My Swiftie Life...

Solo Status

Hello again.
First of all thank you to everyone that has read this thread and contributed to the information for others.

Well I have been out here for 3 full months now continuing on my new trucking career. There have been some ups and downs and have learned a lot. I know see first hand of some of the frustrations and aggravating things that drivers go through on a daily basis. I am going to try and recap the ups and downs I have had within these 3 months of me being a solo company driver.

When I tested out at the PHX terminal, there were 3 parts to the test out. Written Test, Road Test, Backing Test. I nailed both Written and Road, tester even commented on how well I did on the road portion. Then came the backing portion. I'm gonna be honest and keep it real. That didn't go as planned. I had to backup and park between 2 trailers. I had 20 minutes to do this and could get out as many times as needed. Long story short I bumped the passenger side trailer and failed miserably. I was so disappointed in myself and felt extremely discouraged. The instructor told me I would need to take the "Close Quarter Training" class and test again. They put me up in a hotel that night and reported back in the morning for the training. The guy giving the class was amazing. He told us the exact techniques to use and what to look for when backing up. "Keep your eye on the ball" was his motto. Things that were never told or given to me during the mentor phase. It's funny how things work out. By the end of the class I was actually thankful I failed the backing portion. The training class gave me the confidence and proper training i needed to head out on my own. You can take this class at anytime even if you are already solo. I passed my backing test and upgraded to solo, Woohoo!!

Next came Tractor Assignment. This is where you get your truck. At the time the selection was very limited and only a few to pick from. I grabbed a Freightliner and gathered my things. I was given a load back home so that I could take some much needed time off. My terminal manager called me before I left and asked if I needed anything before leaving. I informed him I was going to take 5 days after dropping this off as I have been out here for a little over 2 months. He agreed, but told me I would need to turn the keys in at the terminal. So really there was no point in being picky of the truck you get. If you go home fr more than 3 days after doing the mentor phase your going to lose your truck anyway. I didn't care though I just wanted to get home. I grabbed an empty and was on my way. Man oh man was I excited but scared out of my mind at the same time. On one hand I was excited because I was the boss now. If I saw a Mcdonalds or something I wanted it was my choice to pull over. The freedom was very exciting. Then on the other hand I was scared out of my mind because I was truly alone. No one to help me backup or ask a question.
My first load was a pickup at a Costco DC nearby. I pulled in and was informed to drop my empty and pickup preload. I prepared to drop off my empty and was so nervous I can't even tell you. My first time at a customer location. Don't hit anything! I setup for my back and started to drive her in. I guess I had rookie written all over my windshield, because this nice old man who worked for Costco, jumped out of his truck and help guide me in. Man I was so thankful to him and vowed I would pay it forward to any other driver I saw needing help.
Ok now that was done I need to grab my preload. I unhooked and found the trailer. Hooked up to it and saw the tandems were all the way to the back. My mentor never showed me this part and when asked they told me don't worry about it. Well alot of good that does me now that I'm solo, but was determined to figure it out. My load was like 42,000 lbs.
I recalled back to my youtube research and slid the tandems. Now the question was how far? I threw it in some random hole and drove on to the scale Costco had onsite. My Trailer tandems were over weight, FML!
No joke I messed around with the tandems and scale for easily an hour before I got it right. Jumping in and out of the truck, to far back, to far forward, Ugh!! Finally scaled out enough for me to continue my journey home. When I picked up this Freightliner they told me it had no differential lock, but wouldn't be a problem until winter. When I pulled out of Costco I could feel the driver side front steer come off the ground. The load was so heavy the truck just was pulling right. I called mentor and he said that was normal. I had pulled loads this heavy before but never felt a steer literally come off the ground while accelerating. I made my way up into the mountains of AZ into Flagstaff and onto the I40 towards NM. I didn't have enough time on my clock due to taking so long at Costco, I couldn't make it home that day. I found a nice empty dirt spot and shutdown. No way was I going to attempt a truck stop first time out. "Did you hear about Kry0n?, the guy crushed a truck his first night out" this was all I could think of, so I settled for a nice dirt spot instead. Just me and the tumbleweeds.

The next day I made it to my delivery and back to the terminal safe and sound. I had done it! my first load in the books. No tickets, no accidents, no breakdowns. I was a happy man. Turned in my keys and headed home. Spent five days and was ready to hit the road for some adventure. I was assigned another Freightliner, but this time it was a nicer, newer truck. It had diff lock and was 2015 with 130k miles on her. It didn't smell like sweaty balls or smoke. Nice clean truck. I was given a load that picked up in Oklahoma and delivered to Louisiana. I drove empty all the way from Albuquerque to Oklahoma. Whatever you say...
I completed that run and a few others after that. With each successful delivery my confidence got better and better. The truck felt smaller and smaller and I felt bigger and bigger driving her down the open road. I started to see why people really liked this job. Backing up got more fun, rain storms became less scary, truck stops even though still scary.. became less and less. I was starting to become a noob trucker, just enough to be dangerous.

I stay out for a bout 2 maybe 2 1/2 weeks and come home. I stay home for 2-3 days then head back out. With each time feeling like I really could handle myself much better in this big trucking world. I have done lots of mountain driving and pretty heavy rain. I have been through the mountains of Utah into Salt Lake City, Oregon mountains, California traffic and freeways. I know my qualcomm very good now. I am also starting to understand that ropes here at the shipper and receiver. Every day gets a little easier then the last.
So far Swift has treated me pretty well. No real complaints. They get me home pretty much when I ask. Only one time was I late and that was only off by one day. The truck has been incredible. (Knock on wood) Me and her have become very close and I started to make it feel more like a home, with each new addition I bring on.
I had a ice chest for the first 3 months and man was that a pain in the you know what. Buying ice everyday was not only expensive but if I forgot that day I ran the risk of losing all the food i needed to keep cold. Learned that the hard way when I had to throw a bunch of stuff out when I had to take a 34 hour reset and forgot to grab ice, Doh! I saved up some points to help me buy a Coleman 12v cooler and it's amazing. What a relief off my shoulders to not remember to buy ice, and keeps things perfect. I can now have milk with my cereal. I am living the dream!! I got a new phone with Metro PCS for $60 a month with unlimited Data. This has been my best friend. The signal is much better in areas than I had with Virgin, and as long as I am near a decent sized city or town, I can watch anything I want. Hulu, Netflix, Youtube, I even tether to my tablet and play Hearthstone. Am I spoiled or what? All I need now is a decent size Inverter and microwave and bathroom and shower and sink. Oh wait is that asking for to much? Nah didn't think so.

I will be making more frequent posting on this thread documenting my daily / weekly journey in this beautiful world of trucking. Is it for everyone? I don't know why don't you come out here and see for yourself...

I will close on this... I was parked next to a trucker at some shipper and he had this written on his truck really big. "When I die, Im going to Paradise, Because I work in Hell!"

Be safe All, Thanks for reading.

One Love!