Is this Info Correct !!

A couple people I went to orientation with did go right to great lakes regional. They said if your mentor was GLR and recommended you it was possible without waiting 6 months so they might be telling you the truth but I'd still be ready for 6 months OTR. Personally I can't stand the NE, lots of traffic and the stress of finding a parking spot so I kinda could see them looking for people there. Every time I have been sent that way I sure seem to get stuck there on regional stuff for a week or so it seems.

 

This is from a 3rd party recuiting site, but it seems to match what I know.

http://swift.drivers-central.com/swift-transportation/driver-pay.cfm

After 2 years pay would be $.35 per mile.

The 240 driving hours is what takes the time. If every thing were to go perfectly you could do it in 4 weeks. 4 weeks of perfection in trucking, not going to happen. I would say its going to take about 6 weeks.

Swift will say two years of OTR before getting regional. This is Swift speak for "we will put you where we need you." Meaning that if your DM happens to also manage a dedicated account and needs a driver, you could end up being on dedicated without ever doing a day of OTR. Something to think about when trying to hook up with a mentor.

 

I talked with swift and the recruiter has been calling. I have not drove since 03 all the other companies say I have to go to school first. Swift is the only one that wants me to sign up. I am a little werie because they lied to me in 03. I dont want to take a bus out there and I pay for me to come back. the pay scale is.

25 to 99 .42cpm
100 to 149 .42cpm
150 to 199 .36 cpm
200 to 249 .34 cpm
250 to 299 .32 cpm
300 + miles .26 cpm

 

It is possible to go right from training to a dedicated or regional fleet. It depends on the needs of the fleet at that time. One thing to find out is, is the pay at that fleet frozen at the amount quoted. An example, Home depot pays 34 CPM. It does not matter if you are a newbie or 12 year vet, it pays the same. Some regional fleets pay regular OTR rates WITHOUT the sliding scale. You need to be sure to have a clear understanding of pay for job before you agree to sign on to that fleet. Most drivers max out at 38 or 39 CPM, however, there is a Target refrigerated fleet in Ft Worth that pays 47CPM. There are residency restrictions before getting on that fleet.

 

Just to chime in. I finisher 240 hours in 30 working days. I am on my second week of solo. On my first week I was put on GLR dedicated route after 3 days. 34 cents a mile. My mentor recomended me for GLR and I ran hard during training. Home sometime on sat leave sometime monday. First week 1900 miles in 5 days work. This week probably about the same. Trained all day yesterday in columbus on logs elogs and simulator. So will lose a day basically. It depends on need or a good dm that takes a chance on you doing a dedicated route. Hope this helps

 

NER is almost always looking for drivers since the NE is the often the least desired area to run. It does pay a higher rate, but that's for all miles no matter whether the trip is 100 or 500 miles. I also see a lot of offerings for dedicated in the NE area, so if NER isn't quite what you want, you could move into a dedicated after a little experience. Stay service failure free if you want to move that direction, though, all dedicated prefer SF free drivers.

Back in early '09 during The Big Freight Slump, a number of new drivers based out of Jonestown were moved to NER whether they wanted it or not. They offered it to all drivers, but didn't get the response they wanted, so they pushed the new ones in. So new drivers have been in NER in the past. If they need drivers (which I think they always do) they will take what they can get.

 

Your payscale matches the sliding scale I have, however at 4 months you'd get .01/mile more han a westcoastie; at 6 months it's .02/mile more. East side gets higher pay due to heavier traffic conditions and smaller roads (old infrastructure).

Here's a link to the payscale:

http://swift.drivers-central.com/swift-transportation/driver-pay.cfm

Sorry I haven't posted it before, my copy's on my hard drive.