 31st 2014 I drive for Central I am just finishing up my rookie year. It is now all swift policies, rules, and regulations.