So far so Swift

Been getting some questions about my time with the company so I figured it was time to update you all.
After getting my 200 hours in my upgrade got a little messy.
Tried upgrading in Gary, was told I couldn't.
Went to Laredo, couldn't upgrade there either.
Went to Greer and had to wait two days to upgrade.
Finally got a truck the next day, had to take a bus to Columbus to recover it but I got a truck. 2012 Cascadia.
I likely wouldn't have had to wait to go solo if I hadn't been in flatbed.
Hauled 2 van loads working my way towards some flatbed freight and the truck broke down on my second solo load. Of course with "luck" the motor cut out on US-522 in PA, little 2 lane with nowhere to pull off right at midnight. Called the police first thing because I was on a blind-curve and then waited for on-road to get someone out there. This whole time I was just sitting there praying I was doing what I was supposed to haha
Then I sat in a hotel for two days before I called and put my foot down for them to get me a new truck.
Rough first week out solo I guess lol

Got a 2015 Cascadia with 90k miles now. Beautiful, clean, and most importantly it runs! Got a few loads done with the new truck and things are going smoothly here now. Sitting in the TA at 44 off of I-30 in Arkansas for the night.
Other than that first week things are going well for me at Swift. I've been treated fairly and forgiven for a couple rookie mistakes with macros and trip planning.

What I dislike the most about Swift? Getting the most ridiculous routes to a destination because it's shorter by a few miles. Apparently you can request a better route but I don't know how to do that stuff yet haha

Picture of my truck finally getting hooked to a tow truck at 4am. Cops were pissed they had to wait that long.

 

Definitely still have no clue what it takes to really be a great driver. Learning new things everyday, especially not to trust the cars around you to drive how you expect them to.
The 2012 had a bad front engine seal, bad thermostat, bad oil pump, and somehow it had blown the main coolant line apart. Crazy thing is I picked the truck up from the shop at the terminal

 

Well today I learned how to lock up the brakes and turn cherry red yelling at a four wheeler. Just gotta thank the lord I happened to see her looking right and covered my brakes in case she decided to jump over and try to get in the line of stopped cars in the exit lane.
If I hadn't been watching for that there's no way I wouldn't have hit her. Really scared the piss out of me until I made it around her and she was yacking away on her phone completely oblivious to the hell she almost raised. The fear turned to rage at that point ha

 

Nah my pay is the same whether I'm dragging a box or a flatbed. All of our flatbed trailers are spread axle.
I'm on my 4th flatbed load now, 1,400 mile haul under this load. My load before this one was 1,300 miles. 900 before that. Been getting good miles with flatbed freight.