Diary of a current Swift flatbed driver

I am Starting Flatbed for swift next monday any words of advice or should i switch back to van lol

 

I was reading on a post you have to have 6months with swift to train in fb. Is that true?

 

i have 5 mths otr exp and they told me i can go through 50 to 240 depends on what they want me to do when i get there

 

I saw one of the new Cascadias with the boxes & headache rack yesterday headed towards the flatbed row. When I got out of the range truck I tried to find it but it was gone. FWIW..I counted 17 new Cascadias like the one I showed in the photograph waiting in the truck line for their equipment.

 

Walked out to the flatbed area on my 9:00 am break and there sat one of the new Cascadias complete with headache rack & a box on the right side.

 

Wonder why they don't do like they did with the Columbias starting in 04, and just order them without the fairings?

 

Most of the Columbias (configured for flatbed) that I've seen have fairings.

 

That can'
t be a swift yard... all the poles are upright...

 

Seems to me like most of them were ordered without the fairings, and had the stacks placed on the side. Which would be a good thing if Swift ordered good headache racks with the enclosures and deep wells, but they don't. Before they started ordering those, the flatbed drivers typically had the exact same trucks the van drivers did (either Freightliner FLDs or Columbias, with the tire chains replaced by the box on the side), and a handful got the long wheelbase FLDs with the small sleeper. I was supposed to get an FLD, but the thing reeked of piss, and I ended up with an old Merit truck... International 9200i with the 51" sleeper. A bit cramped, but I liked that truck. When they moved me into a Columbia, I only got to enjoy the extra space for about a month and a half before I was called to active duty.