Swift wants veterans making the switch to civilian life to know that trucking can be a great career choice.
We owe our military veterans everything, but many of the roughly 200,000 veterans who transition from active service to civilian careers every year struggle, with more than half remaining unemployed for months after their discharge.
“When I got out, I was a boiler technician,” said Oronde Whitfield, who served two tours with the U.S. Navy. “It was daunting trying to find a job in that field.”
The mission
Maria Macias is currently a Sergeant First Class in the Army Reserves. Her occupational specialty is Army Motor Transport Operators (88 Mike). “I was a cable installer,” she noted. “Some of the places where I applied said ‘you have military experience, but you don’t have civilian experience.’”
Both Whitfield and Macias now work for Swift Transportation, the nation’s largest full-truckload carrier. “I just fell in love with it,” said Whitfield, who detailed his circuitous path to truck driving: “I went from architecture to landscaping to culinary arts and then truck driving. So it took a few stabs at it, but I found it.”
Kort Chase, vice president of recruitment for Swift, isn’t surprised to hear that these veterans tried other fields, then connected most with truck driving. “One challenge for veterans getting back into civilian life is having to create and maintain your own organized life and work schedule. In trucking, everything is very well laid out. And if you want job stability, that’s why you come to trucking.”
A natural transfer
Whitfield agrees that driving a truck is an ideal career for many veterans. For example, in the military, you have to be prepared on a day-to-day basis to follow through on what you need to do. The same goes for truck driving. “You’ve got to be dedicated in the service,” Whitfield said, “and that dedication is what you need out here because you’re by yourself.”
Another aspect of the military is mentorship, and one of the things Whitfield remembers about his early days with Swift is just that. “My Swift Academy training experience was awesome. I remember it to this day,” he said. “They’re the ones who made me fall in love with truck driving,” added Whitfield, who became inspired to begin mentoring other employees at Swift about three years ago. During the process, letting mentees take the reins and develop new skills through that firsthand experience became one of Whitfield’s favorite things about the work. “When they get it, and then they take it in, and you see they learn it, that’s my joy,” he said.
Macias, who has a dedicated account with Swift, echoed Whitfield. She noted several benefits she’s enjoyed while working for the company for the past three years. “I absolutely recommend driving as a career for veterans,” said Macias, adding that the role especially lends itself to introverts, who are more energized by being alone than among company. “We still have to do the same things we do in the military — you’ve got to get the mission done. That mindset is still with us when we come out.”
When driving in the military, Macias explained, there’s a process of going through pre-trip, post trip, and road conditions checkpoints, and this system carried over into civilian trucking, which made Macias’ transition to civilian life easier, she said.
Other skills from the military that Macias transferred to her job as a trucker include safety and taking care of your equipment, as well as harnessing flexibility and resilience to conquer challenges. “Sometimes as a woman, I feel like I can’t do it, but I just have to adapt and overcome and put the mission first.”
Although truck driving is conventionally thought of as a male-oriented industry, Macias, described her working experience as positive. “For any females who are afraid or questioning [truck driving], try it,” she said. “Don’t sit back and be the ‘woulda, shoulda, coulda.’ Try it.”
One of the things that makes Macias feel safer while driving is the number of terminals Swift has. “If they (women) don’t feel safe being out at a truck stop, or at a rest stop, they can always go to a terminal. It’s safe,” she explained.
Macias added that while truck driving isn’t easy — “it takes a mental toll on you” with traffic, deadlines, and planning — it’s made her a stronger person. “Driving has taught me more discipline. Resilience. I’ve got to make sure that on those days that I can’t, I don’t feel that I can do it, whether I’m having a bad day, just put it behind me and keep going.”
Supporting veterans
“Swift loves working with veterans,” Chase noted. “This career demands a great deal of discipline and personal drive, which are qualities that they hold.”
Any veteran can attend one of Swift’s 10 driving academies tuition-free as long as they supply proof of honorable discharge and work for Swift for 12 months after receiving their Class A license (training takes six to nine weeks depending on several factors). Swift will also cover housing costs during the training, and credits veterans with job tenure for their service time up to six years. “You bump way up on the pay scale for your honorable service,” notes Chase. And the company is qualified for the Veterans Administration (VA) apprenticeship program and helps file paperwork for its veteran employees to earn extra income from their G.I. Bills.
Macias and Whitfield have nothing but praise for the company.
“One of the things I like about Swift: You’re in charge of your paycheck,” Whitfield said. “You can be out for months, you can be out two weeks, or depending on the route, you can be home every weekend.”
“I love my terminal, you know?” Macias added. “I feel like family. I’ve had a great experience.”
For Chase, those reactions are what it’s all about. “We want our veterans to know that we don’t just say, ‘yeah, thank you for serving our country.’” he said. “We mean it — we are so grateful that you have served our country.”
To learn more about veteran career opportunities with Swift, visit swifttrans.com/veterans
