Good Night From II

For company drivers you need to be platinum status or better to use Mac-30. That's one nice benefit for being platinum. The other is the quarterly bonus is bigger.

 

It's for Diamond & Platinum Co drivers as well as O/O & L/O. I probably get 2/3 of my loads via Mac30. It's nice, as a Co driver, to have some small choice in deciding where I go.

 

How do you make diamond or platinum??

 

If I had him he'd be repacking all his fashion coordinates back into his matching luggage and hopping off at the next terminal.

I could work around medically needed stops but all that other crap he's pulling would not be acceptable at all. Especially with YOUR service record being put in jeopardy because of his lack of urgency to get the job done.

 

It's based on some fuzzy math involving your miles that I have yet to have explained to me in a way that made sense...my understanding is to become Diamond you need at 12 quarters as a Platinum driver with no service failures, preventables etc...there's probably more.

For Platinum you need to be running "x" number of miles a month and, I think, no service failures, preventables, etc. I'll make an assumption that your Risk Analysis (RA) score is looked at too, but I'm not sure. I run a fairly consistent 2800-3400 miles a week but these miles and the number of loads I run per week are never reflected as such on my ranking page in the driver portal. No one has been able to tell me why..not even driver services in Phoenix. Should be more transparent.

I hit Platinum at around 5 months after going solo about 3.5 years ago. Have been that rank ever since with the exception of a month off I took and a few weeks to earn it back. Ive never had a service failure or an accident nor issues like tickets or being put out of service by DOT. I've also found, in my opinion, that you get better load offers to some degree when you have a demonstrated track record. I get more long distance HiVal/JIT/HyperFocus loads as a Platinum driver vs not. I do get short loads depending on many factors but the vast majority are 800-2000 mile runs. I also pull hazmat and tanks.

And as Lepton mentioned the quarterly bonus is MUCH better.

 

I've been on dedicated or special fleets for much of my time with Swift. One of the drawbacks is we are not eligible for bonus pay because we are not ranked like the OTR drivers. There are a few benefits to doing what I do that the OTR drivers do not get, or maybe want. The good and the bad balance out in the end and I am happy with what I do. I don't need to be ranked to know how proficient I am at doing my job.

 

Here at the T/A in Heath. As far as my hours would get me. Got to mess with 3 Pittsburg stores today and what a disaster. MsJamie, East Liberty does bite a big one coming in the way that I did, and trying to find the docks off 380. Luckily I was able to get turned around across from the Giant Eagle there and come back up and turn and then turn right on Broad Street and back up that little hill to get in the dock. Then the Monroeville store and Homestead. Wit all of that 2 lane and rush hour and then trying to get from Homestead back to I-70. Lets just say that I do not see Pittsburg in my near future. Well I am officially with Target Reefer now. New contract last night and a few days ago my security id badge.

 

Thanks for the information. I read the same in the manual, however, it looked as fuzzy as what you describe. I thought it would be 4 years before he would earn any kind of status. He worked for 4 years on Walmart dedicated out of Los Lunas NM and quit to retire. He was rehired a month ago OTR and is at Bronze ranking. He has driven for some 40 years, and would qualify to be a mentor, but after reading some of the posts here about matching luggage (we have a 25 year old tiny suitcase and black plastic garbage sacks!) ect, and decided that maybe becoming a mentor wouldn't be safe for the trainee. You guys have been so kind to me in trying to figure out all the "black holes" at Swift. I greatly appreciate your time and energy. Right now, he is staying out over the holidays in hopes of getting the extra miles. Thus far, he has had lots of down time waiting and waiting some more for planning and dispatch. We hauled cattle for 36 years, so all this 8 hour, 14 hour, 70 hour stuff is new. In order to get our loads to their destination alive and kicking, DOT regs took second place.

 

My husband has hazmat & tanker endorsements. What benefits would be available and should he look to his DM to get him in on those kinds of hauls?

 

sisterannie...if hubsband is waiting for a load after he empties out, have him call dispatch or his dm and ask for one. if hems at a terminal, walk up to window and ask for anything. most likely he'll get a local run, but should get a longer preplan after getting that local. have to be proactive.