Hello all from Florida

Got my CDL A in 1997. Few years later I tried long haul with a wop of a company called "Swift". First driver trainer seem to have serious issues in life. For starters he kept me out on the road with him almost 3X's longer than normal trainers do with students. In various ways I soon found that he was just using me to help him make miles $$$ while he slept. I guess the good part was that I was able to complete my original driver training like 3x's over or more. So basically I became a very well trained truck driver. But I had to end it (me being with that trainer). Because he wasn't passing me on much of anything that I did right (over and over again). The second Swift trainer was ok and actually trained me within 2-3 weeks.

Then Swift put me with another student driver who was also recently trained. Good idea? I guess in some cases it's ok, even standard for some truck companies. But in my case it was not good at all. First thing this dude asked me was, "I forgot to get my medication are you okay with that?". After asking him why for he then explained that he has mental challenges. BOY DOES HE EVER! Within a few weeks he told me that he would either kill me or that he would hire someone to kill me. Our dispatcher didn't seem to care either way.

Except for when I decided to no longer drive and ride with that mental student driver. You see, I was first seat driver, so the whole rig was in my care. So Swift "swiftly" put an abandonment charge on my record after I got home from a bus ride.

The bus ride home was almost as challenging as that mental student driver was. Because the bus driver did not seem to like my skin color. At first I thought that it was ok because there had been a few in my generation who were racist to the core. So I guess I deserved what this Grey hound bus driver did to me? Kidding. Seriously though, that bus driver really didn't like me sitting next to and talking with a black girl. So he attempted to leave me at a rest stop. It was most of the other passengers from all walks of life and race on that bus that help rescue me. The bus stopped in the middle of the road and I could hear the passengers yelling at the driver to stop and let me back on board. At first he didn't want to open the front door to let me back on, but he finally did. Everyone then clapped their hands for me as I got back to my seat. I felt kinda sorry and strange for that driver because I could sense his hatred towards me. Later on a few passengers told me that I should report that bus driver because they saw what he did to me (try to leave me behind). I decided not to because I believe that everyone reaps what they sow in one way or another and it all comes back some how, some way.

I let my hazmat endorsement go over a year ago and kept my Class A CDL. Between my life's work history I have about 1 year of combined OTR experience within 10 years. I'm 39 yrs. young and don't mind being OTR for a few weeks at a time. I like solo or team driving (with the right person of course). All I want is a good OTR truck driving company to treat me right. I'm open to suggestion's if you can help.

Thanks,
Kevin in Central Florida (Leesburg to be exact)

 

Actually... you know as bad as I made those folks out to be (based on my introduction here) I forgot to admit that I too have done something extremely bad. In fact, what I've done.. no.. what I've accomplished and experienced is also considered one of the worst things a career trucker could ever do so I'm actually embarrassed to admit it here. In fact I think it's even considered being a death sentence for most OTR drivers. It's called a DUI and I accepted mine in July 2003. This July will be 7 yrs. since that wonderful event. So along with my basically non-OTR experience and DUI I guess that I'm stuck at the bottom of the barrel. Which is ok and I know that at least someone somewhere will still hire me.

Well, it's still nice to know that there are those here who are happy to communicate with me. Other than that I wonder how I'm going to pay bills and feed the kid. Life goes on.

 

ROFLMAO!!! If you liked my Swift experience then let me tell you about my LCT experience. It started back in the late 90's. I was going through bankruptcy and decided to get my CDL A with hazmat. LCT advertised for student driver program and I took the bait. They claimed that I would be making sooo much money. So much money in fact I thought that I wouldn't have to file for bankruptcy.

About 2 months later LCT had me working for pennies on the dollar. Actually it was for half, maybe 1/4 of every penny. Oh, did I mention the LCT driver trainer who attempted to start fights with me on several occasions? I knew him from b4 LCT as he did I. I did not have anything against him. But for what ever reasons, apparently his own reasons, he just did not like me. I'm guessing that he may have already died from stress by now (seriously). However if... and only if that dude is still with LCT I would not want to work there at all in anyway. I'm not scared of'em. I just don't want to be responsible for killing him in my own self defense.

Any who, while working for only the shells of peanuts (LCT ate all the peanuts) and not having a life due to the wonderful LCT ways of employment, I decided to file bankruptcy and add LCT to the list. One day I didn't show up to work and they called me to demand that I do.. or else. I then gave them the number to my bankruptcy lawyer and informed them that they needed to talk to him, not me. Back then you could get away with $#$% like that to others, especially to employers who had you sign your soul away to them, like LCT. It would of took me 2-3 years to pay off the extremely over inflated CDL student loan to LCT. They would of GLADLY kept stringing me along for pea nut shells. Back then a simple route was up to 20-30 stops. That's where you and your co-driver have to unload... no... you first have to dig through the trailer and hope that nothing has fallen and broke. Sleeping in the sleeper birth? I don't think so. Because every stop meant that your co-driver waking you up to help him unload.

Well, actually there are many LCT drivers that love their job and I am very happy for them. I only wished that things turned out much better for me and LCT.

So? Ye think LCT will still hire me? Probably not. Because I hit them just as hard as they hit me and they don't like folks defending themselves from them in anyway in my opinion.

By now your probably wondering what other OTR companies I've worked for? Yes, there was another. Actually this one didn't involving being out for days. Elberta Crate & Box company is where I drove flat bed trailers loaded with an amazingly... almost idiotically high center of gravity load of wooden fruit crates strapped on with few straps. I'd even helped clean up a few messes based on what other drivers did with such crazy loads, BUT I never lost my load.

Within 6 months they broke me down to driving only 1-2 times weekly and no longer the 5-6 times per week. So I gave'm my 2 wks. notice. It' wasn't the fact that most of the employees did illegal drugs or drank alcohol while at work. The secretary was always drunk. So drunk I wondered how she held it together. One employee had severely physically attacked his drunk supervisor several times.

The fact that really bothered me was that business had just slowed way far down and they no longer needed a few drivers. They only needed one driver. And the senior driver had me by a few years. About 2 yrs. or so after I left they shut down that warehouse location. I guess most of the employees ran out of drugs and alcohol?