low paycheck = more stress, more problems and very low job satisfaction which = bad health. That's all. Also, I work for Swift, so I am not bashing them per se, just 'stating the facts'
Well, Kusanagi, I've read this entire blog and I'm hooked on your journey. I'm glad you lived through your flu/Valley Sickness ordeal. You see, death is not permitted until you're done telling your story! As for low paychecks, well, duh. We all know it!
Hum low pay checks,what do you want to make,$grand$ per week?... Swift and these other starter companies are well know for low pay,that's why people get in get there 6-12 months experience and get out..
I have worked for other companies. I have worked for CRST, Prime, misc other companies. CRST would have been great except you are forced to team. Teaming has not been for me in the past. Prime has an exceptional training program and is also a good company. However, Swift has provided me with lots of opportunities that other companies could not. I have been working a dedicated route for the past year that gets me home every day to my fiance and son. Lately, a friend of mine who also works for Swift has been urging me to become a mentor. So, I applied and have been approved. I am really excited about this. I remember all of the horrors I went thru with my trainer(s) when I first started. I had several. A couple were good, a couple were not so good, one was horrible and the last one was just gross... I am an easy going person with no alien abduction stories to tell. I want to be the mentor that I would liked to have had when I was being trained...
"However, Swift has provided me with lots of opportunities that other companies could not...I want to be the mentor that I would liked to have had when I was being trained." There are benefits to being the big dog in the pound, as Swift is, and it sounds like you know how to take advantage of them. Life owes us nothing and it is not fair; we just have to do what we can do and move on down the road. Good for you, @Ericandlil. P.S. Next time you go home, drive through Norco and say hi for me!
WHEEEE a lot has happened and I've had no time to update! So instead of listing things in chronological order, I'll list them as best I can! My new mentor is back on the container fleet out of long beach. I got to go home for a weekend and see my family for the first time in two months, which was awesome. We've been running shuttle to and from Phoenix, since his mother is sick, otherwise we'd be making cross country runs to georgia! I am getting my backings and everything else down flawlessly - I am able to do a 90 degree alley dock now with NO PULLUPS! That makes me extremely happy and him as well - he says I'm the best student he's ever had! Hauled a load to Long Beach in a reefer container...and oh boy, did that go well. When we don't see it parked with the others and drive all over the yard to find it and when we do...oh boy. It's dripping and it STINKS. Turns out the container had about 20 tons of frozen shrimp in it and the reefer unit went out while it was being hauled...and it was sitting in the Phoenix sun...for four days. And we have to haul it back to the port! A few larger loads, including one I almost refused to take because it was overweight (ended up getting it fixed at the certified scale) and now we keep running into problem after problem with chassis at the container fleet. None of it swift's fault, but it's really frustrating whenever I'm trying to get my hours and we can't take our next load because the container chassis hasn't been inspected since 2002! It's just frustrating because even with being sick, there are people that graduated in the two classes behind me that already have their trucks and I still have 100 hours left to go. It's hard to get those in when all I'm doing is running shuttle to and from Phoenix. Oh well. Head up high! A great thing though - I had heard rumors but now got to confirm it. When we got back to the Wilmington yard last night I saw a certain truck...the truck of the very first nightmare mentor I had. This panicked me because I just knew I was going to run into him in the breakroom and if all that psycho talk about bringing a gun to a knifefight etc. was true, this guy was going to unload on me for getting him in trouble...saw a mutual friend there instead that told me yes, Swift did flat out fire him after I told them what had happened and they took the truck back. It's been sitting here for a few weeks waiting for a new owner. Apparently, said a-hole blames me to everyone who will listen...and is now applying at LandStar. Hopefully heading out to georgia tomorrow, if we get a chassis that actually has paperwork!!!
Hmmm...you, looking for a truck. Demon Truck looking for an owner...could be a match made in Trucker Heaven!
So NOW you'll be making the $1,000 a week you always wanted to PLUS you'll be able to right the wrongs of your past. Good for you!
