Complaint Review: Swift - Syracuse New York

ANONYMOUS As a former Swift Driver and Mentor, I apologize for the horrible way you were mistreated. Put your Report in writing and mail it to Driver Services, Swift Transportation at their address in Phoenix, AZ You should be proud of yourself for: "I let him know I was done trying to drive at night with no sleep trying to see through his illigal 5% limo tint windows,..." Sounds like your Mentor was an Owner-Operator (O/O) and not a company driver. Only an O/O would tint his windows illegally because the tint goes on His windows, not the Company windows. I was a company Driver Mentor. Although my new Volvo 786 belonged to Swift, I tricked it out for comfort and show, including special space-age foam mattresses, a large aluminum storage box mounted behind the cab, XM radio with upgraded speakers, iPod connected, etc. Oh, and I had all the aluminum surfaces including the outside rims polished like mirrors. Sweet driving. I agree with your problem with smokers. My Mentor was an O/O and taught me how NOT to Mentor new Drivers; luckily, I survived the 6 weeks (42 days of hell) training. The Syracuse NY Driver Service - DM was obviously having trouble getting an appropriate Mentor for you out of the Syracuse Terminal. I was out of the Phoenix Terminal but agreed to pick up a New Driver ("NewDr" beyond "student" status) in Syracuse about 2 years ago when my NewDr graduated while in the East. Oddly, the new guy was "conflicted" about truck driving, which confounded me at the time, and he started taking his gear out of the truck about half way through, just after talking on the phone with his Mother...whom he missed more than his girlfriend. He had issues. I was disappointed to not find a new student in Syracuse NY and had to wait until I got back to Phoenix AZ. Shucks, I had just "bonded" with the guy and bought him lunch. Actually, what came out of his mouth as excuses convinced me he had made the right choice... for both of us. Bunk Safety Belts are actually a web contraption that snaps in 4 secure locations in front of the bunk and is suspended from high on the back wall. No good Mentor ever moves the Truck (tractor + trailer) unless the driver wears a seatbelt and the passenger is either seated with a belt secure, or in the bunk with the Safety Web firmly affixed. Never! While it is part of the Driver Training program to introduce a NewDr to Night Driving, which is difficult to learn -- it is impractical, immoral, illegal and stupid to force anyone who is not fully rested to drive. Fatigue kills! Nothing puts a Driver Manager (DM) who is encouraging a Driver to drive in his/her place faster than a Qualcomm message from a Driver "I am almost out of hours, have found a place to park for the night because I am too tired to continue driving SAFELY". Or, "I did not sleep well enough last night to SAFELY drive without getting a little more rest. I need 2 more hours sleep." Once a Driver uses the SAFE word as the basis for making a decision, whether it is based on rest, weather, road conditions, load weight, tire condition, or anything else, a DM (and the "company") will back off and stop arguing. However, a Driver who fails to make a professional Pre-Plan before accepting a load will get a Service Failure if unreasonably late. To sum up - I know for a fact that Swift tries very hard to provide NewDrivers with the best trained Mentors they can get, and will take away Mentor privileges at the first sign of abuse or incompetence. It is because of this scrutiny that sometimes there are more New Drivers that available Mentors. I'm sorry that you got assigned to a bad Mentor, but I venture to say that your Syracuse NY Driver Services DM had no clue... that's why I've asked you to rat out the Mentor by name with the Phoenix Staff. This should not happen to anyone else, ever! If you keep quiet, it could. As a parting comment, the fellow serving in Syracuse NY as the Driver Services DM when I was there really impressed me as being very thoughtful, intelligent and professionally. I'd rank him in the top 2% of his position company wide.

ANONYMOUS As a former Swift Driver and Mentor, I apologize for the horrible way you were mistreated. Put your Report in writing and mail it to Driver Services, Swift Transportation at their address in Phoenix, AZ You should be proud of yourself for: "I let him know I was done trying to drive at night with no sleep trying to see through his illigal 5% limo tint windows,..." Sounds like your Mentor was an Owner-Operator (O/O) and not a company driver. Only an O/O would tint his windows illegally because the tint goes on His windows, not the Company windows. I was a company Driver Mentor. Although my new Volvo 786 belonged to Swift, I tricked it out for comfort and show, including special space-age foam mattresses, a large aluminum storage box mounted behind the cab, XM radio with upgraded speakers, iPod connected, etc. Oh, and I had all the aluminum surfaces including the outside rims polished like mirrors. Sweet driving. I agree with your problem with smokers. My Mentor was an O/O and taught me how NOT to Mentor new Drivers; luckily, I survived the 6 weeks (42 days of hell) training. The Syracuse NY Driver Service - DM was obviously having trouble getting an appropriate Mentor for you out of the Syracuse Terminal. I was out of the Phoenix Terminal but agreed to pick up a New Driver ("NewDr" beyond "student" status) in Syracuse about 2 years ago when my NewDr graduated while in the East. Oddly, the new guy was "conflicted" about truck driving, which confounded me at the time, and he started taking his gear out of the truck about half way through, just after talking on the phone with his Mother...whom he missed more than his girlfriend. He had issues. I was disappointed to not find a new student in Syracuse NY and had to wait until I got back to Phoenix AZ. Shucks, I had just "bonded" with the guy and bought him lunch. Actually, what came out of his mouth as excuses convinced me he had made the right choice... for both of us. Bunk Safety Belts are actually a web contraption that snaps in 4 secure locations in front of the bunk and is suspended from high on the back wall. No good Mentor ever moves the Truck (tractor + trailer) unless the driver wears a seatbelt and the passenger is either seated with a belt secure, or in the bunk with the Safety Web firmly affixed. Never! While it is part of the Driver Training program to introduce a NewDr to Night Driving, which is difficult to learn -- it is impractical, immoral, illegal and stupid to force anyone who is not fully rested to drive. Fatigue kills! Nothing puts a Driver Manager (DM) who is encouraging a Driver to drive in his/her place faster than a Qualcomm message from a Driver "I am almost out of hours, have found a place to park for the night because I am too tired to continue driving SAFELY". Or, "I did not sleep well enough last night to SAFELY drive without getting a little more rest. I need 2 more hours sleep." Once a Driver uses the SAFE word as the basis for making a decision, whether it is based on rest, weather, road conditions, load weight, tire condition, or anything else, a DM (and the "company") will back off and stop arguing. However, a Driver who fails to make a professional Pre-Plan before accepting a load will get a Service Failure if unreasonably late. To sum up - I know for a fact that Swift tries very hard to provide NewDrivers with the best trained Mentors they can get, and will take away Mentor privileges at the first sign of abuse or incompetence. It is because of this scrutiny that sometimes there are more New Drivers that available Mentors. I'm sorry that you got assigned to a bad Mentor, but I venture to say that your Syracuse NY Driver Services DM had no clue... that's why I've asked you to rat out the Mentor by name with the Phoenix Staff. This should not happen to anyone else, ever! If you keep quiet, it could. As a parting comment, the fellow serving in Syracuse NY as the Driver Services DM when I was there really impressed me as being very thoughtful, intelligent and professionally. I'd rank him in the top 2% of his position company wide.

ANONYMOUS As a former Swift Driver and Mentor, I apologize for the horrible way you were mistreated. Put your Report in writing and mail it to Driver Services, Swift Transportation at their address in Phoenix, AZ You should be proud of yourself for: "I let him know I was done trying to drive at night with no sleep trying to see through his illigal 5% limo tint windows,..." Sounds like your Mentor was an Owner-Operator (O/O) and not a company driver. Only an O/O would tint his windows illegally because the tint goes on His windows, not the Company windows. I was a company Driver Mentor. Although my new Volvo 786 belonged to Swift, I tricked it out for comfort and show, including special space-age foam mattresses, a large aluminum storage box mounted behind the cab, XM radio with upgraded speakers, iPod connected, etc. Oh, and I had all the aluminum surfaces including the outside rims polished like mirrors. Sweet driving. I agree with your problem with smokers. My Mentor was an O/O and taught me how NOT to Mentor new Drivers; luckily, I survived the 6 weeks (42 days of hell) training. The Syracuse NY Driver Service - DM was obviously having trouble getting an appropriate Mentor for you out of the Syracuse Terminal. I was out of the Phoenix Terminal but agreed to pick up a New Driver ("NewDr" beyond "student" status) in Syracuse about 2 years ago when my NewDr graduated while in the East. Oddly, the new guy was "conflicted" about truck driving, which confounded me at the time, and he started taking his gear out of the truck about half way through, just after talking on the phone with his Mother...whom he missed more than his girlfriend. He had issues. I was disappointed to not find a new student in Syracuse NY and had to wait until I got back to Phoenix AZ. Shucks, I had just "bonded" with the guy and bought him lunch. Actually, what came out of his mouth as excuses convinced me he had made the right choice... for both of us. Bunk Safety Belts are actually a web contraption that snaps in 4 secure locations in front of the bunk and is suspended from high on the back wall. No good Mentor ever moves the Truck (tractor + trailer) unless the driver wears a seatbelt and the passenger is either seated with a belt secure, or in the bunk with the Safety Web firmly affixed. Never! While it is part of the Driver Training program to introduce a NewDr to Night Driving, which is difficult to learn -- it is impractical, immoral, illegal and stupid to force anyone who is not fully rested to drive. Fatigue kills! Nothing puts a Driver Manager (DM) who is encouraging a Driver to drive in his/her place faster than a Qualcomm message from a Driver "I am almost out of hours, have found a place to park for the night because I am too tired to continue driving SAFELY". Or, "I did not sleep well enough last night to SAFELY drive without getting a little more rest. I need 2 more hours sleep." Once a Driver uses the SAFE word as the basis for making a decision, whether it is based on rest, weather, road conditions, load weight, tire condition, or anything else, a DM (and the "company") will back off and stop arguing. However, a Driver who fails to make a professional Pre-Plan before accepting a load will get a Service Failure if unreasonably late. To sum up - I know for a fact that Swift tries very hard to provide NewDrivers with the best trained Mentors they can get, and will take away Mentor privileges at the first sign of abuse or incompetence. It is because of this scrutiny that sometimes there are more New Drivers that available Mentors. I'm sorry that you got assigned to a bad Mentor, but I venture to say that your Syracuse NY Driver Services DM had no clue... that's why I've asked you to rat out the Mentor by name with the Phoenix Staff. This should not happen to anyone else, ever! If you keep quiet, it could. As a parting comment, the fellow serving in Syracuse NY as the Driver Services DM when I was there really impressed me as being very thoughtful, intelligent and professionally. I'd rank him in the top 2% of his position company wide.

ANONYMOUS As a former Swift Driver and Mentor, I apologize for the horrible way you were mistreated. Put your Report in writing and mail it to Driver Services, Swift Transportation at their address in Phoenix, AZ You should be proud of yourself for: "I let him know I was done trying to drive at night with no sleep trying to see through his illigal 5% limo tint windows,..." Sounds like your Mentor was an Owner-Operator (O/O) and not a company driver. Only an O/O would tint his windows illegally because the tint goes on His windows, not the Company windows. I was a company Driver Mentor. Although my new Volvo 786 belonged to Swift, I tricked it out for comfort and show, including special space-age foam mattresses, a large aluminum storage box mounted behind the cab, XM radio with upgraded speakers, iPod connected, etc. Oh, and I had all the aluminum surfaces including the outside rims polished like mirrors. Sweet driving. I agree with your problem with smokers. My Mentor was an O/O and taught me how NOT to Mentor new Drivers; luckily, I survived the 6 weeks (42 days of hell) training. The Syracuse NY Driver Service - DM was obviously having trouble getting an appropriate Mentor for you out of the Syracuse Terminal. I was out of the Phoenix Terminal but agreed to pick up a New Driver ("NewDr" beyond "student" status) in Syracuse about 2 years ago when my NewDr graduated while in the East. Oddly, the new guy was "conflicted" about truck driving, which confounded me at the time, and he started taking his gear out of the truck about half way through, just after talking on the phone with his Mother...whom he missed more than his girlfriend. He had issues. I was disappointed to not find a new student in Syracuse NY and had to wait until I got back to Phoenix AZ. Shucks, I had just "bonded" with the guy and bought him lunch. Actually, what came out of his mouth as excuses convinced me he had made the right choice... for both of us. Bunk Safety Belts are actually a web contraption that snaps in 4 secure locations in front of the bunk and is suspended from high on the back wall. No good Mentor ever moves the Truck (tractor + trailer) unless the driver wears a seatbelt and the passenger is either seated with a belt secure, or in the bunk with the Safety Web firmly affixed. Never! While it is part of the Driver Training program to introduce a NewDr to Night Driving, which is difficult to learn -- it is impractical, immoral, illegal and stupid to force anyone who is not fully rested to drive. Fatigue kills! Nothing puts a Driver Manager (DM) who is encouraging a Driver to drive in his/her place faster than a Qualcomm message from a Driver "I am almost out of hours, have found a place to park for the night because I am too tired to continue driving SAFELY". Or, "I did not sleep well enough last night to SAFELY drive without getting a little more rest. I need 2 more hours sleep." Once a Driver uses the SAFE word as the basis for making a decision, whether it is based on rest, weather, road conditions, load weight, tire condition, or anything else, a DM (and the "company") will back off and stop arguing. However, a Driver who fails to make a professional Pre-Plan before accepting a load will get a Service Failure if unreasonably late. To sum up - I know for a fact that Swift tries very hard to provide NewDrivers with the best trained Mentors they can get, and will take away Mentor privileges at the first sign of abuse or incompetence. It is because of this scrutiny that sometimes there are more New Drivers that available Mentors. I'm sorry that you got assigned to a bad Mentor, but I venture to say that your Syracuse NY Driver Services DM had no clue... that's why I've asked you to rat out the Mentor by name with the Phoenix Staff. This should not happen to anyone else, ever! If you keep quiet, it could. As a parting comment, the fellow serving in Syracuse NY as the Driver Services DM when I was there really impressed me as being very thoughtful, intelligent and professionally. I'd rank him in the top 2% of his position company wide.

ANONYMOUS As a former Swift Driver and Mentor, I apologize for the horrible way you were mistreated. Put your Report in writing and mail it to Driver Services, Swift Transportation at their address in Phoenix, AZ You should be proud of yourself for: "I let him know I was done trying to drive at night with no sleep trying to see through his illigal 5% limo tint windows,..." Sounds like your Mentor was an Owner-Operator (O/O) and not a company driver. Only an O/O would tint his windows illegally because the tint goes on His windows, not the Company windows. I was a company Driver Mentor. Although my new Volvo 786 belonged to Swift, I tricked it out for comfort and show, including special space-age foam mattresses, a large aluminum storage box mounted behind the cab, XM radio with upgraded speakers, iPod connected, etc. Oh, and I had all the aluminum surfaces including the outside rims polished like mirrors. Sweet driving. I agree with your problem with smokers. My Mentor was an O/O and taught me how NOT to Mentor new Drivers; luckily, I survived the 6 weeks (42 days of hell) training. The Syracuse NY Driver Service - DM was obviously having trouble getting an appropriate Mentor for you out of the Syracuse Terminal. I was out of the Phoenix Terminal but agreed to pick up a New Driver ("NewDr" beyond "student" status) in Syracuse about 2 years ago when my NewDr graduated while in the East. Oddly, the new guy was "conflicted" about truck driving, which confounded me at the time, and he started taking his gear out of the truck about half way through, just after talking on the phone with his Mother...whom he missed more than his girlfriend. He had issues. I was disappointed to not find a new student in Syracuse NY and had to wait until I got back to Phoenix AZ. Shucks, I had just "bonded" with the guy and bought him lunch. Actually, what came out of his mouth as excuses convinced me he had made the right choice... for both of us. Bunk Safety Belts are actually a web contraption that snaps in 4 secure locations in front of the bunk and is suspended from high on the back wall. No good Mentor ever moves the Truck (tractor + trailer) unless the driver wears a seatbelt and the passenger is either seated with a belt secure, or in the bunk with the Safety Web firmly affixed. Never! While it is part of the Driver Training program to introduce a NewDr to Night Driving, which is difficult to learn -- it is impractical, immoral, illegal and stupid to force anyone who is not fully rested to drive. Fatigue kills! Nothing puts a Driver Manager (DM) who is encouraging a Driver to drive in his/her place faster than a Qualcomm message from a Driver "I am almost out of hours, have found a place to park for the night because I am too tired to continue driving SAFELY". Or, "I did not sleep well enough last night to SAFELY drive without getting a little more rest. I need 2 more hours sleep." Once a Driver uses the SAFE word as the basis for making a decision, whether it is based on rest, weather, road conditions, load weight, tire condition, or anything else, a DM (and the "company") will back off and stop arguing. However, a Driver who fails to make a professional Pre-Plan before accepting a load will get a Service Failure if unreasonably late. To sum up - I know for a fact that Swift tries very hard to provide NewDrivers with the best trained Mentors they can get, and will take away Mentor privileges at the first sign of abuse or incompetence. It is because of this scrutiny that sometimes there are more New Drivers that available Mentors. I'm sorry that you got assigned to a bad Mentor, but I venture to say that your Syracuse NY Driver Services DM had no clue... that's why I've asked you to rat out the Mentor by name with the Phoenix Staff. This should not happen to anyone else, ever! If you keep quiet, it could. As a parting comment, the fellow serving in Syracuse NY as the Driver Services DM when I was there really impressed me as being very thoughtful, intelligent and professionally. I'd rank him in the top 2% of his position company wide.

ANONYMOUS As a former Swift Driver and Mentor, I apologize for the horrible way you were mistreated. Put your Report in writing and mail it to Driver Services, Swift Transportation at their address in Phoenix, AZ You should be proud of yourself for: "I let him know I was done trying to drive at night with no sleep trying to see through his illigal 5% limo tint windows,..." Sounds like your Mentor was an Owner-Operator (O/O) and not a company driver. Only an O/O would tint his windows illegally because the tint goes on His windows, not the Company windows. I was a company Driver Mentor. Although my new Volvo 786 belonged to Swift, I tricked it out for comfort and show, including special space-age foam mattresses, a large aluminum storage box mounted behind the cab, XM radio with upgraded speakers, iPod connected, etc. Oh, and I had all the aluminum surfaces including the outside rims polished like mirrors. Sweet driving. I agree with your problem with smokers. My Mentor was an O/O and taught me how NOT to Mentor new Drivers; luckily, I survived the 6 weeks (42 days of hell) training. The Syracuse NY Driver Service - DM was obviously having trouble getting an appropriate Mentor for you out of the Syracuse Terminal. I was out of the Phoenix Terminal but agreed to pick up a New Driver ("NewDr" beyond "student" status) in Syracuse about 2 years ago when my NewDr graduated while in the East. Oddly, the new guy was "conflicted" about truck driving, which confounded me at the time, and he started taking his gear out of the truck about half way through, just after talking on the phone with his Mother...whom he missed more than his girlfriend. He had issues. I was disappointed to not find a new student in Syracuse NY and had to wait until I got back to Phoenix AZ. Shucks, I had just "bonded" with the guy and bought him lunch. Actually, what came out of his mouth as excuses convinced me he had made the right choice... for both of us. Bunk Safety Belts are actually a web contraption that snaps in 4 secure locations in front of the bunk and is suspended from high on the back wall. No good Mentor ever moves the Truck (tractor + trailer) unless the driver wears a seatbelt and the passenger is either seated with a belt secure, or in the bunk with the Safety Web firmly affixed. Never! While it is part of the Driver Training program to introduce a NewDr to Night Driving, which is difficult to learn -- it is impractical, immoral, illegal and stupid to force anyone who is not fully rested to drive. Fatigue kills! Nothing puts a Driver Manager (DM) who is encouraging a Driver to drive in his/her place faster than a Qualcomm message from a Driver "I am almost out of hours, have found a place to park for the night because I am too tired to continue driving SAFELY". Or, "I did not sleep well enough last night to SAFELY drive without getting a little more rest. I need 2 more hours sleep." Once a Driver uses the SAFE word as the basis for making a decision, whether it is based on rest, weather, road conditions, load weight, tire condition, or anything else, a DM (and the "company") will back off and stop arguing. However, a Driver who fails to make a professional Pre-Plan before accepting a load will get a Service Failure if unreasonably late. To sum up - I know for a fact that Swift tries very hard to provide NewDrivers with the best trained Mentors they can get, and will take away Mentor privileges at the first sign of abuse or incompetence. It is because of this scrutiny that sometimes there are more New Drivers that available Mentors. I'm sorry that you got assigned to a bad Mentor, but I venture to say that your Syracuse NY Driver Services DM had no clue... that's why I've asked you to rat out the Mentor by name with the Phoenix Staff. This should not happen to anyone else, ever! If you keep quiet, it could. As a parting comment, the fellow serving in Syracuse NY as the Driver Services DM when I was there really impressed me as being very thoughtful, intelligent and professionally. I'd rank him in the top 2% of his position company wide.

I went to a Swift Orientation in Syracuse, NY. After two and a half days doing their Wellness Program, DOT Pysical, Drug Test and listening to the way they talked to people I declined the position at Swift. I would recommend if you go to a companies orientation and they tell you during orientation, the whole class that they don't expect any of us to be with the company in a year and that their turn over rate is 125% that is a hint the way they treat their people.