COVENANT -- From a wife's perspective

I wish your husband success on his test and all the best with his teaming. For me, that has been the most difficult part of this all. I have less than a month to finish the mandatory teaming and only a month ago I found a partner that works out. Had 5 other partners before. Some were abusive, insulting me, screaming, threatening to kick me out of "their" trk, other was alcoholic, others needed to be baby sit the whole time.... another quit the co. rented a vehicle and drove away... (and I kept the trk ) If Mr. RC can get 80 thousand miles during his teaming period, the co. will give him a $ 2,500 bonus. But if he can't, he can team a little longer until he gets the miles and get the bonus.

 

RC keep you chin up things will get better

 

Usually the Covenant folks just throw all the dumb-and-dumber teammates together in a room and see if they can find someone to team with- SERIOUSLY. They do that once a day (at least they did when I drove for them) at Chatt. And yes, RC can take some time off between training and teaming, but he should keep it under a week (around 4-5 days maximum), otherwise they may assume he has left the company and terminate him-SERIOUSLY. Good luck to both of you!

And tell RC to keep his chin up, the hard part is still yet to come...

 

you should see some of the humor i got from my dm, but i can dish it out also,and unfortunately i come across as sarcastic.
i only went team twice, the first one at an expediter com. and the other guy was an idiot,could not keep logs legal, read a map or back up a straight truck to a dock.
the second one at usxpress was ok but he liked to tail gate, try sleeping at night knowing he is doing this and you can end up in the hospital or worse...
getting a good team driver is hard, freinds and familly would be best, but like the saying goes" you never know what yer gonna get".
the attitude of rc's dm shows that they hire you,train you...but if you leave...hey they at least delivered freight thru you and got good revenue from it.
just remember, time and miles make the job better........there are companies out there that are for teams and they match you up to someone that is what you are looking for...go to a truck stop and sort thru the magazines....
best wishes...
mcr&deb.

 

Just remind him that he's just got a little further to go, a little more
(once more into the breach, my friend...)
and he doesn't want to just throw it all away...

Once he outlasts his trainer, then he'll have it better.

 

with some lovin' he'll be ok in time especially after this whole ordeal ebbs away. and don't trust COVENANT. they will say one thing and do something else and hook you.
maybe you can go out with him on some trips to ease his mind...me and the old lady have a blast at times on the truck........
keep me informed...
best wishes
mcr&deb.

 

Hey Mrs R

I haven't been back for awhile but we're sitting up here in Idaho and fired up the ol laptop and remembered you and RC.....glad to see he has stuck to it. I went with Swift about 20 months ago and my trainer was also a religious fanatic, he also had some digestive problems so sometimes we had to make emergency stops on the shoulder so he could run into the woods to make like a bear........other times I could just tell, we didn't stop in time yes, it was that bad. The worst is behind him and I hope you kiss him up one side of his face and down the other to show how proud you are that he has finished (well, after he tests out and can take a few days off). My wife is here beside me (as a pasenger, not a driver) and has been since day 1, if not for that I'd be pursuing a different career. I have promised her that when I can get a better paying job and make enough to make us comfortable, she will be the most spoiled, happy wife on the face of the planet. That is the only way I can thank her for suffering thru this with me. Maybe you can go with him a few times once he can be on his own? I'm sure he would like your company alot better than another guy in the truck......2 men in a rolling telephone booth for weeks on end is just never a good idea. If he can make it through the training he can make it through anything. Things are bad everywhere right now, freight is really bad for everyone. I have always thought Swift has plenty of miles and I have a great DM and my miles have really dropped off in the past few months, everyones miles have, and not just at Swift. There is a trucking expert on XM right now, he has a 3 hour show on Sat and Sun, he said experts don't expect freight to get any better until late 2009 or early 2010. Kind of depressing huh? Oh, before I forget, my wife is a health nut....she said to make absolute sure that RC gets a good multi-vitamin with extra vitamin B, it's good for stress and the last thing RC needs is to be cutting his life short dealing with the stress of driving and not eating right. We don't always eat the best either but we try to hit Subways everyday, it's alot better than burgers and fries, or chips and Red Bulls Those $5.00 footlongs go along ways to a full tummy, she just told me she thinks RC is a vegetarian, Subway has a good veggie sub. We are going for a quick walk before we roll, headed for Portland for an early morning drop on Monday. Thats another thing, every chance he gets, even if it's just 15-20 minutes, tell him to take a brisk walk. Tell him we're pulling for him.....and you too, good luck with your sales.

 

Like someone wrote, tell Mr. RC not to spend more than a week at home. Don't wait on the co. to find you a partner. (All they have is a huge list of names, showing where people live, smokers, non-smokers, and hazmat endorsements). Instead, tell Mr. RC to go to Chatt, to their team meeting, at 3:30 pm every week day. Tell him to take all his things with him so even if he doesn't find a partner right away, he can get a room at the co. "motel" and stay there until he finds someone and get into a trk. I really mean GOOD LUCK with the teaming. You think the slavery will end with teaming??? WRONG. IMHO it will get even worse. Again, I wish him good luck. BTW, my current parnter, the one that was working out, just got off the trk today. She has been mad at co., she reached her breaking point, she needed her time and her space. So, she got her things off the trk, and a friend came pick her up. We lost our load, A GOOD ONE, going from Calif to GA. Now here I sit, parked at Pomona terminal. Can't drive solo yet. Will have to wait until Monday to see if team coordinator can find me another partner.... Ohhh..... all that **it again.... Can't wait to go solo....