Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

He has only requested home time once since going out on June 7the and that was just last week. He will come home again close to the end of august. Right now he is trying to get as many miles as possible. He took a bit of a pay cut when he started driving, but the last few months of last year and first of this year he wasn't working many hours. At least if he wants he could request home time to Louisiana where his family lives and I can meet him there for a few days

 

Have you been solo long enough to figure out how the quarterly bonus works, I ready on swift website that it could be up to .06 Per mile. Is the amount based on driver ranking

 

I also filled the tanks up full a couple of times due to the fuel route calling for it. After losing 2 loads due to being overweight (82,000 pounds) I never filled up again as a company driver especially after that last time, I had gone into the Pilot for a shower and he told me I had no more on my reward card. I protested that I put in 150 gallons 2 days prior. Come to find out that qualifies for just one shower. So after that, any time they wanted me to fill up I only put in 65 to 75 gallons, enough to make a day of it and they would reopt me for fuel the next day anyway. This kept me flush with showers and available for even the heaviest loads. Another strange benefit was when not filling up all the way, the next fuel routes were always 50 gallons plus. There were so many times when they would send a fuel solution for the load, something like get 39 gallons or get 28 gallons, not even enough for the shower credit. Run around on 100 gallons or less total on board at all times, they will almost always open you up for 'fill up'. Another little known trick in the Swift universe for company drivers is, if they tell you fill up at this particular place, and you know you will be going back through that fuel stop more than 2 hours later but less than 24 hours, you can get more fuel. How this would benefit you would be to get 50 gallons, go to shipper, get loaded, then coming back through, grab 50 more gallons for a second shower credit as well.

In Swift's crazy thinking, they want you to fill up in that particular state to save them money on fuel and fuel taxes. I'm not sure they come out ahead when the driver loses all kinds of time scaling and rescaling a load and ultimately has to have the load reworked or removed.

 

sometimes my fuel routes are stupid, they almost always give me fill ups though, there will be times where my fuel stop is 150 miles from destination and they will say fill up...
then there are times where I did my mac and said I had 1/8 a tank and they route me 600 miles. That was my last load, I had just a little over 2/8 but put in I had 1/8, I was leaving Albuquerque heading to California and they wanted me to fuel in Barstow, I called my Dl and got fuel opened up in Bellemont, AZ and my fuel light came on a little before I got there.

its not always based on prices, Barstow would of been higher tax and higher prices

 

I check his driver ranking and trips pending pay on a daily basis. In a little over a month he has gone from bronze to gold. He also got a new DM. Not sure but I don't think he is in the developmental fleet anymore. I love this website and reading the posts from other driver. Hubbie doesn't like to fool with a computer much and doesn't have a smart phone. I would go crazy without being on the internet or playing with my phone. We have Verizon and my husband says that even in the western states he was in while with the mentor he always had great service. He has lost signal in the mountians a couple times. Verizon also has smartphone prepay plans which are only $50 or $60 per month

 

I never pull into a spot unless its a pull through where I drive forward when I leave
I also utilize rest stops most of the time so I dont do much backing unless I have to or at a shipper/receiver, I figure the less backings I put myself through the less stress and the chances of a problem.

 

I have ATT and only had a couple issues not having service where I was stopped, I run the 11 western.