Beginning the Long Awaited CDL Process

I want to do flatbed, but $.26 seems awfully low. WHy would I want to go with Swift at that low mileage? I am serious...because they for some reason keep coming to the top of my list....and then I see the mileage comparison...

Don't mean to hijack....I am just curious.

 

Thanks Wulfman.

I think the negatives on Swift are blown out of proportion. And if I'm wrong, so be it. After a year, I can re-evaluate.

I would have thought your guess would have been Conway. May was actually my first choice. The negative was the parking issue. The terminal is in Pensacola, and that means parking in a drop yard or truck stop for home time. Chances are there would be no secure parking for my vehicle, and I can't bring the rig home with me.

Going with Swift just simplies everything. The local terminal is a huge factor. I'll see how it goes. They're telling me they've got the miles, and I believe them. I'll be sure to let you know.

 

Thanks AZS.

Good luck tonight hitting the road. Keep in touch, maybe I'll bump into you out there.

 

It gets bumped up pretty quickly, after three months I think it's at $.29 and than increased again at six months, etc. That's for van, assuming add $.01 for flatbed at each of those increases.

Thanks man! I will stay in touch and yeah maybe see you down the road. Just some advice that maybe you can use, if you can try and get into orientation as soon as possible. Are you going van? Maybe it's shorter for van but the wait for a flatbed mentor was lengthy.

 

Well you never did get back to me on Con-Way so I didn't know if you were looking at them or not.

Hey it's what YOU make of it is what people keep telling me.

 

I said the exact same thing about the mileage.

Then I found that they bump up the cpm pay pretty quick in the first 6 months. That's one of the reasons I decided to go with them.

You have to figure that if you're new to the trucking industry, in the first year you will go through a major learning curve. I don't expect to break the bank. Swift has a good safety rating, plenty of terminals, and they hire recent grads. You have to get the first year monkey off the back. Then you go where ever you want....if you want.

That's my view, anyway.

I'll try to find the that schedule.

 

Yeah, van all the way. I'm too old for tarps.

I mentioned earlier in my thread that my orientation is set for Jan 4, but I'm on standby for Dec 14. Someone will have to cancel. I don't know if that's going to happen or not. Keeping my fingers crossed for now.

Stay in touch with me if you can. I'll be posting during orientation, and I have an air card for my netbook, so I have no excuse not to post.

Let me know if you're going to start a training thread. I'd be happy to read along and contribute my 2 cents.

 

Thank you for the response. I am seriously leaning towards Swift right now because of what you said. There is another company that I am very interested in, I am just not sure they are as interested in me.

Either way....good luck and keep us informed. I look forward to hearing your Swifty stories.

 

ohh you're on standby I see, misunderstood, thought you were deciding on which one to attend. I guess it's only a couple weeks difference either way. I will stay in touch for sure, I started a thread on the swift forum with the stuff I've done from the beginning. I will definitely update there or somewhere.

 

Sorry about that.

I took a serious look at Conway. They like teams, and from what I hear, teams get priority on equipment as well. Supposedly the teams run from terminal to terminal. Nothing but drop and hook. I don't know how true that is, but they are worth a closer look.

I don't have the time to research it further, so for now I'll get on with Swift and see how it goes.