Swift Academy - Richmond, VA - My Experience Begins

Ok, while ESPN College Gameday is bleating on the tube I figured I'd drop a better update on you.

About a week ago I was dropped off at the Greer, SC terminal by my mentor having reached the 200 hour mark. Unlike some I had just over 201 hours total. I have heard about others that ended up with 230 or more. It seems that Swift has changed their policy allowing students to test out at the nearest terminal and have started returning them to their "home" terminal to test out. Interestingly, my home terminal was supposed to be Richmond ... but since they have "lost" a driver leader they nolonger have the personnel required to take on more drivers at this time and thus my home terminal was switched to Greer, SC. Not that I'm complaining. Greer is just as good as any other as home terminal has no bearing on home-time which is the most important consideration here ... right?

So, I was delivered to the Super Great motel a few hours later. I was sincerely tired and really didn't have the attitude to deal with a roommate ... so I decided to pay the $20 per night to get my own room. It was only two nights and the $40 seemed like a pittance in comparison to not having to deal with all that a roommate entails and I NEEDED to sleep.

During those two days I ordered some Chinese food (pink menu at the terminal ... I think they're new) and was treated to Mongolian Beef made from recycled Teriyaki Beef strips and some sort of sweet sauce, onions, peppers, and thin spaghetti (So not Mongolian and only slightly Beef), Beef with Broccoli - somewhat correct but still Teriyaki strips but this time sans Teriyaki flavoring and the gravy was close to correct, and Pork Fried rice which was actually the best fried rice I've had in a while. So I guess you get what you get when ordering Chinese food in Greer. I also watched a ton of football (my true addiction) both college and pro.

Monday morning I took the 5:45 shuttle over to the terminal and reported to the first of several classes to test out and upgrade to solo. The first class was the Sims class that everyone is being asked to take in preparation for the on coming winter season. Next was the Close Quarters class which entailed a road test, and a backing test. Neither one was a large problem and I passed both fairly easily. Then we took a Logs Class ... the short hour and a half version where we were reminded to be sure we sent the right macros at the right time which includes macro 9. The last step, after our paperwork was sorted out, was to take a written test which was supposedly covered in the student manual. Unfortunately the manual I was given was an unbound photo copy. I'm not sure where the original came from but, the pages I was told to concentrate on had very little to do with the test we were given. That said, the test is fairly easy as long as you use COMMON SENSE. There was only one question that I really had to guess at ... I can't remember it now.

After the testing there was more waiting around. Eventually I was asked if I would take one of the Natural Gas burning trucks to Jonestown, PA where my truck (130989) was waiting for me and take another driver as a passenger and drop him off at his truck in Richmond. I jumped at the chance to get moving, and I was really interested in driving one of the NG trucks. My passenger ended up being a friend of mine from the Academy in Richmond (small world ... Hi to Bill) and along the way we decided to take a sort of "Victory Lap" and grab a rare truckers treat ... a porterhouse steak from Texas Roadhouse. Soooooooo goooooood.

I dropped Bill at his truck in Richmond and got to swing by the house and take a ten hour break with my wife. The next morning I drove off to PA enjoyed the torrential rain involved. For those of you that haven't done it (I'm sure there's not many in the experienced ranks here) driving a bobtail in a down pour can be a most hair raising experience when mixed with traffic and four wheelers that have no idea what they're doing. I finally arrived in Jonestown at about 20:00 and traded trucks.

Truck 130989 - My Problem Child

My first impression was positive simply because my truck is blue and not the omnipresent Swift white. I opened the door and was treated to the odor of a giant ashtray and a large mound of plastic and other garbage. Rather than inspect the whole thing in the dark I decided to park the truck along the fence and camp out until daylight.

Once daybreak came I was able to get a better look. And it didn't get much better. I can say that the upper bunk and the passenger seat are spotless. The rest of the truck is a mess. Nearly all of the fabric covered wall panels are stained with at the very least dirt. The driver's seat has a very dark unidentifiable stain and several cigarette burns. Once I extricated the refuse and got to the floor I discovered that it was sticky and had the distinct odor of urine.

Yes, I tried to ask for another truck. I explained the situation with this one and was shown the only other truck they had. The other truck was already in the shop with some serious front end damage and the inside was actually worse than mine.

I walked down to the local store and bought some cleaning materials and did some serious scrubbing of the floor. At least the smell of urine is gone. The ashtray smell is going to take some time and fabreeze.

So, once the cleaning part of this odyssey was complete I started to have a good look at the truck itself. Mechanically it seems like a good truck. There was a spilled gallon of oil under the bunk that was fun to clean up, but otherwise it seems like a good machine.

The one issue I had was with the Qualcomm. At one point I couldn't get the touch screen to calibrate and then I watched as the computer started and restarted itself about nine times in a couple of minutes. So, I took the truck over to the shop where I was told that this truck was in with the same issue about a week ago and they weren't able to find anything wrong. I explained what it was doing and that when I hit a bump on the way over to the shop it did it again which tells me (I'm a licensed Aircraft Mechanic as well) that something is loose in the system. They asked me what I thought should be done. I said that since I am sure you folks checked the connections and the grounds the last time it was in for this the problem was likely internal. I told them that I would replace the computer and the head unit and send both back to Qualcomm and let them figure it out. To their credit, they did just that and the problem has gone away. It's nice to have a group of technicians actually listen to a problem and a potential solution suggested by a driver.

Once that issue was fixed I had my PTA updated and I was off shortly after that.

My First Assignment

I was told to go to the Target DC at Chambersburg, PA and retrieve a broken trailer and move it to our "drop yard" in Martinsburg, WV. The trailer seemed to be broken in some way, though I couldn't find anything that would prevent me from dragging it to WV so off I went and the trip went off with out a hitch.

Now, the Martinsburg, WV "drop yard" is something else. They have everything that a regular terminal has. Showers, a Lounge, T-Call Window, Mechanics, Fuel and so on. But they call it a drop yard.

My next trip was from the same yard, a high value Bose load going to the Sam's DC in Hagerstown, MD. So, once I dropped the "broken" trailer in the damaged trailer area I got my paperwork from the window, found and hooked to the trailer. I was already behind the eight-ball time wise thanks to weather and traffic and last Wednesday's rains. Taking a look at what I was dealing with I decided to take a split sleeper break. I would still have to get up early and give the receiver a call because I was going to be late by about 30 minutes. I started my sleeper time at 21:30 and ended my break at 05:30 at exactly 8 hours. My appointment was at 06:00, but with a 15 minute pretrip and a 40 minute drive it simply wasn't going to happen. I sent my mac 22 and called the receiver. I never heard from the 22, but the receiver said that 30 to 45 minutes late wouldn't make a difference to them.

The morning drive was in fairly heavy fog, but went without so much as a minor hiccup. I was the first truck to arrive that morning anyway. I got my door assignment and put the trailer in the hole. During the back I noticed the sound of escaping air. There had been a small leak during my pretrip, but nothing like this. I got unloaded and called on road. I was under the assumption that something had broken on this 14 year old trailer on the drive up. On Road told me to take the trailer to the Greencastle, PA T/A to have it looked at.

After about thirty seconds the tech at the T/A had it repaired. I asked what the problem was and he informed me that the drain valve on the trailer tank was open. I think I may have been sabotaged because it definitely wasn't making that noise when I left for my delivery. The only stop I made was at the DC and I was only out of sight of the truck while I was in their office getting my door assignment. I have no idea what really happened, but in my limited experience drain valves don't simply pop open with out help.

Once the trailer was fixed I was cleared to travel to Harrisonburg, VA to part the truck and take my home-time. And that's where I am now. Gonna watch some College and Pro football once again this weekend. I already have a load once I leave the house. I know it's 42k lbs of paper headed to Ohio. Good times are a coming and I'm set to go.

I have only one personal thing coming up. My wife is involved in a court case in Massachusetts which goes to trial on 11/04. She has an aggressive version of Belle's Palsy and can't drive herself to the trial so I have to go. If it takes one day ... which it should the evidence against the bad guys is overwhelming ... I'll be back and in the same truck before Swift can reclaim it and reassign it. But if it takes longer I'll be getting another truck shortly after we return. At any rate, my DL is aware of the issue and I'll be putting in a home-time request the moment I'm back on the truck.

THIS WEEKS NUMBERS -

Greer Terminal, Greer, SC to Jonestown, PA (NG Truck Delivery)
Empty: 585 Loaded: 0
Target DC, Chambersburg, PA to Swift Drop Yard, Martinsburg, WV
Empty: 76 Loaded: 45
Swift Drop Yard, Martinsburg, WV to Sam's DC Hagarstown, MD
Empty: 01 Loaded: 24 +Short Run

Total Empty: 662
Total Loaded: 69

 

No, not saying that at all. The schedule would go like this:

11/2 -return home
11/3 - travel to Cape Cod, MA from Harrisonburg, VA (680 miles) - Day One
11/4 - first day of trial (Day two)
11/5 - return travel to Harrisonburg, VA (680 miles) Provided trial only last one day
11/6 - return to work (three days off)

There is room for a second day at court if need be, but that's all. After four days they will retask the truck. It costs a company on average $600 - $800 to have a truck sit unused. It's an expense that they try to minimize.

Hope that's a bit more clear.

 

I park mine at a local truckstop. As far as cleaning and making it comfortable, that's great but ultimately the truck belongs to the company. If I owned or leased the truck it would be a different story. Then I'd just park the tractor at home and go on a nice court / vacation trip and visit the family that I have up there. In this case I have to clean out my belongings in the event that I have to stay there for a longer period of time. As long as I'm back before too long I'll just have to be assigned another truck.

But I am hoping that I don't have to do that ... mainly because I feel that an extended absence could get me lumped in with the lay abouts and complainers ... something that I'm not.