Beginning my Process with Swift

I dont get it. why do newbie drivers set their expectations so high, then get disapointed when their goals aren't met? You are disapointed with 300-400 mile runs? you kidding me?? take em, and run. I'm sure you do, but that is how you become a STAND OUT. you take those 100-200 mile runs, and you dont b!tch about it. sure you're first weeks will be 1500...and you'll only make $250 paychecks, but you know something? you gotta cut your teeth on grinding it out till you get noticed. once you DO? you'll take off. trust me. you still might end up with an occasional $400 check, but your miles will pick up, and you'll end up making $500-600 without really doing much.

you're a newb, and complaining you're getting 2200 miles? holy smokes. If you end up not liking running in the NE, then change your comfort zone. I remember when i started, i was on the 910. Then that lasted 2-3 months and i asked to go all 48. Why? because you end up handcuffing yourself to ONLY being planned on those loads. now I run dedicated regional, and i do pretty good. you can't have 500-900 mile loads for every load. just wont happen.

 

I know this was posted a month ago or so, but just wanted to give you a heads up. Yeah, you're sitting in the truck, and it sounds like a good idea (for your benefit) to deliver early. However, you will walk (actually call) yourself into a service failure one of these times.....and here is why.

CSRs are the liaison between the planners and the customer. They know the rules of the customer, whether its their policy to take loads early or not. The customer has a flow of operations, and loads are booked according to that plan....aluminum cans to arrive at a certain time, cardboard paper, etc. The CSRs know or call the final for a yes or no. Like a home depot load i had once to a store. the only way i could get there, i had to drive straight there, get there at midnight, and then not present myself till the 9a appt time. Dispatch said "cannot deliver early". What happened? someone from the dock came and knocked on my sleeper at 7a. i made the mistake to send in my macro 5 right then. Afterwards, the CSR msged me (or the planner) and said next time i'd get a service failure.

Not saying you WILL get one, but the odds are good you might. Always message your DM who will message the CSR for word on delivering early. If you haven't run all the miles off the load, and it has enough time, they could t-call the load off ya.

just a word to the wise....

 

hey...not saying there isnt any incompetance, i know its out there. Like waiting for memphis to show a trailer that has been dropped a day or two before by another truck, and waiting for them to show it as dropped so i can send in my loaded call. Sat at Napoleon, OH for an hour for them to do it.

I've seen plenty of PrePlan's where they are not 100% accurate. live loads that are pre loaded (dunno how that is bad) and pre loads that end up live loads. I've found that some of those are because the shipper runs out of MT trailers and thus has to wait for yours. Other times...because the shipper dock workers are just plain lazy....and others because the planner makes the mistake. it happens. But when PPs show live load and they end up being a pre loaded trailer...i look at it like "wow...ok...just saved me 2 hrs waiting to get loaded" rather than "for cryin' out loud, i could have picked this up 5 hrs ago??"

you sound like a driver who likes to drive and bust his butt. the kind of driver i'd like running a load to t-call that i'm picking up to take to the final, cause hard drivers you seldom end up 'waiting' for. I've had loads where i'm picking up a t-call, and end up burning a half day waiting because the previous driver takes their time to get it to the terminal. that being said, i hope that you're not one of these drivers who thinks the company works for you, rather than you work for the company.

my pappy always said, "if you dont like what you're doing....find something else"

 

Schmidtrock, how much experience do you have up until now? Just a simple question for ya', but if you've got a bit under your belt and if you still reside in Palatka get with me through a PM and maybe I can throw another option your way, not to say it would work out immediately but it's worth a try, I'm not a recruiter at all, read my other posts on here, but I don't mind helping my fellow Floridians find greener pastures.

 

the grass isnt always greener on the other side. But sometimes it is....because its fertilized with B.S. =)

 

My neighbor runs dedicated from that GP plant.

However, he drives an orange colored truck.

Anyways, hope you can get on that account, Good Luck !!

 

Well I'm not a product of BS, just trying to help another Florida driver out, so if you were referring to my comment I don't really appreciate it, the company is Pritchett Trucking out of Lake Butler where I have driven for 3 years, 3 years in which I have been profitable and enjoyed my job, all the while going home every night. Seems sometimes you can't even come on here and be helpful without being criticized.