Hello to everyone!

I am waiting on my certified birth certificate to come and I am gone. I am 35 years old and am getting tired of layoffs from factories. Yes I have a wife and 3 children, but my wife and I have talked about this for almost a year now and we have decided that now is the time.

I am going with SWIFT. I have been browsing these forums for a while now and I have read some great advice and some not so great advice. In my opinion and experience in the workplace, a job is what you make of it. There is Bull^%$^ in factories too.

I figure I'll give it an honest try![/list]

 

I wish you all the best LittleBigMan. You're absolutely right, a job is what you make of it. If you go in with a positive attitude that's half the battle.

 

Swift.... everyone goes with them. So good luck. Have you looked around for others though.

I was driving thru DC the other morning and was chatting with a Swift driver and an OO. Anyways The Swift dirver was a woman. So when we were all splitting up at the 695 split she says Sexy Woman In a Fine Truck. I laughed my !@# off anyone else heard this before?

 

why did you choose swift.

 

There are 3 people that live in my town that drive for them and I have had several conversations with them about driving for swift. I guess you could say that i am biased in a way.

I know there are other companies out there but I have given a lot of thought and have done a lot of research about who to go with and I keep coming back to SWIFT.

I know the pay isn't the greatest, but it is just like going to work for a factory. You have to start out at the bottom, so to speak, and work your way up and sometimes that means moving on also. But like I said in my first post, a job is what you make of it and having a good attitude will help. Even factories have their ups and downs.

 

I started out with Swift, and there are definitely worse places to start. Keep your positive attitude, and it will take you through the rough patches you will encounter.

To honestly tell the truth, I would drive for them today for little question if they offered me a run that would fill my current needs. Not the best, but very far from the absolute worst.

Best of luck! :wink:

 

After all the researching you did and you still come up as Swift being the no. 1 choice, all I can say is you are biased and you might get what you asked for, The Bottom.

To many other good companies out there that you could start at their(other trucking co.) bottom and still not be as far down as being with Swift.

Why in heck would you WANT to start at the bottom IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? No hard feelings, but you have a family to consider.

There are to many topics on good/bad companies for a smart individual like yourself to make a poor choice like Swift. You can make a better poor choice if you wanted to.
Just my 2pennies BOL.

 

Good Luck. Keep a positive attitude and you'll be fine. Don't pay much attention to all the negative crap you run into. Try to surround yourself with positive people, learn as much as you can, and keep your nose clean. Yes, there are better companies to start with, but there seems to be a catch to all of them. Some only hire out of certain schools, some only hire out of certain zip codes, some want 3 months OTR time, some want a year, some tell you to move if you want to work for them, etc. There really aren't as many options as some posters realize, for a new guy trying to break in. Everyone has a different situation and not all companies fit their situation. I also plan to go with Swift and will make the best of it. It wasn't my first choice, but they fit for now. If it doesn't work out I will move on after a year, when I have more options.

 

I work for a papermill,manufacturing is going to be history in the US before long.
Trucking is a giant industry and full of opportunities,I know what you feel like the thought of layoffs are always there,they just shut my machine down last year luckily I didn't get laid off.
Thought about getting my license and go to driving trucks myself,tired of all the factory bull%$&^.

 

I have had more jobs than I can count. One factory burned, 2 shutdown, 4 went bankrupt. I can sure pick a loser. I've been downsized with a $2.00 cut in pay. Had an entire department downsized along with my job. I worked as a temp for a long time without insurance or a hope for full time employment.
Driving seems to be the only thing left! I'm not thrilled about going to work for swift but I may have to in order to get some otr experience.