Diary of a New Swift Driver

I disagree, 40k is totally possible the first year, if you work hard and have a good dm. I'm right on track to make that my first year. 40k is an average of $770 a week. Probably helps I do not go home much, have a good dm and take everything they throw at me unless it's a sf failure waiting to happen. Of course it's good to go into it expecting less and being pleasantly surprised, it is possible, even if most do not hit it. Even if my numbers drop off in slow season and I end up with 35k I'd still be happy, that's not bad for first year in a job with minimal school/training requirements.

 

You started at .25/mi ?

 

Gold_Miner, since you're starting the academy soon, have they sent you any kind of catalog or a list of what you'll need to bring? Did they ask for three psersonal references? Tax returns? I'm taking the following:

Tax returns from the past three years
3 personal references
driver license
passport
birth certificate

and whatever else they will tel lme to bring. My recruiter said he will send me an email about a week before the 14th of December which is my starting date.

Money we will need is $75.00 for the CDL if I remember correctly and I can't remember how much the physical is. A friend of mine works on ships and they have to pay for their own physical which requires a LOT more that the physical for a truck driver and his is $350.00 dollars which HE has to pay every year.

 

yeah, think it was $0.26 actually, but I run my ### off. Yes the first few months were on the tight side but those raises do kick in pretty quick. They also ran me hard right off the bat, none of this feel you out stuff, my mentor gave me great reviews so maybe thats why but they were not afraid to run me.

I also tend to get a good number of short runs in or extra stops. My typical week usually works out with a bunch of 250-300 mile trips when I get out east and then one or two longer trips to bump up the miles. Those short trips seem kinda crappy but they add up fast @ $.42 a mile and they use very little time off your 70.

I have had days I made around $250 just because I did 3 or 4 short trips got some local pay and stop pay. I have also had days where I did over 700 miles because I ran past midnight, delivered, took 10 ran through midnight again. I look at it this way, I have less than 70 hours I can work on each paycheck (61.25 to be exact) and usually I max that out, so anything I can do to increase the money I take in using less of those hours is a good thing. Good example is this check coming up. I only ran 2500 miles last week but still grossed over $900 and my current rate is $0.32 east, oh and half my trips at least were west of the river. So I averaged $0.36 per mile even though my rate is $0.32. I even sat on my ### for over a day last weekend because of slow freight or goofy pta problems or whatever was going on.

Proper use of split sleeper can also make you more money. Why waste time when you sit for 2+ hours at a live load when you can do a split and count that as part of your 10? It lets you only take a 8 hour break later and get to where you are going 2 hours sooner. Even better if they take 2 hours to unload you when you get there, now its like you started with a fresh 11/14 at the end of your 8 hour break, you are just mt 2 hours sooner, your pta is set two hours earlier and you get your next load sooner. There is a really good thread if you search forums here that explains how to use it, and with elogs it's even easier.

Name of the game is time management, you need to maximize the time you are available within the given HoS rules. Master this and you are set. This is why some drivers can pull 11-12k miles a month and some struggle to hit 7k. I really don't believe it when people ##### about their dm or the planners, they deal with so many trucks unless you really did something to piss them off your just another truck to them. Run hard, maximize your hours, take every load you get unless you can't do it because of HoS, be on time and you will get miles.

 

All you need to do, run an avg 400 miles per day, 7 days, 2800/wk, over 11K in a month, and you will never run out of hours, and not have to use a split.

 

$$$ Money, money, money - it's what makes the world go 'round.

Maximize those hours, run as hard as you can...

And I'll be passing by you, overturned in the ditch, as I enjoy the ride.

 

You never HAVE to use a split, besides a split never gets you more hours, so what you say holds true, split or no split.It only lets you get some place sooner or take a nice two hour lunch and split the day up a little more. Works for me because I simply do not need to sit around for 10 hours, I usually only can only sleep 6-7 hours a day, have been that way for years.

 

Won't be passing me in a ditch, I get all the sleep I need and if anything drive more chill than most drivers out there. Actually by using a split at the right times I can buy myself more wiggle room and take my time getting there. I'm also not working 14 hours straight but splitting that in two so feel less tired and less rushed. If I'm on a multi day run I'd much rather drive 6 hours, take 2 hour break then drive my 5 more, I defiantly feel more alert towards the end of the day doing it like that. There is good reason you have the option to use it, only thing is I have met very few drivers that understand how to do it correctly. Thats all it is is an option, everyone runs differently, using it never lets you have more hours, it just changes when you use your break time.