Life for a rookie at swift

Discussion in 'Swift' started by gnnt12345, Aug 12, 2014.

  1. gnnt12345

    gnnt12345 Bobtail Member

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    I have decided that due to the amount of information I have recieved from this forum I owe nothing less than my own contribution. I have only been driving solo for 7 months so I can only describe my life at swift as a rookie. Hopefully someone just getting into the trucking industry will find this useful.


    I am greatful for this oppurtunity. I only intend to be a truck driver until this loan is payed off. I watch what I spend and I am developing a real nice savings. I have mapped out locations in the country that I would be comfortable to live in. And the experience has taught me valuable lessons in stress management that I was severely lacking. I will forever be thankful that I decided to be a truck driver, but I sorely miss having a house and normal job.

    So what's it like for a rookie in swift?

    I have a real nice Driver Leader. I actually hope they pay her a little more because I have dealt with some of the other driver leaders and some of them seem like jerks. That being said, I am very professional when I speak with her. I have never yelled at her. I have never blamed her for anything. I understand she has a lot of drivers she is responsible for. And in return, if I am sitting on a load that doesn't deliver for a few days, she will let me park it at a drop yard and will do what's called a TCALL. Another driver will come and pick up the load when the load is closer to the delivery time. Again. Courtesy goes a long way here.

    We have a lot of control over our working lives at Swift. I am not a morning person. I have never been a morning person. I do not like mornings. I believe noon is still morning. If god said "I will create night and day." Satan said, "I will create mornings!" Most days I wake up between 10 am and noon depending on what time I ended my day the night before. I never reject a load that I have the hours to deliver. So sometimes I may wake up at 5 AM or even 4 AM and some days I may end my day at that same time.

    I talk to my boss, the driver leader, very rarely. Usually it is when I want some clarification, or when I want to tcall a load. I've talked to her 3 times in 3 months. Most of the time our boss is the qualcomm computer. This computer is mounted to the dash of the truck. We recieve a message when there is an available load for us. There will be a message that tells us where the load picks up, and another message where the load delivers. It is our responsibility to accept or reject the load. The reasons we might reject a load are that we do not have the hours needed to deliver the load, or that there is not enough time in the pickup or delivery window. When that happens we send a message back saying when we can pickup and deliver the load. It's called a MAC22. This is one of the toughest things to learn for a new driver. It's called Load Planning. Just because our trucks are governed at 62 MPH doesn't mean we can go 62 mph. Hilly roads take a lot longer to progress through than a flat road. Average your speed to 55 MPH at first until you learn the country a little bit better.

    When we accept a load we are sent the load plan through the qualcomm. It is another message. It tells us what route to take, and also where we are to get fuel. Unfortunately, we cannot stop wherever we want for fuel. It's my biggest pet peeve with the company because sometimes they send me to loves. Why do I not like going to loves? It's simple. We do not have showers in the truck. If we fill up 50 gallons or more we are given a free shower by the truck stop. 99% of the time we stop at either a flying J/Pilot, TA/Petro, or loves. 75% of the time my fuel plan tells me to stop at flying J or Pilot. I have a card I swipe when I fuel. My free shower goes onto that card. Any flying J or Pilot I stop at I can use my card for my free shower. I find that most of the time with the way I run I can easily get my free shower at Flying J or Pilot. Loves is a different story. You have to wait...and wait...and wait...and it really seems like they don't want to even give you the shower key. If you want to pay for a shower most truck stops charge 13 bucks so a free shower is real nice.

    The way I work today vs the way I worked when I first started solo has changed dramatically. When I wake up I go to the qualcomm and put myself onduty for the pretrip. This counts towards my 70 hour clock. I get out, inspect the truck, and then hop back in. It's supposed to take a half hour. I log 15 minutes because I don't want to lose to much time on my 70 hour clock. I'm really trying to get as many miles as they will give me. Then I start driving while singing "On the Road Again." While driving i've become addicted to podcasts. I listen to the Joe Rogan Experience, Adam Carolla Show, Star Talk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and how stuff works has a series of podcasts. The qualcomm keeps track of our time. I'll usually drive to the first truck stop I see for my morning coffee. I also buy everything I'm going to need. I focus primarily on water, with diet soda as a treat. No chips, no sugar, no candy. I never had to watch what I ate until I became a trucker. The weight is gaining quick so i've become extremely vigilant in what I eat and drink. Basically if you came from working out a gym and eating unhealthy meals...you're gonna have to learn to eat salad. Sorry.

    Somewhere between 4 and 7 hours later I stop again. I try to stop at a truck stop where I have a free shower. I try to be in and out in 15 minutes. I bought what is called a lunch box oven. It plugs into the cigerette lighter and I eat primarily soup, and shelf stable dinners that come in a plastic tray. I also have canned vegetables and powdered mashed potatoes. For desert I have canned fruit or jello. It takes about a half hour to cook food in the lunchbox oven so I plug it in when I am about a half hour away from where I want to stop. I also have a plug in thermo-electric igloo cooler. It's not a normal refridgerator. I use it primarily to keep water and condiments cold. Sometimes I'll have salad in it. The problem is lets say I deliver a load somewhere and it's a live load. The truck is going to be off and it's going to heat up quick. The little cooler will stay cold but not as cold as a normal fridge. The food doesn't last as long but condiments are okay.

    So after my half hour break I start the truck again and keep going. When I first started driving I would stop after about 9 hours of driving time. As time went on I would stop around 10 hours. Today I run my clock until the very last moment. Today I ended my day with 17 minutes left on my 70. I planned for this and stopped at a truck stop I knew would have parking. Usually, because I don't run mornings I can't stop at a lot of truck stops. Which is fine because they smell like pee and I hate them anyways. I must stop at rest areas, or smaller truck stops. Sometimes where I stop isn't a truck stop at all but just some gas station along the highway with a little bit of dirt next to it. Believe it or not those are the spots I look for. That way i'm near my morning coffee. Often I may know of a patch of dirt off the interstate or highway and I stop there. It takes time but you learn where you can and cannot park. Depending how hot it is I may idle the truck for Air Conditioning while I watch movies and TV shows on my laptop. If it's somewhat cool i'll turn off the truck before I go to sleep. If it's hot I idle. Swift does have an idle policy where they want you to idle 33% of your driving hours or less. My idle in the winter was .05% so I idle more in the summer. I've idled my truck all night many many times and no one has said anything. Basically, if I need to idle to sleep i'm going to do it, and if it's not necessary I don't. My idle time since may is around 40% and no one has said anything. It's one of my favorite things about swift compared to other companies. They really don't say much about idling. 10 hours later and i'm back on the road.


    Of course the day can't just be spent driving. I must also stop at shippers and recievers. At a shipper/reciever i must log at least 15 minutes of onduty time that counts towards my 70 hour clock. I usually park and walk into an office. I carry a notepad that has the trip number, trailer number, and a few other things. This is the most unpleasant part of the industry. Some of these guys/gals in the office are real jerks. I am usually nice. I say hi. I ask how they're doing. I mind my p's and q's, and I give all of them the same respect I expect to be treated with. Sometimes though they hate you. It's for two reasons. Your either making them work, or other truck drivers will come in with a real bad attitude and they hate all truck drivers. If they're rude say something but say it professional. We're driving with a big boy license so let's act like big boys. No need to sink to there level and fight like 5 year olds. The load will either be live or it will be a "drop and hook." If it is live all I have to do is back into a dock, (Sounds easy doesn't it? Ha! Backing is almost as terrifying as waking up while it's still dark outside) and they will load/unload the trailer. If it takes longer than two hours swift will pays 10 dollars an hour up to 8 hours. You must respond to messages sent to your qualcomm to get that money. I have never had an issue getting that money. The other type of load is a drop and hook. Basically I back into a parking stall, unhook the trailer, and hook up to a new one. Generally a drop and hook is faster, but i'm always a little nervous because half of the time the trailer tires are messed up, or a light is out, or sometimes even the suspension wont hold air.

    My goal each week is 3000 miles and I usually meet it. My average for the last month has been 3200. This week I got 3600. Not every mile we drive is paid for. I actually drove closer to 3800 but I will only be paid for 3600. Standard for the trucking industry. As a new driver you will probably get a little less. Your first week or two they're going to try to keep you closer to home. This is because a lot of drivers quit the first few weeks. You will feel like a local driver. If it becomes an issue call your driver leader but remember, you are not a child. Speak to him/her like an adult and calmly and professionally let them know that you want more miles and longer loads. They will usually help you out. Also new drivers get the crappiest trucks. They actually maintain there trucks horribly. Just stick it out and after a couple months ask for a newer one. If you feel the truck you are in isn't safe don't drive it. Tell them you want a different one. They wont say no.

    Well that's it. Stay safe out there drivers!
     
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  3. born&raisedintheusa

    born&raisedintheusa Road Train Member

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    Excellent post, good luck to you!

    God bless you and your family! God bless the U.S.A.!
     
    Katiebet Thanks this.
  4. Texact23

    Texact23 Bobtail Member

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    Good post.

    So how long are you planning to work as a truck driver? I know few guys who work for few months and take a couple of months off. But if you have lots of bills like most truckers do, I don't think it'll be possible for you. But it is always possible to take breaks and come back. For instance you can drive for 8 months and take 2 months off.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2014
  5. gnnt12345

    gnnt12345 Bobtail Member

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    I plan on being a trucker until the loan is payed off. More than anything else I took this job to see the country and get out of California.
     
  6. Texact23

    Texact23 Bobtail Member

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    Good choice! Trucking is a lifestyle and it ain't for everybody. That is the reason why some people get into it just to take care of some debts and get back to their fields. Just make sure you keep your record clean in case you decide to come back.

    Anything is possible in life. You just have to believe in yourself and ignore the naysayers.

    So keep on trucking until you pay that debt.

    Peace!
     
  7. MysticHZ

    MysticHZ Road Train Member

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    It's a job. nothing more, nothing less.
     
  8. Texact23

    Texact23 Bobtail Member

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    I have been visiting this forum for almost a year now. What I have noticed is that most of the veteran truckers posting here describe it as a lifestyle. I have met a trucker who works 6 months straight without going home. In fact his truck is his home. He has no other professional skills beside driving a truck.
    I agree with you though that, to most of us, it is just a job. But to some of these truckers, it is a lifestyle.
     
  9. DazzlinD4

    DazzlinD4 Light Load Member

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    Aug 2, 2014
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    This is also the case for me. I live in my truck and in six months have taken 3 days of requested time off. I don't understand the whole "lifestyle" thing but it is a nice, to me, not having rent/mortgage, utilities, neighbors who want to get to know you, etc.
     
    bubbagumpshrimp and Lepton1 Thank this.
  10. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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    Living in a truck is a lifestyle, and not one that everyone can adjust to.
    If it was 'just a job' there would not be so many dropouts in the first year.
     
    fr8monkey Thanks this.
  11. JOHNQPUBLIC

    JOHNQPUBLIC Road Train Member

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    Love the post! I have been lurking on these forums for awhile and planning on trucking as a 2nd career. I have gained a lot of information from various posters. This post is one of the better long ones. Just straight facts. Trying to determine which company to go with when the time comes is difficult. All have pros and cons and I do not want to jump around from company to company.
     
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