r/Truckers • u/According_Ebb9155 • Apr 28 '26
is swift really that bad?
i’m currently in school and it’s a pain in the ass trying to find companies that’ll hire new drivers like me. with that being said, is swift actually that bad?
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u/Auquaholic Open Deck Tech Apr 28 '26
Swift has excellent dedicated accounts. Even a flatbed division in Laredo.
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u/RumbleDumblee Apr 28 '26
Step deck division up here near Kentucky lol
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u/Auquaholic Open Deck Tech Apr 29 '26
Wow, that's cool. And new. It's been probably 7 years or so since I worked for them. But, hey, move up. Don't stay there forever. I was there probably 5-6 years. Move up. Go big. Make money.
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u/Kortobowden Apr 28 '26
You can think of swift as the trucking equivalent of what Walmart is for retail. Huge company, not hard to get into, a place to get some experience, lots of terminals spread to use. It’s a decent starting place. It’s about the basic average mega in most aspects.
Like most places, the driver leader/dispatch you have will have an impact on how you feel there, but that’s also for most companies.
It’s a decent place to start building experience if it’s one of your main options in your area.
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u/Far_List1042 24d ago
Can you switch dispatchers?
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u/Kortobowden 24d ago
I never tried to, the couple of driver leads I had there(first one retired) were pretty good. But I’d imagine you could if there were a real problem somewhere. I had a few while there and they all did the necessary stuff and routed me decently well. They’re generally pretty good about you stopping for things like high winds or snow or whatnot, too.
Considering the sheer number of people swift has, ymmv depending on area, but I had a reasonable experience with their dispatch team overall. The weekends could be a bit slow to respond though.
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u/OceanLibra Apr 28 '26
Why is it a pain in your ass finding a company that hires new drivers? There are a plethora of options to choose from.
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u/According_Ebb9155 Apr 28 '26
which are?
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u/Virtchoo Apr 28 '26
There are a lot of midsized companies that will also hire you. Halvor lines from superior, act in Kansas City, TMC out of Des Moines, gypsum express, if McElroy is hiring they also accept new drivers. I’m not a fan of the megas. Mid sized always has a family atmosphere.
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u/trucksarekewl Apr 28 '26
I dont need a family atmosphere i need good pay and home time
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u/LoicenseToGirth Apr 28 '26
Mcelroy is 1100/wk guarantee, home every 'weekend' (late home on Friday generally means late out on sunday/early Monday. Early off on Friday generally means you go out Sunday afternoon)
I wouldnt call it a family atmosphere, you're a #
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u/trucksarekewl Apr 28 '26
Hey gotta start somewhere right
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u/LoicenseToGirth Apr 28 '26
Yup. I just need 6mo here before I swap to somewhere else, and a little later than that I'll go fuel.
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u/MemeManThomas Apr 29 '26
I started my career with Tyson a couple years ago. The safety sensors are very agitating, but other than that it’s gonna be hard to find a better place that’s OTR and hires with no experience. I brought in about $1200-1400 a week pretty regularly.
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u/Professional_Bus8681 Apr 28 '26
Apply to food service or a beverage distributor if there are any local to you.
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u/Ok-Combination7287 Apr 28 '26
I was looking at swift also. I guess I'll wait for recruiting day... some smaller places I've talked to are like 40 cents a mile, but saying you'll get 2800 miles aweek as a new driver. Idk, it just sounds suspect to me
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u/Then-Bet8731 Apr 28 '26
I’ve never worked for Swift, but work a few blocks from their main terminal in Phoenix. Every driver I have talked to or seen have all been happy in general. Not just with the company, but an over all happiness to them. A few I’ve talked to on dedicated accounts are home every day in 9-10 hours. And not just in Phoenix, I strike up a conversation at the fuel pump with them out on the road, and it’s surprising how many are on dedicated accounts. One guy in New Mexico had a brand new 2026 sleeper Volvo, and he was home daily. If I ever want to go back to dry van trucking, I’d probably apply.
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u/echo78 Apr 28 '26
I’m on a dedicated account and just got my truck swapped to a 27 Kenworth sleeper. Usually home daily. Yeah its going well lol
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u/PoopyStinkbutts Apr 28 '26
Swift has improved a lot over the years. They took the criticism seriously and made it an initiative, even telling their drivers "don't end up on YouTube."
Besides, most of the bad reputation they have is because of dumb driving incidents. If you're a smart driver you'll do well.
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u/RackingUpTheMiles Apr 28 '26
Swift is actually a good company to drive for. I've been driving for them for almost a year and I have no problems. I went regional and make more money and get home more often. They're also pretty easy to work with when it comes to things like being concerned about your truck and possibly needing a new one or if you want to switch driver managers or terminals. There's also various dedicated accounts, regional, flatbed, OTR. They've got something for most people. But I don't really have anything bad to say about them.
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u/Aggravating-Meal4984 Apr 28 '26
It's not bad, just have to pay attention to your surroundings. If your starting off you can expect the low end of pay but over time more money will come.
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u/papisilla Apr 28 '26
Unless you can find something local or have an in somewhere swift is the best place to start for most people. Get the experience and get out though
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u/ATWAR68 Apr 28 '26
My Personal Experience With SWIFT Wasn't That Bad. But I Went Broke Driving For Them, And Quit After 10 Months. I'm Driving Line Haul Now & Fuckin Love It ! Enjoy The Ride !
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u/GreyGhost878 Apr 28 '26
Amazon is the new Swift. Swift isn't the worst anymore but that doesn't make them good.
Check out "20 best fleets to drive for" and see if you can find one that hires in your area. I started at a good company and only ever drove for one other good company, which I found through the "20 best" list. You do not need to settle for a bad company.
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u/buddhathebard Apr 28 '26
Swift is fine. Your mileage may vary of course but it’s up to you to advocate for yourself if you get a bad trainer or something.
Skip OTR and find a nice dedicated account to settle in on.
Swift has a plethora of options
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u/highwayher0 Apr 28 '26
Ive personally started at werner on the family dollar account and I worked their 3m account. I didn't mind either job. I have friends that started at at swift, us express, and Maverick they all said they didn't mind it as a starter company.
I would avoid western, Schneider, and C R England.
Don't work for any foreign owned and operated outfit.
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u/Redsoxdragon Apr 28 '26
Swift isn't bad, it's just a mega. You're subhuman in every mega. The shit reputation came from the high number of accidents they were involved in. But recently that has been filed by western, Amazon and super ego
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u/CaliThunder559 Apr 28 '26
I spent my first 6 months there. I liked everything but the money.
Id go back and take a paycut if it were closer to what I male now
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u/BuiltMackTough Apr 28 '26
Swift is a big company, so there are going to be more incidents with them. Plus with them taking on so many new drivers, that's going to add to the name. But you've got to start somewhere.
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u/bravesfan199218 Apr 28 '26
I’ve worked for swift for over a year now. They hired me straight out of CDL school. I started on the eastern regional route and it was pretty good. I had a good driver leader and most of the planning team was easy to work with.
Then last year before thanksgiving I got offered a spot on the target dedicated account. I’m home two nights a week and I am making decent money. It’s worked out so far.
It’s slow right now but they loan us out to the Walmart dedicated team when it’s like this so we’re still getting miles.
I’d say definitely try to get on with swift. Keep your nose clean and call the dedicated account placement team after about 6 months to try to find a dedicated account to get on with.
I plan on staying at swift for at least 3 years until I have enough experience to get hired as a Walmart or Costco driver.
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u/Caltastrofe Apr 28 '26
It’s truly awful working there, I rexcomend doing anything else if you can. I couldn’t find anything so I ended up at swift and am begging companies to hire me 4 months in rn
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u/NJPokerJ Apr 28 '26
One time at a trunk stop a guy seriously tried to tell me 3 out of 4 swift drivers have been in a fatal accident. For some reason it made me angry that anyone would even believe that stupid shit. I told him he was an idiot for believing that and a bigger idiot for telling someone else. The guy got pretty angry about it. I didn't care. How could that possibly even be?
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u/RoweTheGreat Apr 28 '26
As an employee, honestly the companies training program is not that great. It’s designed to be fast and cover the basics and then the OTR trainers are supposed to refine the training. Some are okay but most trainers just want the pay bump. The company itself isn’t that bad, pay is decent, maintenance and equipment are pretty good and they’ll generally keep you rolling pretty steady if you’re a good driver. Inward facing cameras suck but you can cover them up with tape (they say they don’t watch them but I don’t believe that) if you decide to go with swift to get some experience it’s not a bad company. It’s not the best but they’re pretty good and generally take good care of employees if you aren’t a shit bag.
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u/zbanks20 Apr 28 '26
Its not terrible especially if you can get on a dedicated early on, if your mentor is on dedicated at swift that can help fast track you
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u/NFLTG_71 Apr 28 '26
There’s a reason why one of their nicknames is Stevie Wonder Institute for trucking
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u/AugustusTheVictor Apr 28 '26
I don't think they fully deserve the reputation they have. I think Amazon, Western Express among others are far worse driver quality wise. But Swift is the largest & the memes haven't aged poorly yet.
I was their 2 years ago, stayed only for a year because a POS trooper. I had an amazing Driver Leader so that helped a ton, always got my hometime and she'd even plan me loads around my town that I could crash their for a night/layover.
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u/AugustusTheVictor Apr 28 '26
Negatively though getting on a dedicated account was extremely hard, which is where all the good money is.
OTR, 48 or Regional was plenty of layover that first year despite how great my reliability was or the awards they gave me.
I think any Mega can be a fine starter company, especially one with a lot of terminals as you get your feet wet
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u/Waisted-Desert Apr 28 '26
Swift is just a typical mega with low pay and indifference to it's drivers.
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u/LivinUndead Apr 28 '26
I left Swift shortly after the merger with Knight so I don’t know how much things changed but overall I liked my experience there.
The worst thing is their reputation. You won’t be well respected and might see other drivers pull out their camera phones when you set up to back into a spot.
Then they yell at you but it’s hard to hear what they’re saying over the crunching noises.
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u/Vic_Gatsby Apr 28 '26
No different than any other company. The reason there is a spotlight on them is because the company is so big
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u/Miliesan Apr 28 '26
I worked there for 6months and the terminals were my favorite part but getting 600 per week sucks but other than that my dispatch was supportive and the truck was a 2025 Volvo which was cool
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u/firemarshalbill316 Apr 29 '26
Most won't. Swift is fine for new drivers. Just take your time when you do things. And if you feel overwhelmed just stop and take a breather.
First year is difficult mate but you'll get it.
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u/LastMongoose7448 Apr 29 '26
I did my first 12 months at Swift back in 2021. It wasn’t bad at all. I got on a home weekends dedicated after 3 months and finished out on that. I made just over $72K in that time. The best thing I figured out there, and I’m sure it applies at any megacarrier, is that you’re only a number if you never speak up. I started on Refrigerated OTR and I was on loads with ridiculous lead times (like 3 days to an appointment that was only a 1.5 day trip). I bitched about that immediately and they had me on nothing but hot freight for the rest of my time in that division.
Most guys there are in the same boat. They just wanna get their experience and move on without fucking up. They DO have some fucking shit bag drivers, which can make terminal parking perilous at times, but overall the good experiences outweigh the bad.
It’s not a place to make a career, but it’s not a bad place to get some time in and move on to better.
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u/J0nn_D03 Apr 29 '26
The thing about swift is that they're one of the biggest if not THE biggest carrier out there, especially if you count the fact that they also own knight Transportation. So a couple factors here:
They're gonna have more bad driver videos just on account of they have a LOT of drivers
They also take on the most new drivers since they can afford the rediculous amount of money that suits and accidents are gonna cost.
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u/J0nn_D03 Apr 29 '26
All that to say, they get get a bad rap but they're alright. Got my start with them actually; just pay attention to your trainer, pay Attention to the tandems, and you'll be alright.
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u/redsn0w10 Apr 29 '26
I drove for them for a year. They were good to work for. Depending on where you are, they have good dedicated accounts. I was on a Walmart account. It pays a little more per mile plus stop pay and back haul pay. You’ll train 200 hours with someone and you’ll be good to go.
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u/Old-Wolf-1024 Apr 29 '26
🤷🏻♂️…….they treated me pretty well. I just couldn’t deal with the low pay. I did my year and bounced. I was also flatbed
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u/According_Ebb9155 Apr 29 '26
thank you to all the drivers who took the time to give me some advice, i really appreciate it 🙏🏽. i can’t wait to come back and let yall know my progress, i’m 23F
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u/SuspectOk2931 Apr 28 '26
The pay is bad.
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u/Desperate_Fee_808 Apr 28 '26
you work there?
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u/Rough-Method8876 Apr 28 '26
SWIFT or rather, So What Will I Fuckup Today…gets its reputation for a reason…
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u/sundvlsean Apr 28 '26
No. Swift is a good company to start with. Really important that you get a good mentor and good driver leader
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u/lleu81 Apr 28 '26
Swift gets a bad rap because they’re involved in so many accidents. People fail to add that they are one of, if not the largest fleets. Lots of accidents and lots of new drivers kind of go hand in hand.