Anyone recently solo with swift

So now you are flatbedding with .42 per mile? How long has it been since you finished your time with your mentor?

I don't think I'll have any issues with a grueling schedule, as I have absolutely no obligations or connections with family. No reason to want to go " home " now, to be honest. My objectives are to

1) Work
2) Work
3) Work

Since this seems to match any solid employers interests, I simply want to make sure I'll get the miles.

How many miles are you now getting each week, and what is your gross pay for that same week?

Thanks.

 

I have been solo for 11.5 months. March 4th is my 1 year mark. Now, the account I'm on only has 13 people on it and you must live in either Central Kentucky or the Chicago area to get on it. There are two other dedicated accounts you can get on as well, but they offer less hometime and pay I believe. The Laredo Triangle and the Chassis Run. There is also the PLS account which runs up north that pays well, but I don't know much about it.

I drive anywhere from 2,500-3,000 miles a week. Here are copies of my high end and low end checks. I typically clear 950-1000 a week is what my average is. Swift pay is absolutely terrible when you start out at .27 a mile... I did it for two months. Get on a good dedicated and they pay extremely well. After tarp pay, detention pay and bonuses (I typically get a $150 productivity bonus each week -- I did not get one on my low end check) -- Swift has paid me well. They've treated me pretty good from my terminal perspective. Now, corporate has tried to screw up my DAC with a recent accident where I was parked and _HIT_ while my truck wasn't even moving and I wasn't even in the #### thing, and they said it was my fault. So, on a corporate level, Swift has it's faults. At a terminal level and my everyday dealings with them, I'm more than pleased.

It should also be noted that what works for one driver may not work for another. You should ask questions about "what dedicated runs are in my area, what do they pay, what is the hometime situation? How do I get them?" Because, I qualify for the account I haul which is a steel hauling only account because of A) my qualifications and B) the location of my house. It costs Swift $6.00 a week to get me home and back out on the road as I live 6 miles from where my main delivery is. Two gallons of gas.

Before I decided on flatbed or dry van or even decided on a company, I'd ask questions about all of that. Because I'm one of the lucky 13 on this account whereas you may not even be eligible to get on it due to location or whatever may be the case.

Obviously my name and any identifying marks have been blocked out on my checks but here they are for proof. I'm sure plenty of truckers make far more money and some far less but I'm happy, in all honesty. I make good money, get 2.5 days at the house a week and I'm guaranteed miles. I'm one of the first guys in the flatbed fleet to get planned for the week because of my account. We get planned before anyone else.

 

Thanks much!

You see, since I can move anywhere in N. America, with no more than two days from when they say " be at XXX location on Tuesday ". So if someone said to me after finishing my training with my mentor that there was a dedicated route available, based in XXX city, I could be living in that city with no more than a two day notice.

So I really think most of the recruiters have a tough time understanding this, because it is so rare. After explaining all this on phone conversation, inevitably a recruiter will say " Then two days at home, isn't that great?" or "something else which indicates they do not understand. If I am going to be on the road for a week or two, why not just wait until I get a day off and get a hotel room, rather than pay rent on a home/apartment for 30 days of each month during training and mentoring?

I am free, so maybe doing the training at Swift, get my CDL, mentoring, and then saying to Swift: OK, where can I live to get the best dedicated route and the most money for the next 10 months?

 

Industry wide its not uncommon to see drivers that just get a P.O. Box or use a relatives addy and then straight up live out of their trucks.

Has for where to live for the best dedicated account... Well there really isn't any "one" area. Talk to ten different drivers and you will get ten different answers. Your best bet is to keep your ear's and options has open has possible. You might bounce though a couple of different accounts and areas until you find one that you like. But once you do then your set I would wait until that time to "adjust" any living arrangements.

 

Thanks. I am listening.

The drivers you mention above are probably all experienced, and they know the details. I am a newbie, so I have to focus on a lot of things they do not:

Get my CDL
Get mentoring experience
Get miles

So I am trying to do all this without a home base, and most of the recruiters for school or company cannot get it through their head that I don't want to keep " going home ", have no need for a terminal near my home, etc, etc.

I know this will work itself out well. Thanks for your help.

 

Keep in mind also the 34-hour reset... seems a lot of companies like to use that as your "home time" if they promise home time every week.

 

If your at home your at home whats the problem? The fact that you pick up a 34 at the same time is a bonus. Your not doing something silly like trying to say that the 34 is actually part of work so home time shouldn't start till after or that the two shouldn't run consecutively are you? If so you really need to rethink things. Time off at home is just that time off at home if something just happens to coincide with it so what its called two birds one stone.

Home time = Home time
34 restart away from home = Day and a half off
34 restart at home = Home time

 

Well, for a newbie like me, this makes no sense. Anyone want to explain--or point me to a place which will--the 34 hour reset? This is federally mandated time away from driving, but how is it measured, how often must one take this 34 hours off?

 

In short if you take 34 consecutive hours off then your 70 will reset to 0 hours worked. So lets say its friday and you have 63 hours on the book that means you have 7 hours left for saturday. So lets say that you went off duty at 12am saturday morning at 10am sunday morning your hours would wipe clean and you would be back to a full 70 hours to run for the week.

 

not at all. but a recruiter can tell a newb just about anything and get away with it. i reckon that was my point.