Thanks for the update, best of luck. Congrats on getting to this point and on doing well in your road test.

103?!?! sweet jesus!

I heard about how huge those classes are in TN. I went to SWIFT's school in Kansas City. My class was REALLY small. We started off with 23 people and ended with 9. Anyhoooo.... congrats and good luck.

Ok, checking in here from swift academy in Richmond, i am in my 3rd week, today was my 3rd day on the road, 9 am, i just stopped at a red light, and a second later, thump, and a small jolt, "what the hell was that", my instructor goes, i dunno, then there is a guy on the side of the road pointing at my trailer, so i put on the 4ways, we get out to look, a guy in a honda with his 2 small kids decided to use my DOT bumper as his brakes, his car was totalled. Here i am, in school, on my permit, and an accident. Not how i wanted to learn accident procedure, but ultimately HE got a ticket, and no fault to me. 3 days learning and i get my first non preventable. Oh, and down shifting is a pain in the .... but i am getting there.

Glad no one was hurt. Better to get that accident out of the way now Matcat, so you are good for a few years now.

WHoooooo Hooooooo! orientation is over!!!

Matcat - I feel your pain. While yours was not of your doing, be prepared to be "that guy" for quite a while!

On thursday of orientation it was mostly paperwork and videos. NOTHING exciting. Yesterday was more videos and waiting around to actually get our CDL. Finally everyhting is done. And here's where it gets interesting.

People out of the memphis terminal ALL got menotrs right away. 27 of them (or so). The others all get bussed home, and given co-oridinators to contact to set-up their mentor pairings.

Then there is me ( and 7 others) who decided to go Flatbed. This is a little different. We got bussed back to Millington (where the school is) to go through flatbed training on Monday and Tuesday. We get pain $50. a day for this training, and we will have to change our home terminal as i was originally out of atlanta which is not a Flatbed terminal, so now i go to Greer SC.

I am kinda excited about going flatbed, even though everyone thinks i'm crazy. We'll see how it goes.

Team linehaul (48 states) flatbed..... hopefully this will help on the mileage side of things. Especially when we add HAZMAT. So from this point on, my experience will prob. differ from van drivers.

This time we're being treated a little nicer here at the hotel. We get the continental breakfast. Lunch on monday and tuesday. Nicer rooms, only 2 people to a room.
i was really surprised we got lunch weds thurs and friday AND breakfast on friday (at orientation) it was pretty good food too!

I'll check in again monday night b=guys. I'm gonna watch some nascar and football over the weekend and just chill out.

Hey Guys. We started flatbed training today, nothng really hard or complicated. We're just learning the tie down methods and what deviced to use when. We did get a footlong sub combo of our choosing for lunch today. Which was realy cool. Spent some time on the range, and a bunch in the class room. Tomorrow we will be back in the classroom going over everything and taking our test.

I did get my driver code today. I also found out i will be based out of the Greer SC terminal. Other info i found out: We get a pair of steel toe work boots (@ 1/2 price) from the company. Hardhat, saftey goggles and all tie downs materials paid for by the company.

We are getting paid $100 for the 2 days of training. Which we wont be getting till our first or second check, but hey extra money is extra money no matter how you cut it!

Havent been told anything about a mentor yet though. We should get some info tomorrow, but as it stands right now i dont know whether i'm going home or to meet a mentor yet.

I'll check in as soon as i know.

Southernpride:
Good luck and keep us informed. I am also thinking of their flatbed division.
Any ideas yet as to the equipment, or details on what you will primarily might be hauling. Also do they have a "comfort zone" or is flatbed strickly 48.
Best of luck.

Nope they have "comfort zones" and lots of coils., chasis, depending on what terminal you're out of. We also will be moving Bus and truck chassis, trailers and dodge sprinters.

From what i've been told:
Unfinished goods from - Gary, IN
Finished goods - From Greer SC.
Pheonix - a mixture.

I am running team, so 48 states doesnt seem so bad to me.

Thanks for the question... keep-em coming!

Finished flatbed class and scored a 100 on the test today. I leave tonight for Greer, SC where my mentor is waiting for me!

Finally, lets get some seat time!

I am packing now, as we leave here in like 30 mins.

Will check in soon guys. Hopefully my mentor is an understanding person, because i've realised i went nutso and brought WAY too much stuff with me!

Later.

Keep up the posts. You guys going through this and posting here are providing good info for those of us thinking about taking the plunge.

I am hearing good about crete and bad about schneider and swift as far the schooling. But I am a self teacher. The less time in school and the more on the road the better. WHich makes swift look good to me.

We can have the discussion about how long school should be but please let's not. In my team of computer professionals all the good ones were self taugh. I believe in getting your feet wet to learn the basics in a school environment. Then figure the rest out on your own.

To each his own.

respects,
Dennis in SE PA

I graduated Swift Acedemy of Richmond Tuesday, 9 of us came up to lancaster PA to do our DMV tests. I failed the 45 but passed the rest with flying colors. so today i go back to do the 45 today at DMV then orientation Monday.

Keep us up to date with your progress matcat. If you get near the Reading, PA area and would care to educate me about your experiences I would be happy to buy your lunch. :) I believe the PA drivers for Swift all go to Richmond, is this correct?
My email address should be in my profile.

Southernpride:[/b]

Drive safe. Please keep us informed as to how you are doing and what your learning.
Good luck[/b]

yes if you hold a PA, NC, or VA license you go to Richmond. I passed the alley dock and got my CDL today. Now I am sitting in Wilkes Barre PA bus stop until Sunday when I catch a bus to orientation. They send you home for a few days after you get your CDL, but I gave up my appartment, so now I have to chill at the bus stop for 3 days :(

Hey Guys....

I've been lazy lately here. I've been hanging around the hotel since wed. afternoon.... I got word this morning that my mentor is here and i will be getting on the truck this afternoon. FINALLY!!!! I've been waiting for this since day one it seems. I did get a little upset yesterday because people that arrived after me got mentors before me. BUT... my coordinator was trying to get me a flatbed mentor instead of van. Either way i dont care, cause i'll have to be with a flatbed mentor at one point for at least 2 weeks.

My mentor is a van driver, so i'll deffinatley have 2 mentors.... which to me is a good thing..... more knowledge to harvest!

I'll check in again soon...

Matcat- Congrats!!!!! See ya on the road brother.

i will be in reading later today on layover on my way to jonestown for orientation

I am in Jonestown, PA now for orientation. I will post to let all know how it is.

Southernpride

Hey you've been gone 3 days! What working? LOL> Good for you.
Very interested how you're doing and everything about the flatbed division. Especially, about what percentage of the loads are tarped? And what is the current tarp pay?
I'm in Texas, so they have the "comfort zones," and was hoping to stay in the zone covering TX to CA. But not sure how much flatbed freight they would have running those directions. Any info you hear please pass on.
OK. Get back to work!
Good luck!

WELL !!!! here's a TWIST..... sorry i didnt check in earlier, there would have too many 4 letter words for this post to make any sese.

On Friday morning, i was leaving the hotel to go meet my mentor, I get to the front desk to check out, at which point i'm told i'm not checking out but staying through the weekend. I tell the guy there is a mistake and he tells me to call my co-ordinator.... so i'm thinking, ok no big deal just a mix up..... WRONG. The mentor they assigned me was a non-smoker who does not take smokers even if they smoke off the truck, this i understand, but now i'm pretty hot. Then i get told i have to wait untill monday. OR i can take a 12 hour bus to go home (Greenville, SC to Savannah, GA) thats only a 4 hour trip. I was pissed.

So i got permission (and a PO#) and rented a car and went home for the weekend. Now the car had to be back today (monday) so i went ahead and came up here.... NO MENTOR! So i have to wait untill tomorrow..... EVERYONE i was with, has already got their mentor. I'm taking a good long hard look at CRST at this point. SWIFT is really pissing me off. I'm trying to do "the right" thing, but it's not going so well.....

SO.... BACK to square one... waiting in a hotel room.....for a mentor.

Gordo: From what i've been told there is no such thing as comfort zones in flatbed Div. Not sure how true that is... we'll see. Also from what i've been told, tarp pay is 25 per load, and about 50% of loads are tarped. The terminal you'd be running out of would be Pheonix, ans there is another poster on here that runs flatbed for swift out of pheonix. I was reading his posts.....

I'll check in again later.... hopefully i get a mentor tomorrow.... Right now it's back to the Colts and Jags game.... (like the Jags ever stood a chance?!?!?!) oh well.

Just hang in there and put up with it. I know it sucks but you'll just end up doing the whole thing all over again. I'm sure you will get your trainer soon and before long you'll be on your own and won't look back.

I may be getting a mentor today.... If this guy doesnt work out, it'll be Thursday... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..............

Hang in there! Our orientation has 35, they expect 9 to 10 mentors to be ready tomorrow! Everyone that does NOT get one is bussed home to wait up to 2 weeks, I am going to tell them tomorrow if I dont get one right off the bat that I want them to ship me off to a terminal, city, whatever that DOES have one. I have been talking to a lot of mentors that pop into the Jonestown terminal, stay at this motel, etc, and they all say the same thing, tell the coordinator you want a mentor NOW and you will go WHEREVER you have to go to get one, and they will bus you out to a different terminal or ride along in a truck with someone heading towards a terminal with one if one is sitting there. At any rate, I got to get my bags ready for tomorrow, everyone has to PACK UP and bring their bags to orientation tomorrow to either go with mentor or go home, and I got to get up early, and its late! Good luck, stick it out, and BTW there is a guy here that worked for CRST, BAD IDEA.

Woohoo! Finished Orientation, and got assigned a mentor right away. I leave out with my mentor tomorrow. I'm excited and ready to get started!!!

If you're already feeling iffy about Swift... just wait until you are solo.

Cut your losses now and go with TMC.

Why, did you work for TMC before or is it just hearsay?

I'm working for them now, and I know 2 of their drivers pretty well who have been with them a little over a year.

I've also talked to many other drivers who came from Swift (or insert other bottom-feeder mega carrier name here) and there hasn't been a single one of them tell me they'd like to go back.

Seriously, how does someone with access to information here choose Swift flatbed over TMC to start their trucking career?

Your 5th raise at Swift might equal your starting pay at TMC.

LOL, You wish you made as much as I do, Keep on dreamin, chump. LOL

I've been driving alot longer, (13+years exp.) than your measly 1 year OTR, so wherever I go, I will always make more money than you, whether I am a Company driver or O/Op, so don't think you can come on this forum "thinking or trying" to bash me with your comments because you will always be in a league beneath me.

Secondly, I'm not even here trying to compete with you or anybody else on this forum, If TMC or whatever company you work for, after you start whining and quit in a few months makes you happy or sad, more power too you.

All you say in your posts is complain and whine or put others down, learn to respect others and yourself, before you come with your rookie attitude and think you know everything attitude.

Great you finally quit and you have a new job. Now can the whining stop? People have 1 year OTR, and they think they are supertruckers, gimme a break. LOL

Maybe one day you will not need to have a pacifier in your mouth :cry: and wear Depends when you are driving, so grow up. Wah Wah. :cry:

I'm out, don't have anymore time to waste on this rookie.

Colts, I wouldn't ever go digging through his old posts to see what you are talking about so I'll just take your word for it. I'd rather pleasure myself with a cheese grater.

I've clearly struck a nerve with something I said.

If I was in my 13th year running o/o for Swift I'd be pretty pissed at the world too, you can't really blame him.

I've made some "rookie" posts that someone looking to join the industry would find informative, yet an experienced driver might say im whining or complaining... I don't really care either way. I'm just giving my opinion and writing what's on my mind

Bone, your words above are those of a man giving his concession speech. GG to you (NOT)

I've only technically been working for swift for 2 days now, and waiting on my mentor now for those 2 days and sitting around the terminal, I can honestly say that 99% of people that have beef that work for Swift, is because of their own combination of laziness, poor planning skills, and poor attitude. 100% of both company drivers and O/O and lease drivers I have seen that are happy and making GOOD money, have a great attitude, work hard, and are damn well organized. Not that I am saying Swift is some great company, I see a lot of things I don't agree with or particularly like, but at the same time the oppertunity is there to use it has a great way to start out with NO experience and gain some.

Please be sure to come back in 6 months and a year and let us know how it is going.

I started with Swift and in my first few weeks there I thought much the same as you do now. After a few months things changed and not for the better.

One thing though. Before calling people lazy, accuse them of having attitude problems, etc it would be advisable to do two things. One make sure you get the full story and secondly be sure to walk a mile or two in their shoes. You may see things in a whole new light and find out that many you wish to place in one of these categories have some good reasons to be the way they seem to be.

If you last in the trucking industry one thing you should learn. What kind of success you have and your overall job satisfaction at any company is going to depend greatly on who your fleet manager is and how well they do their job.

You may find that the greatest amount of laziness in many trucking companies come not from the drivers, but from those sitting in the office.

Hello all i am back to what used to be my thread.....

Boneebone..... Please go start your own thread..... this is my thread, if you would like to comment on the post title, please feel free.... if not Edit
Now that thats taken care of.....

WOW! I'm so tired i think i will die in my bed for another 12 hours. Here's the scoop....

I got my mentor 11 days ago. Tuesday....
I walk to the truck and quickly realize i'm in over my head. Not only is the truck in PRISTINE condition, but there is a bike rack on the front with a bike i know to cost well over $500, my mentor is dressed in black slacks, golf shoes, pressed collard button down shirt (not company issue) he looks 30, and he looks solid. ME: chubby jeans and t0shirt guy. oh boy.

We get to into the truck and i see no CB, No TV, But instead a golf bag, and a cooler. Neat and tidy guy... so this is good. As we start talking he tells me he is 51! WHOA! dude looks 30-35! He has 21 years OTR, 20 years training, been with swift 10 yrs and with cardinal b4 that swift bought them) First night we got to know each other a bit, went over truck rules, but was expected, and then he told me be prepearde to run hard, but speak up when you've had enough..... oh boy.

We stopped for the night at a stop, and the next morning the fun started. I am a smoker... he is not. He drinks decaf, eats whole wheat bread and lean turkey.... i need a ciggarette, a mountain dew, a coffee, and something greasy to start my day. lol..... everything was cool though, come to find out, thats only when he feels like it (the food). But i've almost quit smoking. He keeps badgering me about it. The first 3 days were really nerve racking. my first day was up and down mountains (6,6 and 7% grade.... on your first day they feel like drop offs!) in the rain!! in an 8 speed and i trained on a 10 speed... Oh yeah he is a VAN driver, not flatbed. So anyway, we run to iowa city, he doesnt sleep while i'm driving for the first three days and we take it slow. The first three days we did like 2000 miles. Then he gets on the phone, and says "hey... this guys is doing great. Go ahead and put us on team runs starting now!"

And here we go....... To and from Greensboro, NC and Iowa City, Iowa. right at 1000 miles a run, and we complete a run EVERY day. about 17-20 hours. over the last 7 days, we've almost run 6500 miles.

Good things - there has been twice where i was supposed to drive, but because i'm haveing problems sleeping, i said hey i'm too tired after like 5 hours, and he is cool with that.

We run legal (Mostly- 1 situation arose where we didnt, but he corrected that quickly and it was over.)

We stop when we need to, he is very encouraging, when teaching backing, he is explaing what i need to do and what i need to look for and is teaching me principles rather than just telling me turn left turn right. all together GREAT guy, i couldnt be happier!

BAD NEWS......
Heading towards Champaign, IL.... doing about 55 I killed Bambi! It was like..... a bomb went off in front of me..... YIKES! Everyone keeps telling me how well i did not to swerve or stab the brakes (it was a little wet) but i felt like crap! Now read above again and think about what was on the front of the truck..... a $500 Bike.... Schwinn...... quick shift, disk brakes, titanium frame..... super light weight...... NOW IN PIECES! i killed it.... snapped the frame in half! WOW! The truck was also hurt a bit. Front bumper, fog light, headlight.... Oh it's a 2007 Volvo VN 670. The bigger one of the 2 models swift has. Freithliners have more space! but this volvo is quieter...

I've been told that in his 21 years of driving and teaching he has never been in a truck that hit a deer...... WHY DID I HAVE TO BREAK HIM IN?

So now i got a non-preventable and a speeding ticket (from school)

Anyway.... qualcomm is a piece of cake, i got logging map reading and trip planning down. i'm doing well going forwards and making turns, signals, aiming high in steering all that stuff..... just gotta get the backing up better and then soak in the knowledge on how to make it worth my time.

I'm on a 34 hr restart now due to out of hours. I'm driving anywhere from 8 to 12 hrs a day... i dont get the feeling that some do that he's just using me to get miles, he wakes uo often and checks on me, has been going out of his way to make sure i'm doing well, and he even requested a load to Georgia so i can get home to see my family.

i guess thing really do happen for a reason ! i'm glad i waited now....

I leave out tonight around midnight. i'll check back then, or whenever we stop somewhere for longer than 15 minutes that has internet....

Who uses a wireless braodband provider here? like sprint or verizon?

I cleaned the thread up a little for ya. :wink:

Good on ya Southernpride.!

With your attitude...you'll do well there, or anywhere else you choose. :wink:

thanks ridge.... i appreciate it..... now if we could only find a way to turn him off completely..... :roll:

Keep on posting southernpride. I enjoy reading them. I hope to be a newbie soon also.

respects,
dennis in se pa

We do have a way.......and we did. :P

Southernpride

Great to see you back and doing well. Keep up the good work. Yeah, I'm interested in finding out about cell phone plans and wi-fi for my laptop.

:D Happy to hear it is going well Southernpride! The thread is a good read for many starting out. Keep up the great work, sorry about the deer incident, but that stuff happens.

I have AT&T wireless card in the laptop out here in California. Works great, and anywhere there is cell coverage, you get about 1.4 to 1.8MPS download speed. In cities, or metro areas, about 4.0 to 6.0MBPS. Fast enough for most stuff.

Travel safe, enjoy your re-set. And should you ever get out toward Fresno California, along hiway 99, dinner is on me.

Boneebone..... Please go start your own thread..... this is my thread, if you would like to comment on the post title, please feel free.... if not EditNow that thats taken care of.....

WOW! I'm so tired i think i will die in my bed for another 12 hours. Here's the scoop....

I got my mentor 11 days ago. Tuesday...


Are we allowed to use vulgar language now?