Just applied to swift what to expect?

As for the being lonely aspect, I don't think it is anything like 20+ years ago. Back then people waited in line for a pay phone to call home. These days Skype or FaceTime lets you feel a lot more connected. Also, if your single you can make a ton of money driving! Give up your apartment for a year, get hotels or stay with family on your hometime! Also the best part of trucking is having hometime wherever you want to! Springbreak? Request hometime in Palm Beach Florida, and get paid to drive to/from your vacation! When I was OTR I was able to visit my grandparents a couple times a year for free, they live 1700 miles from my house lol.

 

Training is 2 parts- Getting your cdl and "on the road" training. If your unemployed and pulling benefits, I can almost guarantee the state will pay for the cdl part at driving school. If Swift(or any of the bigger companies) trains you for your CDL, you will have to sign a 1yr contract with them. If you break that contract, you owe them around 5k. If you get fired, you owe them 5k, if you get into an accident they don't like-you owe them 5k etc. More companies will become available to train with if you get your cdl from a driving school rather than limited your choices to carriers with an "in house" driving school.
As for being home every weekend-some van/reefer companies will work with you. But if you want to make 900-1000/week and be home every weekend you have to run flatbed. Maverick/TMC/BTC all offer weekends home, and all offer training programs once you have your cdl. Flatbed experience counts towards van/reefer, but not vice versa.

 

And your mustang GT has syncros in the gearbox, rigs don't You have to match rpm/gear/road speed, but you'll pick it up quick during training. Some fleets are going automatic, other aren't.

 

granny gear has a ton of torque to the ground, and you can always hold the trailer brake till the clutch engages if needed. You'll pick it up quick, don't worry about it

 

I would call your workforce/unemployment office and ask about cdl training. In Texas they cover the training, a shared hotel room(if you are not close to the school), and a small per diem payment per day for meals. If you google cdl school in your state you'll find companies. A lot are based off community colleges, and offer financing if the state doesn't pay for it. Also, most trucking companies will reimburse your school expenses over the span of a year or two. Each company is different, but most offer something.

 

Landline has a great article about millennials this month. Welcome to the trucking industry! We are going to need you young people working to pay into the federal retirement system because I'm worried that too many of the young people are not going to have the gumption to get out and work after having spent their youth playing video games on the couch unlike my generation which played outside and rode bikes without helmets.

But seriously, the formula seems to be for rookie truckers to go out and work for a big company like Swift for x amount of months, limited hometime, maxed out mother-may-I control from the carrier (video cameras pointing at the driver Monday morning backseat driving/nitpicking) until such time you get x amount of months since your last ticket/preventable accident then you can move on to a better company either regional or local.

 

@Thull just came out of the Swift Academy, maybe he can fill you in.

 

You are not in a 1 year contract with Swift.
They will charge you a certain amount for the training, which you pay back by a certain amount per week over the course of (I think) 12 or 13 months.
Then, if you stay with Swift, they pay you back at the same rate - essentially paying for your training after about 2 years.
If you leave earlier than 1 year you will owe them the balance.
It is pretty simple, and pretty fair in my opinion.

As to rolling back on an incline...
Air brakes do not release immediately like they do in your car. There is a second (or half a second) that they will still be grabbing, giving you the time to let the clutch out just a bit to gain traction.
On an incline just apply more pressure before you release the brake, then you will have an extra half second to catch the clutch.

The same applies to braking. Air brakes take time to engage. It isn't much, but it will be something you have to get used to.
That is one of the reasons we have to give extra following distance. A fact too many drivers seem to either forget or ignore as they are tailgating the vehicle in front of them.