Swift
 

Well, I went up to Sacramento and checked out the Truck Driving Academy. They have an office and some people, with a picture of the lot they use and the trucks they train with. What else would I expect? Marble floors and chandeliers? It will do the job and I'll get my CDL. They aren't fancy, but I don't think fancy makes a whole lot of sense in that kind of setting. Functional and able to get the job done will suffice. I'm not a prima dona and don't need frills. They are neat and professional - very utilitarian. If I need comfort, I could stay home.

Also, today I gave my 2 week notice at my current job and have 2 more weeks of work before I quit and go to school. It's a very sobering yet exciting thought to know that I'll be out there with ya'll very shortly.

Best of luck to ya T Storm. I hope Swift offers you everything your looking for.

Good luck and remember they don't pay you for how fast you back into the dock, they pay you for getting to the dock.

Backing seems to be the biggest fear of driving. Take your time and if need be get out of the cab and check!!! If others laugh - screw them its your load and you are responsible. Don't let hubris get you in trouble.

Yea, amazed how quick people forget tho once they back in a place a few times.

I used to pull container boxes, short little buggers, they sucked because you had to be that much more accurate with your adjustments.

Good luck.

TStorm... whatever you do, don't let them talk you into leasing a truck from them. They are FAMOUS for taking a guy who's new to the industry and talking him into DESTROYING his life and finances on a used truck. Do some research on this (just use the search link at the top of the page and type in lease purchase) and you'll see why.

Also- Swift's training program (I mean the behind the wheel/on the road training with at trainer program) is substandard. It's up to YOU to become a competent driver. You might luck out and get a good trainer. Mostly, I think, you'll end up with a guy who has just slightly more experience than YOU do (but KNOWS EVERYTHING). Just be aware of this.

I appreciate the heads up. Not planning on putting money in THEIR pocket, I'm planning on putting money in MINE. I know - with the right outfit, you can make good money being an O/O, but I need to be in the industry a while (well over a few years) before I contemplate an obligation of that magnitude.

If I get a sophomoric trainer, I'll ask for a new one.

As far as the all the bad mouthing of Swift. I read some horror tales by Googleing "Swift Law suits". There were 2 class actions against them. 1) Was stock manipulation back in 2002 and the second were misleading driver contracts. Both were resolved and from all indications. Robert Cunningham is giving %200 to turn around the damage Jerry Moyes inadvertently (?) left behind.

In any case I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. I'm not a prima dona but neither am I a martyr. However, I see both good and bad posts on this forum concerning them and have to come to the conclusion that the reality is somewhere between the two extremes. TO quote another post, "There are no best trucking companies, only the one you're working for."

Friday, in NW Portland, I saw a SWIFT truck & trailer. It was a blue trailer, advertising for drivers...The signs were not in English :?:

I started school today and we're required to fill out an application for Swift. We were told that the recruiter is a 6'1" hot Amazon that wears jeans that you would have to peel off if given the chance. On the business side, we were also told that they have a safety lottery. You get a voucher for every week that you don't get any tickets or have any accidents, which gets thrown into a lottery for $1 million. They also hired 25,000 or so drivers this year and expect to hire about 27,000+ drivers for 2007. At least that's what we were told today.

Good luck T-Storm..........just remember, this isn't the end of your journey, it's the first step Hopefully, you'll get a trainer who is focused on training. I did, but then maybe I was just lucky. I don't recall how many times he texted his message back to the DM........this is a training operation, not a team....my student will drive his allotted hours under my observation and when his hours are up, or I feel he/she is getting fatigued, we'll shut down for the night, so if you've promised a delivery date that won't fit into the way I run my training, you can either call the customer and tell them when it will get there, or you can find another trainer.

It wasn't until the last week we actually started running a team operation and that was simply to get me ready for solo.........he plainly stated, I want you to get used to driving late at night and early in the morning, cause there will be times you'll need to. The last week, we literally drove rotating shifts of 10 on 10 off............I'll be honest with you I was more than ready to take a few days off at the end of the week......but, I had to thank him a few months later when our paths crossed down in Laredo.......I had a much better outlook when I took off by myself, than if he had not pushed me the last week.

If you get a trainer who is purely interested only in the fact that he's got another log book, call you coordinator and request another trainer. I would suggest that you push your paper work on you trainer........I'm talking about the weekly training items you're suppose to experience during the week and get his sign off on..........the first day in the truck, if he doesn't bring it up, then you need to........tell him you'll be keeping up with it on a daily basis and at the end of the week you'll expect to go over it with him and get his sign off if he judges that you have successfully completed each and every item.

Be proactive......it's your training period, not his. It's the foundation of your career, not his, get everything you're paying for.... because you are paying for it in the most basic definition..........you're getting a lousy weekly pay check based on whatever week you're in training. Get the most of it............you should be backing that rig up whenever it needs backing, I don't care if your trainer enters the yard, it should be you that bumps the dock. My trainer flat out told me, I'd be bumping each and every dock for the next 4 weeks, I'd be parking at every TS we stopped at............a couple of days when we had the time, he'd find some large parking lot and set up cones and have me practice different situations. Each time I successfully achieved whatever goal he set out there, he'd tighten it up a bit and we'd do it all over again.

You can be successful in this business if you're willing to put in the effort. Don't over look the little things........things like paper work.......you're shift isn't over until your log is up to date and the next day's log is started .....you should all ready know what time you're going to plan to get started, so you why wait ............the next morning, all you have to do is drop your line down to line 4 for your PT, then to line 3 and you're off. I never really consider this a big thing, until, the first morning I pulled on the road, and not 10 miles, we hit an open weight station that directed me around back and instructed me to bring my papers in............I grabbed my nice little aluminum clipboard box I used to use on construction sites, tossed in the BOL, grabbed my permit binder and walked right in.......pulled out my log and asked him for a second to bring it up to date showing my current situation being on line 4...........pulled out my straight edge, drew my line for 15 minutes on line 3 and dropped a line down to line 4..........slide it all over to him. He just looked at me, glanced at my log, flipped through the permit binder and said looks like you have it all in order..............have a safe day driver. Little did he know, my legs felt like rubber.............I don't care who you are, the first time you get called in, you're nervous. When I got back in the truck, my trainer just had this smirk on his face and said......see that's why I make you have your stuff together, you look professional, you act professional, you're prepared like a professional, you get treated like a professional 9 times out of 10...........remember that.

Anyway, best of luck to you T.........I wish you everything you're willing to earn........be safe.

Thank for the encouragement. As I get closer, I'm excited but also doing a "heart-check". There was a driver renting a car today at Enterprise and I asked him if there were one piece of advice he'd give a rookie driver and he said - "Make sure your hearts in it".

My heart is in it. I did Basic training in the army in the dead of winter at Ft. Leonardwood Missouri and I made it through with flying colors. I'm figuring the 6 weeks of my OTR training is another "Boot Camp" and I for one plan on taking it one day at a time to completion, then onward and upward.

I've also been told by plenty of drivers that I've met that the hardest part of the test is the pretrip - so tomorrow, since I have the day off - I'm going to spend the day at Starbucks and break down the components into something that is logical, such as "Starts the Truck", "Stops the truck", "Keeps the truck going", "Keeps the combo together", "Keeps the truck safe in case it quits", so instead of 100 points to remember, I now only have 5 to remember. Am I missing something? - I'll find out when I study tomorrow and take notes. Then I will have done it at least twice before I go to school and do it again for the third time. I've read the CDL once already. (I will be reading it again before I go, all pertaining to the CDL - I'm not going for any additional endorsements until after I've ascertained my basic CDL. I do not want to convolute my focus with anything other than getting in the door. I still have time afterwards to add my endorsements.) Next read through I'll be taking notes and highlighting the pertinent information and organizing the pretrip into negligible bites before I go. Then I'll repeat that a third time, while I'm in school.

I've passed the California Real Estate Exam and the books were much thicker with a lot more details. I also passed my AIT first time, so I know I will be able to do this also if I dedicate myself to it.

T.....I think you'll find the exam isn't all that hard, not nearly as hard as the real estate exam. Know your brake functions (kick-in and dropout levels, the different systems i.e. service, parking and emergency, and the maintenance), know your haz mat rules, general rules and you'll do fine. It's really little more than a test to see if the person knows how to read and comprehend the matter................I know people who have read the CDL book once and passed with flying colors who never stepped inside a truck before..........your PT is really nothing more than going through the components over and over and over.........the main thing is to do it the same way every time, let each area lead you to the next section..........it's really just rote memorization. Your schooling will prepare you for the road and skills test.

I think what the other driver was telling you when he said "Make sure your heart's in it," is simply that driving is like nothing you've ever done before. It's not so much a job as it is a way of life, kinda like ranching, farming or raising thorough breds. It's 24/7/365 days a year with a few breaks thrown in. When you're out on the road, your in your own world, many times cut off from family, in some place you don't know, going to some drop you'd never even want to know where it's at in any other life, headed to some other place where it's all the same again...........one TS starts looking like every other TS, one meal starts tasting like the last one you had and every highway starts looking the same........trees are usually the only difference other than topo...........if you're not careful you will find yourself slipping into what I call the road zone...........you start functioning merely out of repetitive responses and that's when you fall into the danger zone..............so what's the answer? You exercises routines that keep you out of the zone..........you find things that keep your mind focused, sharp and rested. I used to keep a couple of camp chairs with me. Every chance I got, I'd set them up and get away from the truck.....if nothing else, I'd sit and watch the sun rise or set and just meditate on the world around me................once, I had a visitor, a doe ease out of the woods and eventually shared a granola bar with me....talk about a recharge............it helps to keep things in perspective...........

You'll find your niche..........just keep in mind when you're out on the road that the job last in 14 hours segments..........it's up to you to make the other 10 hours your rejuvenation process.

Thanks for helping me keep things in perspective. I'm a workaholic and once I get to a job, ANY job, I work hard and forget to smell the roses. If you've followed my posts a little, you may notice that I was a "stay-at-home" dad for 3 years. The reason? I got sick from nonstop work work work for the better part of 12 years. I get caught up in what I'm doing til I drop.

I see a lot of complaints about the HOS rules, but for me it will force me to reset ...and smell the roses. I hate being idle though. I went stir crazy for 3 years but when my wife (and my physical health) slapped that OOS stamp on my forehead, I was forced to.

I strongly agree with this point!!

I talked to Swift before I went through the CDL mill, and was thoroughly unimpressed with their operation. While I was attending the CDL mill, a Swift recruiter came out to talk to us, and spent a considerable amount of time talking about how wealthy Jerry Moyes was, and how many jets he owned.

At the time, they were offering 22 CPM, and promised an average of 2200 miles per week in a truck that was governed at 62MPH.

GEE!! The thought of making Jerry Moyes richer seemed like a driver's dream!! :P