My Swiftie Life...

kutscher007 · Jul 27, 2015

Kry0n said: ↑

Hello Driver's and Looky Lue's,

I have learned so much from this website and many others about Swift and trucking in general, I wanted to start this post to try and provide as much information as possible to those that are looking at joining Swift or just looking for info about a the drivers experience in the industry. This is going to be a long one so get ready. I have a lot to say and will continue to update this post throughout my experience with Swift.

I am going to break the beginning information of me and my experience so far with Swift into different categories to make the blog a bit more organized and easier to read.

About Me
First a bit about me. I am 37 years old - Male. I am married and have 1 kid-o. I have been in the IT-Computer Industry all my life. I was one of those kids that programmed the VCR and played video games non-stop. Ever since I was little these electronic menus, information and patience just came natural to me. Other than spending 4 years in the United States Coast Guard, my entire career has been working with and fixing computers. The last 6 years of my life, my wife and I even opened and ran a very good Computer Repair Shop in a commercial shopping center. Sadly my love for computers and dealing with the public burned me out. Plus I started noticing a trend that was making our repair sales harder to close. Why pay $100-$200 to repair your PC, when you can buy a brand new one for a little more money at Wal-Mart? Dealing with the public and a trend of computers getting cheaper and cheaper it was time to move on. We closed our shop and I continued to work out of our house helping our existing customers with their issue's.

So what do I start doing? I start sending resume's and going to Monster/Indeed 24/7. Looking for that next opportunity to provide what I do best to some company that will provide me with a stable and reliable means of income. Money was getting tight as the weeks went by looking for work. The area I live in isn't the most "technical" state in the country and the jobs where I can provide my experience too was slim to none.

I was watching Youtube videos one day (Wish I could remember what I started watching) and fell into the blackhole of youtube. You know the hole where you start with one video and then see a video off to the right side list of other video's? And before you know it 3 hours have passed by? Yea that one. I came across a trucking video made by "Your Boy E" documenting his experience with getting into the trucking industry. I went to his video list and started watching all his videos from day one. If you are thinking about getting into trucking I would really recommend checking out his channel as there is alot of good information on there. It's a bit old now and sadly he isn't making video's anymore as he has gone back to school. After watching his video's, I got hooked. This actually looks like something I could get into and maybe make a decent living. I switched gears from sending resume's to watching more and more trucking video's of people documenting their experience. "TrainerJames2013", "Little Guy Trucker", "TruckerJosh", "Mr.Sinister DaTrucker" just to name a few others. I probably spent over 1000+ hours watching youtube videos about trucking and started to ask myself. Do you really want to work in an office again? Do you really want to continue working with that same problems over and over? (Printer Jams, Viruses, Ect..) Do you really want to deal with the same people over and over, fixing their problems? No I really don't...

I started researching trucking companies and how to get my CDL. I didn't have the money for private trucking school, and didn't have the time to enroll into community college to get my CDL. Money was getting tighter. Let alone find someone who will let me practice and take the DMV test. I looked at a ton of company's and decided to go with Swift. Why Swift? A few reasons. #1-They offered the Academy to get my CDL at no cost to me, providing I gave them 1 year of work. #2-They had a terminal in my state so that had some benefits. I can turn my truck in when I came home and they can repair or do maintenance issue's while I went home. #3-I know this might sound weird, but I read and saw so much negative stuff about Swift, I really wanted to see for myself if it was really true. #4- I figured they would keep my running as much as possible if I proved myself to be a worthy driver.

I called the 800 number and spoke to my recruiter. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about and I didn't get the impression he was trying to blow smoke up my ###. I filled out the application and I talked it over with the family and gave them the details. A day or so later the recruiter called me back and said I was good to go. Bills started to pile up and I needed to do something fast. I wasn't having much luck on my job hunting and was really struggling with the decision of my career. The turning point was when I came to this realization and asked myself this simple question. Do I stay here with family and struggle with them to keep the lights on, waiting for that IT job to come through, or do I sacrifice me being without my family to ensure they are being taken care of. It took my half a second to answer my own question. I picked up the phone called my recruiter back and said send me that god-awful greyhound bus ticket, let's do this!

I am the type of person that if I am interested in something, I have to try it for myself. I have always been good at working with big equipment, enjoyed driving, and not to shabby with a small trailer. Worst comes to worst I can always fall back to my previous career of computers. So off I go to the Swift Academy!

More to come.... (My fingers hurt and i'm sure your eyes do also)
Click to expand...

Do You drive a truck with the new "SWIFT cameras" which films You during driving and parking?

Kry0n · Jul 27, 2015

kutscher007 said: ↑

Do You drive a truck with the new "SWIFT cameras" which films You during driving and parking?
Click to expand...

No camera in my truck. Not sure if I will stay or not when they install one or assign me a truck with one.

Kry0n · Jul 27, 2015

GraceLives said: ↑

Thanks for sharing your story. I am hoping to do the same soon. I'm just getting started with my husband as my trainer. Been driving for two days now and handled the I-40 mountains OK. I don't like night driving but know I'll get used to it eventually... Maybe. So glad my hubby is training me. So far he is very helpful. We are delivering in Stockton CA tomorrow morning, so with that said its back to nighty night for me. I look forward to seeing more of your updates.
Click to expand...

Your very welcome. Hope your training goes smooth and fast.
Lucky to have your husband as trainer for sure.

A_C_Cooper said: ↑

I'm looking at going with Swift through Swift Academy some time around September, after I get some money put away to cover my bills while I'm there. I'm planning on going flatbed. Like you I'm in the technology sector. Its a shame the way they are practically making pc's disposable now. I really appreciate your posts keep 'em coming and good luck .
Click to expand...

Thank you. Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help. Good idea saving so your not as stressed when you start.

Kry0n · Jul 27, 2015

7/27 - After sitting for 40 hours and taking my 34 reset I finally got a load.
"Alright!" you say? Ha! Hardly...
8am got the load assigned was Informed to leave asap for pickup.
Bobtailed empty 40 miles to tiny Swift terminal. Picked up a nice new 2015 trailer to go with my 2015 truck.
Trailer filled with CHEP pallets.
Called customer to see if they could take me early. "We might be able to squeeze you in, come on down."
Drove 84 miles to final destination where I was told to hang out and they would call to get me in. Time was about 12pm when I got here. Apt set for 5:45pm. While waiting I got a preplan for my next load.
Picks up in Sacremento 7/27 @ 6:45pm
Delivers to Butte, MT on 7/29 10am.
Noway am I going to make that pickup time as I know I'm not getting out of the current delivery till 7:30/8:00pm.
Late or not I need the miles. So I accepted hoping to get out of here early.
Well... 45 min after my apt. time I finally get a door number. I was timing the other trucks ahead of me and it seems it's taking them 2 hours to be unloaded, some even more.

My 14 hour clock at the moment has 3:49 on it. I'm gonna be here for at least 2 hours. I might not even make it to the pickup for Butte today. Let alone make any progress towards it.

Let's see how long it take before I'm out of here? Who wants to guess??
I say 2.5 hours.

kutscher007 · Jul 27, 2015

Kry0n said: ↑

7/27 - After sitting for 40 hours and taking my 34 reset I finally got a load.
"Alright!" you say? Ha! Hardly...
8am got the load assigned was Informed to leave asap for pickup.
Bobtailed empty 40 miles to tiny Swift terminal. Picked up a nice new 2015 trailer to go with my 2015 truck.
Trailer filled with CHEP pallets.
Called customer to see if they could take me early. "We might be able to squeeze you in, come on down."
Drove 84 miles to final destination where I was told to hang out and they would call to get me in. Time was about 12pm when I got here. Apt set for 5:45pm. While waiting I got a preplan for my next load.
Picks up in Sacremento 7/27 @ 6:45pm
Delivers to Butte, MT on 7/29 10am.
Noway am I going to make that pickup time as I know I'm not getting out of the current delivery till 7:30/8:00pm.
Late or not I need the miles. So I accepted hoping to get out of here early.
Well... 45 min after my apt. time I finally get a door number. I was timing the other trucks ahead of me and it seems it's taking them 2 hours to be unloaded, some even more.

My 14 hour clock at the moment has 3:49 on it. I'm gonna be here for at least 2 hours. I might not even make it to the pickup for Butte today. Let alone make any progress towards it.

Let's see how long it take before I'm out of here? Who wants to guess??
I say 2.5 hours.
Click to expand...

When U want to make $$$, stay there and go on line 2
M.

Kry0n · Jul 27, 2015

7:16 and haven't felt a single thing shake my trailer.
I kid you not I only need 4 more hours before my 10 hour reset is up. Hahaha omg!

fr8monkey · Jul 27, 2015

Kry0n said: ↑

7:16 and haven't felt a single thing shake my trailer.
I kid you not I only need 4 more hours before my 10 hour reset is up. Hahaha omg!
Click to expand...

And this is what happens in real trucking world....best to stay and set your pta for when your ten is up....and query for a load then

Moosetek13 · Jul 27, 2015

Kry0n said: ↑

7/27 - After sitting for 40 hours and taking my 34 reset I finally got a load.
"Alright!" you say? Ha! Hardly...
8am got the load assigned was Informed to leave asap for pickup.
Bobtailed empty 40 miles to tiny Swift terminal. Picked up a nice new 2015 trailer to go with my 2015 truck.
Trailer filled with CHEP pallets.
Called customer to see if they could take me early. "We might be able to squeeze you in, come on down."
Drove 84 miles to final destination where I was told to hang out and they would call to get me in. Time was about 12pm when I got here. Apt set for 5:45pm. While waiting I got a preplan for my next load.
Picks up in Sacremento 7/27 @ 6:45pm
Delivers to Butte, MT on 7/29 10am.
Noway am I going to make that pickup time as I know I'm not getting out of the current delivery till 7:30/8:00pm.
Late or not I need the miles. So I accepted hoping to get out of here early.
Well... 45 min after my apt. time I finally get a door number. I was timing the other trucks ahead of me and it seems it's taking them 2 hours to be unloaded, some even more.

My 14 hour clock at the moment has 3:49 on it. I'm gonna be here for at least 2 hours. I might not even make it to the pickup for Butte today. Let alone make any progress towards it.

Let's see how long it take before I'm out of here? Who wants to guess??
I say 2.5 hours.
Click to expand...

Accepting a load like that is just asking for a service failure.

fr8monkey · Jul 27, 2015

You would be surprised the number of places swift can pick up in the middle of the night!

Kry0n · Jul 27, 2015

Moosetek13 said: ↑

Accepting a load like that is just asking for a service failure.
Click to expand...

When you have been sitting for 2 days with no load, you will take anything you can get.

Could care less about their "service failure"

I sent my macro 22 informing them the load would be picked up late. I did my part.

Poor planning on their part not mine.

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