Complaint Review: Swift Transportation

I have a question. What is the difference in turning and backing with a flatbed trailer vs box trailer (van)

I trained for 6 weeks with a great flatbed mentor. When I signed up for flatbed, I was told I'd have about 6 weeks to change my license after I got off my mentors truck. Even though I verified this with HQ in Phoenix, it was not so according to piss-ant gene key at Greer, SC. I was sent to the address on my original app, which was Orlando, FL.

After waiting for a non-paid month for a truck, I was in van division. Flatbed trailers are 43 or 48 feet long and are mostly spread-axle. Big f-ing difference is the 5-8 feet sticking out the back when making turns and backing with a 53 foot van trailer. Know how many times I had to back the truck to a dock with my mentor? 3 times in 6 weeks...Yeah, we did the 28 backs, but theres a big difference between flatbed spread-axles and boxes. You'd think these assholes would know that.

Did they care? no. Did I ask for training in van? yes. Did I get it? No.

Their litany at the academy is SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY. Is it safe to send a driver out that hasn't been trained to use the equipment he'll be using?

This company, IMHO, is full of sh*t and rife with egomaniacal *ssholes. After 3 months in, I expect to leave and work for a company far less f-ed up. I'm waiting for 3 months and choking down their sh*t because I WILL NOT be in a truck with another dude for weeks at a time...my mentor was cool, but that 2 dudes in a truck sh*t - nah, not for me.

Now if the mentor was a straight, horned-up and willing femme...train me! train me!

There are some good peeps there, but they are NOT the majority. The majority are arrogant sh*tters with bad attitudes. Thank God for the good peeps.

My point...SWIFT is f**ked-up and they ought be on the bad-end of a class-action suit.

I am a ex trainee of Swift. My husband had a mentor and was told if the mentor mistreated him. He was to report to his DM. He did and the trainer left him stranded in Atlanta for 6 days. He was put into a hotel and reported to the terminal there everyday. He called and they just had him wait around. He ran out of money and called his DM and she never returned his calls. He finally used the little change he had to call me. He asked me if I could keep calling his DM to get him home. He was tired and very hungry. It took me about an hour to reach her. She wanted him to stay down there a few more days, but he had no money and couldn't get another advance. So she agreed to get home and gave me the confirmation number to pick up his bus tickets. He finally made it home and had lost alot of weight. He came home on a Tuesday. By Friday afternoon. She had him another mentor, but left before getting him a way up to Eden to meet up with the mentor. He had to be up there by Sunday morning. My husband repeatedly tried to get a hold of her before she left for the weekend. No avail. Finally my husband got worried that he would not be able to get up there. He called dispatch and they had him meet a driver in Kannapolis, NC and that driver got him to Eden.


Now his new mentor was a okay guy, but never took the time to really help him learn the rules and backing. After about 5 weeks with that mentor. y husband was cut loose as a solo driver. No backing skills. No real log book or Qualcom skills. The mentor made my husband do all the night driving. My husband only got to back maybe once a week. The mentor did all the Qualcom operations and only went over it briefly with my husband. My husband was fired for minor (rightsided) backing accidents. One his first mentor yelled at my husband. My husband was backing and got out and looked at the trailer he was getting close to. He even warned the mentor, who never got out of his seat once, that he was about to hit the trailer. All that mentor could do was yell at my husband and tell him, "Do as I told you!" angrily.


Second accident was bogus. I found out after all the bull. My husband was sleeping and someone hit my husband and called in and reported my husband as the one who hit. Husband was only told about the accident later that day and had no recollection of it. It took my investigative brain to figure out what actually happened. The 3rd he did knock a handrail off the dock.
My husband and I have always worked hard and we aren't afraid to get our hands dirty.
On top of all of this. 2 weeks before they let him go. He went with me to Greer for my orientation. He took backing class, simulator class, log class and the mentor class, and they knew about all the things that occurred a month before I came on board. They insisted everything would be okay and we were doing great out there.

While riding with my husband. He had a few problems understanding the Qualcom. They kept losing his logs that I was with him when they were turned in on time. Trying to talk to his driver manager was almost impossible. We had to keep calling the terminal manager when we needed something.


Out of the blue, they just decided to let him go. Oh they wanted to keep me on and send me out with another trainer, but I wasn't about to get some jack@ss out there who was going to abuse me the way my husband was abused by his first mentor. Plus I had to use our last advance to get this last load back to NC. I had no money to go with another trainer. Our pay didn't even cover all the rent we were behind on. Behind because Swift kept losing his Logs and blaming him for it. I was forced to quit and they sent me a letter saying I quit because of marital, family and personal problems. They couldn't admit that they made it hard for me to continue. I'm sure a trainer is going to pay for all my needs til I get another paycheck.

Yeah, maybe some of you have it good with Swift. They have to have a few of you they can use in their advertisements to make them look like the greatest company to work for.

I always followed rules if I knew what they were. If I had a question. I would try to contact the DM. Boy she hates having to deal with us. I got better answers from drivers in truckstops and if she could take enough time to be there for her drivers. We would be better at our jobs. I don't need alot of help on much. I even figured out most of the Qualcom and other problems my husband was having by myself. Just when I need my company to stand behind me...at least answer the phone or Qualcom. God help all of you that have it so great out there with Swift. I am not really complaining to get others sympathy. I just want them to be careful of the lies and deceptions some of us went through. Only their pets are getting the best. The kiss butts and the snitches. The DMs that let their personal lives ruin ours. She know who she is up there in Eden,N.C.


I have a job interview tomorrow and it's not with a trucking company. I am a truckers daughter. I know the ropes well. I am also an ex delivery driver. I knew the hell we were about to face. I was ready to put up with the sleepless nights, bad weather, irate drivers, scrounging for food, poor parking, missing loved ones, and all the things that normally truck drivers face. I expected a company that really was there for their drivers. Not DMs that didn't care whether we got work or not. I have no commitments here at home anymore. Our kids are grown. I am a firefighter/EMT. I have endured alot of strenuous work out here puuling injured people out of wrecks in pouring rain, and am not afraid to get alittle grease on my hands when coupling and uncoupling trailer or fueling the trucks. I love challenges, not being treated like a dog. Swift doesn't want people like me to step up and tell the truth. I will stand my ground no matter what.

My husband works for Swift Transportation and he is also a trainer for them. After he is done training a student, he gives each of them his cell phone number, so if they do have questions or concerns they can call him. And they do call him. I realize all trainers are not like this but if you had issues with your training you should have spoken to the driver manager or the person in charge of the training. They certainly could have helped you. If you didn't recieve the help you needed from them, you could have always contacted the home office in Phoenix.

You can not blame Swift for firing you if you never made them aware of any problems that you had. Now after the fact, you say they are a bad company, but maybe you should take some of the responsibilty for your situation.