Disorganized.

I went to orientation in Memphis Tennessee. Instead of shipping me off with a trainer from there, they sent me home to Denver. I will never know why I couldn't have gone to orientation in Denver..... hahahaha
In the Swift orientation you have to take a test for Highway Watch. That was one year ago, when I took that test. I just now got my card. I had to call Highway Watch to find out what was going on..... Swift had my name scrambled!
When I got to Denver, I waited a week for my trainer. He was an arrogant #######, who leased a Kenworth W900L. The inside of it was filthy. He chewed tobacco....... It was crowded, and being 6' I didn't have enough room to suffiently lay down.
One day we were somewhere in Kansas headed to Colorado. He get's diariah....... The Colorado State Guard had just reopened the entry back into the state..... So the Kansas hwys wasn't much better....... I was asleep.
I only got about five hrs of sleep when I hear the zipper on the curtain...... He says, "Find me a plastic bag." Confused and still half asleep I said, "What?" He said, "Don't ask questions, there should be a Wal-mart bag laying next to you."
I obeyed. He then instructed me to get up front into the passenger seat. I did. He informed me that we were about to change drivers..... without stopping! He was going 65. I said, "There's no way in hell we can safely do that, expecially with the roads iced over like they are."
He slowed it down really quick.... 45 mph.
Next thing I know, I hear a zip....he in the sleeper, with the curtain zipped. The truck was on cruise at 45mph, and I was still sitting in the passenger seat, holding on to the steering wheel.
Keep in mind I had been awake for a minute at the most at this point! I got into the driver seat....... the roads where very icy.
I finally buckled up....... The smell was horrible.... he had crapped in the bag! I rolled down the windows, he got angry about that, because it was cold. I asked him if he'd rather be cold, or have vomit all over the drivers side of his Kenworth. He shutup.
I almost forgot to mention, that when I made the transition to from the sleeper berth to the passenger seat...... I had to step over dozens of bottles of his urine, and chewing tobbaco..... Ok, I admit I piss in a bottle too.... But I throw it away, I don't have an odd collection going in my truck you know...... hahahaha I could go on about how horrible of a trainer and man this guy is, but I am already off subject.
I was on my own, not long after that, and my wife was pregnant. She calls me while I am coming out of Texas to tell me that the baby isn't mine, and she wants a divorce etc etc.
So I call my driver manager(that's what they Swift call's their dispatcher.)
I asked him if he could get my paycheck put onto my comdata card.
"It's as good as done, you don't need to worry about it." He responds.
I didn't get that weeks paycheck my wife got it.
I called him, and he said the same thing again.
next pay period the same thing happens, only this time he tells me I need to go to a terminal and file some paper work.
I went to Greer SC....... filled out the paperwork, asked the lady in the office that gave it to me to look over it, because I couldn't afford to lose three pay checks in a row. She did, and told me that they where fine.
I took my day off in my hometown, in Somerset, Kentucky. The next day,was pay day..... guess what, that made a 3rd paycheck in a row I didn't get.
Something was wrong with my Volvo. Everytime I had my day off, my truck had no juice. Instead of getting it fixed they would have it jump started. I begged them for over two months to get this fixed. They finally consented this time, after a few hours of battling with people from both Denver, and Pheonix..... I think they thought maybe this would get me to shutup about not getting paid three weeks straight?
I got it jumped to drive to World Wide Equipment to get it fixed...... on the drive there I was fuming about my paycheck.
They told me they'd straighten it out yet again. I waited until the truck was fixed. I sent a message on the Qualcomm stating I couldn't work for free any longer, and if they wanted me to, I could drive it to the terminal in Columbus Oh. My driver manager calls me..... He said if I drove it to Columbus, then that would be truck abandament, and that I needed to drive it to the denver yard, as it was a denver truck. I told him, I had no where to go in Denver anymore, and asked if Swift was going to pay for me a bus ticket back to Kentucky if I did that. No, was his reponse.
He asked me to give Swift another chance. He said he had a good load for me, 2000 trip. He said he was going to straighten out my paycheck..... I told him, I couldn't afford to lose a fourth paycheck that I'd never see.
The fleet manager then called me. He begged and pleaded for me to stay. (are they that desperate for drivers?)
Finally after a good hour on the phone with the fleet manager, he said, "Well I guess I will except your resignation." He guesses? I didn't stutter when I told them I quit. hahahaahaha
My driver manager aka dispatcher, and my fleet manager are both good guys. It's just that Swift, the company itself..... no matter what terminal you go to..... is very unorganized.
They messed up on my information....... so bad you have no idea. I just had gotten it straighted out the day before I quit.
When the fleet manager said it would cost Swift out the ### to have someone from Denver to come to Kentucky to pick up the truck, I volunteered to drive it back to denver, if..... and only if they would pay for my ticket home on a grey hound. No go.
They paid for some one on a grey hound to get it.
They wanted me to do that anyway..... in half of the conversation, so I asked,"If I do go, and Swift won't pay for me to go back to Kentucky..... then how do I get the money for the grey hound?"
His response, "Out of your paycheck."
what paycheck? I hadn't got payed three times in a row! wth?
I haven't been behind a wheel since.
I will say this despite all that I just wrote, I loved driving for Swift. No matter whatever one else says I think they are a good company to start off with...... they are just to unorganized for me.
I haven't been back in a truck since that day. I've been afraid to apply to another truck company because I know my DAC is all screwed up now.
Would anyone else have driven back to the Denver yard under these circumstances? NO PAYCHECK THREE WEEKS RUNNING?

 

Yes, I was using my advances.That's varily enough to live on. Truck stops are expensive.
If you really want to go over the road then go for it. But it's no joke when they say it's not a carreer it's a lifestyle. I like the lifestyle, but just to warn you, it can be lonely.
If I where you I'd weigh the pro's and con's of each trucking school, before I applied. Get a CDL booklet from the DMV, and start studying it before you even go. Get that extra edge.
The 105 point inspection isn't that bad after you get used to it. But it did seem daunting the first time around atleast for me. It's just a lot of remembering. That's part of your CDL test, but it's really not that hard. If you haven't drove a truck at all before, then it may seem very big.... That feeling leaves you soon. You get back in a four wheeler, and it feels like your butts dragging the ground..... your car, or truck, or my case a van, will seem so small.
If you're wanting to do it to see the country..... that gets old. lol But when you have some home time, you start getting the itch to go back. You'll see what I mean. You'll spend part of your time over the road wanting to be home, and most of your time at home wanting to be on the road.
East Bernstadt eh? I am not sure exactly where that is. I Know London of course. I see Bernstadt in the news once in a blue moon. I think there was a bad wreck there recently?
Well good luck man, I hope you find a good truck school, a good trainer, and that you get a good truck after training.