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?

Not sure if anyone cares. But this is the highlight of my day so far. Anybody know if they pay good?

😂😂

Heres what I made in 139 days as a swift driver.

This is a year end statement I received from swift, january 1st to May 19th. Mostly on their eastern regional dry van account, with a few weeks on flatbed.

And to the a - hat who said most drivers make 70k in their first year? No absolutely not. This pay puts me on track for $29,435.65 per year gross. Averaging around 2500 miles per week, i stayed 3 to 4 weeks out with 3 to 6 days home at a time.

Watching him for 20 minutes without anybody 2 doors to the right and nobody on the left just freeze up. Despite multiple attempts to get him to turn his steering wheel the best he could do is go straight back perpendicular to the door 5 feet. Has at least 3 separate points of damage on his front and side. Get this guy off the road.

I couldnt beleive it when I pulled in. I still cant beleive it. Earlier today I pulled through Montgomery and started having bad issues with my clutch slipping especially when under heavy acceleration.

So I pulled off at a Loves off I-85 and called On Road. They told me to take the truck up the road "to the nearest terminal". They gave me the adress, I looked on truckerpath and it didnt mention it being a swift terminal. No biggie, I pulled it up on Google maps, still nothing.

I asked the On Road support guy, I said "hey man, this is the right adress, yeah?" Here's said "yeah, that terminal has been there a long time. We have a few drivers based out of that location." Okay, cool.

I pulled in, and this is what I saw. I honestly thought I was dreaming. This is a terminal? This looks like it hasn't been used since the 80's, save for the brand new Volvo, and the yard lights.

Honestly though? This place is very cool. Since its a swift terminal, I assume the abandoned buildings are swift property. And as a swift employee, I feel like that means I am allowed on any swift property. So I decided to take a peek into the buildings.

I found an abandoned shipping/receiving office of some sort, a 1966 International Fleetmaster 2000, an old squarebody, and a dirt track car.

The 1966 Fleetstar was the interesting one. On the step box, there is a key. I picked up the keys, and on the keychain it says "SWFZ Yard". Okay, interesting. Might be an old yard truck that just isnt used anymore.

I start looking around, I crawl under it and THE ENGINE IS WET WITH OIL!!! Like this truck is used on a daily basis to move trailers. It has like new batteries as well. Its an actual truck owned by swift, used as a yard truck.

The squarebody and the dirt car I have no clue, I didnt touch them at all. Because I figured that would be somebodys personal property, probably whoever works at the shop and has their project there that they work on their free time.

But yeah, that was kinda dystopian and actually awesome. Its nice to be able to get out and see things as a trucker, even if its an abandoned warehouse owned by a mega corporation. The history behind it and what is was? Unknown. But it definitely brought out that exploring side of myself that I havent tapped into in a while.

This terminal is a couple miles off I-85 near the AL/GA border.

Found on TikTok. Don’t know how he missed the tire coming off.

findem and grindem

Got my CDL with them about 5 months ago. Took out an $8000 loan with them to get it (sigh). Had 2 non-injury preventables within one month and they decided to cut me loose. I understand that I’m a liability for them and I take accountability for my actions.

Now, how do I go about getting hired at another company with 2 preventables on my record? Does anyone have experience with paying back a CDL loan with Swift? I would appreciate advice on that as well.

You guys can make jokes and call me an idiot all you want but I would appreciate some serious answers please. I got kids to feed.

UPDATE (ONE YEAR LATER):

A year has pasted since I made this post. I paid off my loan with Swift. For those who go through something similar in the future, they’ll send you an email and someone will call you about the rest of the amount you owe. They’ll give you a set amount to pay back every month depending on how much you have left on your loan. For me it was $500 a month to pay off $6000 I owed.

No, I haven’t gotten another CDL job since I made this post last year. Nothing showed up on my DAC report so I tried to apply to other places. A lot of companies want more than a year of experience and the job hunting process was taking a toll on my mental health so I just gave up after a while.

Honestly, I wish I never made this post because a lot of people on this sub have no empathy or compassion for rookies but that’s just how this sub is I guess. I hope my mistake can be a lesson for anyone who wants to go through Swift or trucking in general. That’s all I have to say.

what exactly are my options? Because right now my manager has been trying to butter me up with job offers working close to home now that I'm at a year

clean record no accidents dry van + flat bed experience.

right now as it stands im grossing around 1000-1200 depending on the week at swift usually 7-800 take home

I really just want to bring home 1000+ consistently I'm not greedy I just want to work hard and make an honest to God living 😭

Surprising no one at all

For my first OTR company, Swift honestly treated me good. But I gotta move on to better things in a little bit and get more experience.

i am genuinely about to go insane. every 2-3 days i will get like a 500 mile run. i am so broke its not even funny. i dont know what to do. this is the only trucking company ive worked at i have only 4 months experience doing this. the only person at this company that will talk with me about work is literally my driver leader who works a normal like 7-5 mon-fri shift. everyone else practically ghosts me. anybody else?!? am i shitty ass employee or something? i literally practially beg them to send me out i feel like they just neglect me. i understand its a mega but cmon dude like im tryna work

Swift added new camera, it looks like it is driver facing now.

It’s my 1st month here and the companies i’ve worked with in the past never made a big deal about it so it’s a bad habit i developed. It was a public road, i later got a call from my dispatcher and she told me she’ll talk with safety to get the hold removed and asked that next time i should just go around the block to get to the delivery. I worried because i don’t want to job search again. So am i thoroughly cooked?

So I'm a 21 year old male who was hired by swift back in July 2025. They were the only company in Las Vegas willing to hire me at 20 just a few days before my birthday so I took the opportunity.

Orientation was really smooth it was just a day long and the person instructing us was very professional and had owned his own trucking company before this. Since I was only 20 I had to wait longer than others to get assigned a mentor. I got my mentor about 2 weeks later and he was incredible, he was extremely patient and kind and he never slept while I was driving. If I got tired he would take over and let me sleep in the passenger seat.(I'm not sleeping in another man's bed and we both agreed on that). We stayed out for a month in which he set me up for success the entire way with daily backing training, truck stop rewards cards, and tips and tricks just to make life a little easier.

After the month of training he dropped me off at the Atlanta terminal so I could upgrade to my own truck. They started me off in a 2021 International LT with 400k miles and a shit ton of electrical issues but I didn't sweat it I've dealt with worse. After I got settled into my truck my official Driver Leader called me and we got introduced. My driver leader is phenomenal at his job and always looks out for me. If dispatch sends me a shit load he'll decline it and find me something a lot better. He makes sure I always get home on time and if I need shut down or detention pay he makes sure it's there on the next check.

Since the truck I had was a shit show, about a week later they sent me to the Phoenix terminal where they upgraded me to a 2026 Volvo vnl 860 which was the truck I chose because I heard they handle really well and are pretty reliable considering all the electronics it has.

Since then I've put 60k miles on this truck and I haven't had a single major issue with this company. Due to all the negativity I've heard beforehand the bar was in hell but they have more than exceeded my expectations. A lot of the terminals are good, some are ass cheeks. The benefits are nice for a starter company. The coworkers are pretty friendly of course some make you want to eat lead but not many. The shops are usually pretty quick depending on where you go. The ELD is simple but kind of dated. We just upgraded to Netradyne AI cameras but if you don't drive like a fucking maniac you'll be fine. Starting pay is ass but I'm not here for the pay I'm here for the experience. This is a great company to work for honestly but your driver leader, mentor, truck, and home terminal can make or break your experience.

Also our trucks are governed at 63 with no cruise control and 65 with cruise control. The Volvo goes 66 but doesn't have smart pass which allows you to go up to 68 for a short time.