Got my application in to Swift. Davis, CA, west of Sacramento. What to expect?

I've been looking at a few companies to take my freshly minted Class A with all the endorsements. Swift with their Lathrop terminal looks the closest to where I'm at for a company that will hire with no experience.

I have obstacles to jump. I got my Class A from studying for the written tests and studying hard for the road, inspection and skills test. I tested in a rented Tractor with ball hitch trailer of the appropriate weight. I once trained years ago with an employee training program at a local company, but never hired on. So the lack of recent training is an issue in my application. But the recruiter I am talking to sounds encouraging. They say that I will have to take a driving test before I go to orientation.

Assuming I make it to starting my OTR experience, I have a few concerns. What is like trying to get back home from the road? I don't own a car yet. But say I had a car, how would I manage that? What about not owning a car? I'd especially like to hear from drivers based in Northern California.

Also, what are the real prospects of feeding yourself without depending on fast food or restaurants? This is a major issue for me, I just can't eat the stuff they feed you in restaurants and fast food. I'm strictly a meat and potatoes/rice kind of guy, nothing else. I'm hoping I can use a rice cooker/slow cooker on the road some how with ready access to a refrigerator. How friendly is Swift towards drivers feeding themselves, even during the mentoring period?

These are my two big worries before I make the big jump.

 

i live in redding and sacramento and i run out of woodland for the rite aid fleet and i got my license through another company before coming to swift and all youll have to do is take a quick road test around the block. if you have a car you can just park it at the terminal and it will be fine there. the good thing about terminals is that there are tons of people in and out of there all the time and i wouldnt take a slow cooker with your trainer just cause there wont be room on the truck. once you get solo then worry about the slow cookers and whatever else you want to take

 

What does swift start out cpm for newbie?

 

Swift starts at $0.25/mile and goes to
$0.28/mile at 4 months. This is from your hire date, not from when you go solo.

 

Some of us new people have had to give up our trucks every time we go home even if for one day. That makes it hard to drag around a slow cooker, fridge, and almost anything else, especially if you don't have a car

 

Would you say that with team driving, there is usually no room for a slow cooker? Don't some of these rigs come with a microwave and a fridge too?

Yeah, this is my concern too. And I am also thinking about a fridge. Actually, I'm looking at freezers, but they get pretty expensive and the smallest one I saw was 28 pounds.

 

For what it's worth , IMHO -
Save the worry about the micros / fridges / diets & home time until you get your own truck
and focus on what you're there for.

 

You won't have a microwave, refrigerator or a freezer on your truck without a high wattage output inverter and Swift prohibits inverters. When you solo your truck will come with 12v accessory outlets but nothing else. Go to a truck stop and check out the 12v appliances available including the 12v coolers.
Frank

 

I'm all for that, but I still have to eat. And I'm not kidding, if I have to eat fast food and the stuff they feed you at restaurants, I'm going to be sick. I'm pretty strong and tough but only if I eat simple. Meat. Rice. Potatoes. No kidding. No pizza, no hamburgers, no fried chicken, no barbecue sauce. I'm looking at instant rice and potatoes and canned fish. Rice and potatoes I think would be easy to work with. The meat part is hard. A slow cooker with a piece of beef, pork or chicken would work as long as the truck is running. I don't want to run the batteries down. Fresh fish and chicken breast cooks up fast, but fresh fish goes bad fast. I'm going to have to start doing this the minute I leave home some way or another.

 

i keep a box of rasin bran in my truck and buy milk a pint of milk when I'm at a truck stop... You should have a supply of emergency provisions (water/canned food that don't need cooking.). Restaurants? Fewer and farther between... A lot of TS are putting in fast food joints... It ain't like it use to be... When I rode with my dad fifteen years ago, we never ate fast food... Now it seems most places are just that. Eating healthy is very hard out here. You might just have to bite the bullet. If you don't have thick skin, this job just might not be for you. It's called sacrifice.