Never went to Trucking school.

Let me tell you something about swift. They literally screwed me. I called a recruiter and told him my situation and he done a pre-approval for me to see if i even qualify and well i did. I filled out an Application and and put my 2 tickets i had for the past 5 years (1 was speeding in my personal car and another for running a stop sign on a uhaul truck im guessing its commercial). Anyways i was honest about everything.

He reviewed my application and all was good. He emailed me some forms i had to fill out and i sent it back to him. He had set me up for oreintation and told me that i was set go to and i should go ahead and turn in my 2 week notice. so i went ahead and did. 1 week later He calls me and tells me i didnt make it to Oreintation because i had a ticket on a commercial truck for running a stop sign. I had then told him i put that ticket on my application and i was honest about everything. He reviewed my application again and saw where i had put that ticket in there and so he then apologized and told me that because he had made a mistake he still wasnt able to send me to oreintation.

Rest a sure, i was pissed and worried that i wouldnt be able to take back my 2 week notice i had turned in a week ago. Luckly my current employer trashed my noticed and i still have my job.

Once the recruiter told me i couldnt go to oreintation he told me i couldnt apply with swift for another 3 years. Once i saw how he done me i wont ever apply a job for swift.

 

My current employer has several tractor trailers but there all assigned to drivers thats been driving for several years. The tractor trailer i was training in was the only one that wasnt assigned and is pretty much sitting on the yard. About 3 years ago my company was using that tractor for making deliveries to into other states. Once the Economy got bad they canceled those commercial runs so now the tractor is just sitting out on the yard collecting dust. I spoke with my dispatcher to see if he can put me on the big rig so i can gain some experience but he tells me that there's no commercial runs going out anywhere and it might be a while before some come's up. So im just stuck right now on a straight truck (flatbed or box). I really want to drive big rigs but i have a feeling that it will be a long while before they consider me for a big rig run.

 

I completely agree with you. Ive been working for them for 8+ years. They have been really good to me. Reason i want to jumb ship is because i havent gotten a raise in 4 years and there's alot of new supervisor that are pretty much screwing people up.

I make local deliveries dropping off Windows, doors, trim etc to new contruction homes. My job is extremely hard and very back breaking. Our box trucks dont have lifts so we have helpers. Once at a job site I jump on the box and hand down Material to my helper and he puts it in the house. Depending on the jobsite and what we deliver, the material is sometimes about 3 or 4 hundred pounds heavy and on top of that we have to carry that material through some difficult terrain. Ive been doing this job for a long time and its catching up to me. I was 24 when i started working with them. Im now 32 and im starting to feel the effects. Dont get me wrong, Im not lazy at all and always put 100% into what i do but man, its just getting hard for me sometimes.

So im Working hard to death and i havent gotten a raise in 4 years and dont feel appreciate for the hard work i do. Thats pretty much why im looking else where. Many of my co-workers dont blame me for leaving. Infact there's been many other workers thats gone driving for other companies. So thats where im at with that.

 

I agree with you as well, I have about 5 years of straight truck experience (flatbed and box) but its tractor trailer experience that im lacking. I cant go to another company and tell them " i have 40 hours of tractor trailer experience". Most trucking companies here are looking for drivers that have a minimum of at least 4 months of tractor trailer experience.

Ive always told myself that if i was to ever going to get a commercial license it would be a class A. So when my employer told me that they would pay for all my licensing i just jumped on it. From the time i started reading the Motor vehicle book to the time i passed my Driving exam it took me 6 weeks. I was studying very long and hard.

 

The only reason i want to go OTR is to gain some experience. At least 1 year OTR that way i can Honestly say i have Tractor trailer experience.

My Goal is to drive a Day cab and go home every night and off weekends. There's several trucking companies locally that offer that. (Averitt express, Old dominion, Sala, Wilson, Estes, UPS, fedex).