after orientation w/swift

Actually, my DM said that if I cannot get back to the truck right away to just call in and they will give me the info and accept it for me. That is the way it is supposed to work for everyone, he said.

 

Swift pays HHG miles which is about 7-10% less than you will actually drive. No APU but I have an Esbar heater that keeps me toasty. Others have Webascos. Idling is allowed if it is necessary for sleeping comfort, primarily in the summer since we don't have coolers like the heaters. I am currently running the 902 and am averaging about 430 miles a trip. I plan to expand after the holidays as I would like longer runs. The longer runs get more miles per week. Here is how my last week has gone:

Left Albuquerque Wednesday morning with a load to Denver that didn't deliver until late on Thursday for around 435 miles paid. Arrived in Denver Wed. night, talked to the night planner about swapping my load for a local delivery then a load out. He gives me a load out (it is sitting on the yard)back to Albuquerque with 416 miles paid. I leave early Thursday morning with load to Albuquerque. It delivers early Friday AM. Make my delivery Friday morning go to terminal and have load out within half an hour. Pick load up at noon and drive to Flagstaff. Leave early Saturday morning for Phoenix and Tcall load around 10 AM. 455 miles paid on this one. Check with dispatch for load but none available. Go back an hour later and am given a load to Farmington, NM with 31 empty miles and 460 loaded miles paid but it doesn't deliver until tonight. So right now I am doing laundry (don't want a lot to do when I get home for Christmas). Problem I see with this comfort zone is that you may keep moving but the miles will be less because of the short runs. I am only averaging about 350 miles a day driving which makes for a 2100 mile week. If I am doing longer hauls and averaging say 450 a week I could be at 2700 miles. The trade off is on the larger comfort zones or 48 you may have to wait longer for the next load.

 

I saw this "comfort zone" deal on the Swift website. Do they have certain rules on this deal, or can you pick any zone you would like to run regardless of where you actually live?

i.e. - Say I live up north, but dont tolerate the cold very well and want to stay warm by choosing a warmer zone like the southwest zone.... is it do-able? Could you run 2 weeks in that zone then get a trip back for hometime? Just curious.

Anyone know what the Comfort Zone rules or regs?
Thx

 

You can only run comfort zones available to your home terminal.

 

hey there nate, i drive for swift out of greer sc term, the truck is governed at 62 mph, if your going down hill, (safely) you can hit 65 before the tattle tail beeps you, heres the trick, once your mph tops out and you stop pullin, (like just over the top of a hill), when you start down the hill, take your foot off the fuel, and dont touch it again, you can jake, you can brake but dont touch the fuel again till after your speed drops below 65, DO NOT let it hit 70 mph because then qualcomm sends a note to your dm, and at 75mph sends it straight to safety department, then they want answers.also note when speed tops out jake will slightly come on as well, so this trick dosnt work unless ur haulin atleast 12-15000lbs, be safe out there!

 

For me it took a couple of days to wait for my mentor to show up.. that was it... In my honest opinion Swift is an extremely fair company.

Perfect???? Umm yeah right.. I wish.. There are days I feel like I've entered the Twighlight Zone with them and wanna smash my head against a brick wall just to ease the pain.
But what company isn't like that?

Swift is a good company, Some of the "drivers" are complete idiots, but It is what it is ya know?

 

Okay, I'm back and if whoever it was that wanted the info on the workwell test will let me know, I'll pm it to you.

Also, I was right. My leg hasn't healed enough and I couldn't lift and carry what I needed to. My husband passed of course and I'm rescheduled for early Feb. I'll do some more physical therapy and I'll be fine by then. It's going very well for my husband and he's really enjoying the training. The more he learns about the company the more he's glad I talked him into Swift.

 

Hey dude, you may want to consider traffic on your runs.
How about your health? Get out walk around your truck get the blood flowing while your doing a safety check on your rig................

 

Anyone have info on Swift in NY? Going for the 3 day orientation then 4-6 with mentor. Question is how long a wait for my own rig after done with the mentor? Or is there no wait at all since it is in the North East that I assume not too many truckers want anyway?

Thanks,
Birdeye

 

Don't know nuffin bout NY. lol.

I don't mind running North East. It's tricky, but cool.. Keeps things interesting to say the least.. I love running all 48 so,, It keeps me busy.