My Journy with Swift

This will be brief. We got the truck moved into the shop early Monday morning and were told that the best case scenario was the following afternoon. We found out this morning that that it would not be ready until tomorrow so we are still sitting at the motel. I am hoping we can get moving soon. My mentor is planning on some home time not too far from here this weekend so he was considering just heading on over to take his home time. We will see what happens tomorrow.

 

We checked out of the motel today since we were told the truck was almost done. A quick test drive revealed that a steering issue that my mentor asked them to look at was still not fixed. A new gear box is now on order but won't be in until Monday so back to the motel we went.

I have been making sure to do my mac 27 whenever possible. I also let my manager know as soon as we broke down, so he has been taking care of that when I am away from the truck. Hopefully, I will have some more travel reports soon. All of this sitting around is starting to get to me.

 

Well, the wait is finally over. We got the truck out of the shop this afternoon and once again I am ready to roll. We actually got a pre-plan almost immediately after getting out of shop status. This is nothing major picking up here in Columbus at 6am and delivering at 3pm in PA. Honestly i am just glad to be moving again. Hopefully I will have some better stories as I drive my last 2 weeks in training.

 

Sorry I haven't been updating much recently. We got the truck back and started moving. We started out running very well right up until easter weekend. At that time we were planned on a Kmart load with 2 stops. The first stop my mentor had been to before and new it was an old store with a very tight lot. We left late at night so we would be there before it opened and have room to get around in the lot. This was in Florida and about 50 miles away we came into some dense fog. So thick we drove right by the store and didn't even realize we had passed anything.

When we finished with Kmart we were sent over to Mobile, AL to get a load heading to WI. From WI we got a load going to TN, which is where we are sitting right now waiting until we can deliver tomorrow morning. These last 3 loads have slowed us down since they have had almost an entire extra day on each of them.

I am still having a great time out here with my mentor but am also looking forward to getting out on my own next week. I just spoke with my terminal today about having a truck ready since I won't be heading home until the end of the month. Hopefully I will find a spot with some decent internet access after my training time is complete so I can offer a better write up on the overall experience.

 

It would appear that I am way behind on updating my thread. I finished my time with a mentor and went home to a list of things to do, so unfortunately this slid down the priority list. I will see if I can rap up my training experience.

Going into this I felt pretty good about the level of knowledge I had and my ability to operate a truck. I was also very aware that I had a lot to learn and that there were many experiences that I simply didn't have but had a heard a lot about. After being with a mentor for six weeks i feel like i had pretty realistic expectations. He was pleased with my knowledge and abilities when I got on his truck and we worked very well together. He was always willing to answer questions and was very patient if I was struggling on a given day.

During these six weeks I had a lot of experiences, most of which are common place but it was nice to have someone that could help guide me through it the first time so I didn't look so foolish. Navigating in heavy traffic, going down a steep grade, entering a weigh station, truck stop etiquette, all of these are very normal things but the mentor did help guide me through each of them the first time. Everything is much easier when you know what to do.

At this point I have to give a big thanks to everyone here on the forum. Although I am not a major contributor nor a long time member, I have been reading and learning everything I can from all of you for over a year. This really helped me be prepared and kept me one step ahead compared to most others that I started with. Many of the new things I encountered seemed normal just because of the information that is made available here.

To get up to date, I got off of my trainers truck two days since we were late getting back to the terminal. Tested out and went home for a week. I was actually hoping to get on the road immediately so that I could get home time for a family event but that didn't work out since there were not any trucks available. After a few phone calls and being home for a week, they finally had me come down to the terminal on Friday. myself and three others were then put on a bus to the terminal near Jonestown, PA to pick up some trucks that they had sitting there.

Friday morning we quickly went over some safety info (again) and in the afternoon got on a bus for the long trip. We arrived at the terminal around 10am Saturday morning and were quickly given the keys to our trucks. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours inspecting it and making sure that it was ready to go. By this time I already had a message on the qualcomm telling me that we were all being repositioned and needed to find an empty trailer and head over to Columbus, OH. It took over an hour to come up with an empty that was available in the yard. I grudgingly hooked up to an old MS Carriers trailer. It was functional and safe at least, besides, i am finally out on the road by myself so it is hard to be too upset over anything at the moment.

I pulled into Columbus tonight and am hoping to get a load back to my terminal tomorrow. All four of us need to be back by Monday so we can meet with our DMs. from the beginning thoughts of pursuing this to where i am today has been an adventure that has lasted nearly two years. Some parts of the process really dragged, but as of this afternoon when I pulled out of the terminal in my truck it was all worth it. I will continue to update on my journey as a solo driver, although with any luck I will be too busy to update often.

Again thanks to everyone that has shared their experience and advice, and thanks to all of those that have taken an interest in my experience. Hopefully I will meet some of you in person one day, I would be more than happy to buy the coffee. Take care and be safe out there.