New soon to be swift trainee!

I'm currently on my very first home time since I got my cdl. Have my next load set up for Monday and I'm planning on going to the movies, fair, and church tomorrow. It's weird because I'm going to hardly spend time actually at home, haha, my choice though nothing really happens there for me. When I met my dispatcher she introduced me to a man who would take me out on a left hand turn course. Some kind of pilot thing. I was like when will the testing end, lol but he said I did well and to drive like I did when he was with me and I should be fine. He also had me do a straight line back and a sightside back. Did those well EXCEPT I didn't goal on the sightside bad me, but he let it slide. He joked saying I'm going to send you back out with a mentor. I asked why and then he told me I should of goaled. He was a really cool guy. Taught me a lot about how to be on time and how to plan trips. Oh well my movie starts in a few so I have to make my way over there so I don't miss it! Stay safe guys and good luck where ever you are on the road and in life!

 

I've only been with swift since August I think, it's a blur to be honest, I went solo last week. It's a great company if you come with an open mind and want to drive, you have to love driving. Money will come when you get experience. Don't listen to naysayers every company has them. Make up your own mind that's when it's profitable for yourself.

Flatbedding comes with an extra week of training and certain dedicated account are, I don't want to say easy to get into but you'll have your chance at one of the harder accounts no one wants to do. I say no one wants to do because you unload the trailer yourself in some accounts. Not everyone wants to do that but you do make more money that way. Also you get exercise if you're a health buff.

 

In south Carolina picking up a load going to my home state! I picked up a load in Mississippi to go to north Carolina on my way to drop it it stormed cats and dogs on the mountains! Like bad rain. I saw many trucks pulled over on the side it was so bad and seen two cars in the median. Thankfully I made it to the drop safely and going to take my 10 hour break and pick up the load tomorrow morning sometime. Hope everyone is safe! Later

 

Oh, also remember if you're just starting to scan your bill of ladens as soon as you can. If you're solo it's easier because you can stop at a pilot and or loves and scan them on your 10 hour break. Thursdays is the cut off day in order to be on your next weeks paycheck. My first week I scanned my bols on friday. Not good lol. Keep them for 90 days as well in a safe spot in the truck so you'll have them on hand just in case you need them.

 

Hey guys, in Houston Texas now. Just had a dot inspection. Officer gave me a warning for the stripe on the mudflap of the tractor. It was mandatory for trucks to go in, do I went in and saw a sign say loaded trucks, so I pulled over getting out of the way, since I was empty. The officer told me to wait for all trucks to be weighed and then asked me what year my truck was. I told him and he told me to pull over. I was there for 30 minutes before he got to me. Another truck was ahead of me. When he got to me he told me why he told me to pull over and I was shaking in my shoes because my first dot inspection. I had just performed a pretrip 10 minutes earlier and was 6 miles away from my fuel stop. Needless to say I have ti buy a stripe of caution tape stuff and or go to the terminal to get it fixed and aend in the warning papers. Whew! What a day so far.

 

No for me last stop was a drop at a final. I picked up an empty and drove somewhere that I can park the truck and I went around. The pay stops after you send in your empty call and starts when you pick up from shipper after home time with loaded call. As long as you respect everyone you come in contact with over the Qualcomm you won't have a problem. I haven't ran into the problem that some drivers have run into with no miles. You do what they ask of you they will help you out. Slow seasons may come, of course im new haven't faced one of those yet, but I do what I'm told and my miles come. I can't complain about how swift is working out for me. Never turned down a load and if there was an issue I explained, (70 hour clock running low or 34 hour restart needed) and they helped me. I haven't had any bad moment with my dispatcher or the weekend crew. Just keep a good attitude and home time when needed and planned well in advance you should get home. Let your dispatcher know 5-7 days ahead of hometime, maybe even 2 weeks even. Constantly remind them if need be. It's my experience that I'm going off of I can't tell you what others have experienced. And truthfully with those there is always a story behind their bad experience. Good luck hope everyone is staying safe in the middle of that bad weather!!!

 

Just an update guys: I'm really liking regional. It's great for me so far, good to see things I'm familiar with. I can't complain at all. I just want to say if you are thinking of becoming a driver make sure you do research, are knowledgable about what it's going to take and are dedicated to the company you have/ will choose. It is worth it as long as you put the work in it to make it work for yourself, family and the company. I'm working with great ppl who I feel care about me. You guys have a great day wherever you are!! Thanks for the support!