Complaint Review: Swift - Phoenix Arizona

If you would have kept a copy of your application where you disclosed this misdemeanor, you would have been covered, and your recruiter would have been on the hook. Never do verbal applications. Never trust recruiters. These are 2 very basic rules. Always have them mail it or fax it to you, and then you fill it out completely, make copies, and send it back.

I applied with Swift 3 years ago through a recruiter. I did an application over the phone with her and listed all of my charges (which were misdemeanors) and was tld I qualified fr the school in Millington, TN. and would start driving as an driver trainee afterwards. During the first week at Swift, we were given our folders which contained our paperwork (applications, etc.). At that time, I informed the person who was my case manager that none of my background information (driving offenses, criminal charges) was on the application. Matter of fact, the section that calls for that was left blank. I wrote down all of the information that was contained on my MVR (I got a copy of my driving record prior to coming to Millington) and also had the case worker to run off a copy to put in the folder. Everything went well until I rached the 4th week of my employmet with Swift. I was a driver trainee at that time and happened to be at the Ocala, FL. terminal when I was called into the office to have a conference call with the teminal manager and some guy in the safety department in Phoenix, AZ. I was told that the section of my application that asked for my backgound information was left blank. After explaining to both gentlemen that I took care of that when I saw that section blank almost 2 months earlier and also had the case manager to make a copy of my MVR so nothing is left out, I still was FIRED!!! The only good thing that happened on that deal was "at least they made sure I got back home". I had a problem getting on wih an OTR company since then because Swift has on my DAC that they let me go because I "falsified my application". To be honest, Swift has slow trucks and slow people who work for them. Swift is only swift when they are firing you (the swiftly).

I think you got the shaft from Swift. Look for a small co who might get you into a truck. There is a co called Dan Johnson in Grantspass oregon. They are a little co., But they give chances to folks like you. Look them up in the 411 and call them. you might ask about other trucking co's. If thys can help you they will. Nice folks there not like Swift at all. I'v been driving now 5 yrs and one year was wasted with Swift. One good thing if you worked for Swift you can spot a lier 20 feet away lol. Good luck and take care. John

Dave, I understand the level of frustration that people have with the trucking industry, but to paint all of the industry with your broad brush is highly unfair. There are many decent companies to work for out there, but it takes time and effort to find them, and opportunities for newbies to latch on to one of them is even harder. I've been working in this industry for the better part of three decades, and I assure you I wouldn't want to do anything else for a living. I have a good driving job, and one that I hope to keep to my retirement. For sure, there are companies within the industry that only care about profit, with all else being way down the list in terms of concern. Swift Transportation Co., Inc. is at the bottom of the barrel. You simply cannot do any worse than to hook up with this company. If you are a newbie, your chances of success in making it from the training program to the truck as a solo driver are less than 10%. The chance that a driver will be with this company in six months after training are less than 5%. There is only one company out there of any size, that bucks all the nationwide trends for training carriers, exchanging a commitment of service for paid training. The rest are completely lacking in training standards, ethics when it comes to how they treat trainees, and suffer horrible employee turnover statistics. Their records of safety are horrible as well. I'll refrain from naming the one company that I personally endorse in this thread for the sake of staying topical. I've posted elsewhere on the site my reasons for supporting them. The best method of entering the industry is to go through a local community college or technical college that offers CDL training, where tuition rates are much more reasonable, and your options are better in terms of selecting a company in which to begin your career. The one thing people have to understand is that companies, and I do mean all of them, that have to offer training of newbies to fill empty seats, have issues that have forced them to submit to hiring inexperienced drivers. Those reasons may include the fact that they are horrible companies to work for, and the fact that they cannot keep drivers on staff for several reasons. They may not offer decent time off. They may haul complicated freight that ties up a driver's time. They may not pay worth a hoot. The bottom line is that when anyone is considering a job within the trucking industry, and this includes those that have driven for years, the driver MUST take the time to check out a company to see if they are compatible to your needs and desires FIRST, and discover if the company is worth looking at a second time, BEFORE the application is submitted. Swift has enough bad written out there about them to warn people of what they are about, and people who find themselves victimized really have no excuses for not checking them out beforehand. If they found this site, and others like it, to submit their horror stories, they could have done so prior to signing on with them. One other thing people need to understand clearly is that most companies will not do the COMPLETE background investigations until after you have arrived on site, and this includes those drivers with a background in trucking. Not to defend Swift in any way, but the costs of performing the background checks are expensive. They are only going to do them when they have the person in front of them as a serious and potential candidate, and after they have signed an original document giving them consent to do that background check. Swift is not alone in this practice. Most companies will not dig into those details of anyone until they KNOW that the person is seriously wanting to go to work for them. Swift is well known for those surprise firings, even in cases where an offense is disclosed up-front. And NEVER leave out any criminal conviction on an application for a driving position of a commercial vehicle, if that conviction fell within the time frame asked for on that application. And lastly, never believe a word that a recruiter from these desperate companies tell you. They are paid liars. There's no better way to describe what they do. Swift has a record of lying to people on the phone, then sending them home after they have roped the person into several thousand dollars in a contract. To anyone looking to get into this industry, take the time to check out a company on the web. Simply typing their name into a search engine, and browsing through the links will more often than not, reveal the good and the bad. Visit their site. Look for the details regarding what they offer a driver. A decent company will list the details. A crappy one will not. You'll more often than not see links to sites where others have offered their experiences with the company. Take the time to read them. If the overwhelming evidence suggests negative, then why take a chance? Word of mouth is the best, and can be the worst advertisement there is. Just never disregard that little nagging feeling that should tell you if it's a good idea or a bad one. Go against the grain, and you will get a splinter every time.

My Suggestion, would be to stay completely out of the business, this is a very corrupt fraudulent business, and if you don't know all the laws, rules, regulations, and the gimmicks, you'll end up on the short end of the stick !!!!! go after a real job, with real pay and benefits,, leave this trucking alone !!!!