Questions from a new yorker interested in trucking

In OTR there is no specific route, you go where they tell you to, be prepared to do a lot work without pay, you will find that nobody puts a premium on your time, sit for 4 hours or a day waiting for a load no pay. broke down no pay. you probably make more at 14 an hour than you will your first years in otr, there is a reason the turnover is over 100%. Think long and hard at what you are getting into, and remember a recruiter is just another name for used car salesman they will tell you what you want to hear to close the deal.

 

If you do not have a secured place to put your truck on hometime, swift will have tou drop off at nearest terminal. And not many drivers like to drive a 53 footer into nyc

 

Swift says 1 day off for every week out. But you will be out at least for 3 weeks b4 taking time off. Your first year gonna be tough no matter what company you go with

 

It's not so much that you're in A city, but you're in THE city. New York City. For the 99.9% of us who don't live there, it's kind of a scary place. And it is absolutely NOT a truck friendly place. I've been across I-95. It sucks. Even in a car it would suck. I've been to Long Island, those people are insane! I delivered a load in Queens. Had to fight with traffic as I'm backing into a dock and then my cab was still sitting out in the road after I docked. The place just sucks for trucks. You have to remember, NYC was built in the 1700's. It wasn't designed to accommodate 18 wheelers. That is why everyone hates NYC.

Now, about the truck. Most drivers take their truck home with them, usually with a trailer, provided they have a place to safely park it during hometime. Some drivers may only have room for their tractor without the trailer, so they will drop the trailer at a terminal or maybe a nearby secure location and then bobtail home. It just depends on your situation. You said you don't have a location to park a truck. Then your best bet would be to park at the terminal and then take your personal car home ( you would leave your personal car there while you are out or get a ride from a friend or family member).

Now, in a nutshell, I will try to describe the basics of what trucking involves, at least from a Swift point of view. Remember, this is ALL hypothetical, it's just an example. So, when your hometime is complete, you will return to your truck (and trailer) and complete your pretrip. Usually you will already have a load assignment so you know when to leave. You head for your shipper, let's say in Newark, NJ, to pick up your load. It's a drop and hook, so you DROP your empty there and HOOK up to your preloaded trailer and head for your delivery location, say Indianapolis, IN. Your delivery there is a LIVE unload, which means you back into a dock and wait for them to unload the trailer. This can take as little as 1/2 an hour or as long as 12. You have no control over it, so don't sweat it. Just sit back and read a book or something. Sometimes you will need to pay a LUMPER service for this also. Lumpers are a service provider at some warehouses to unload your freight for a fee. They will tell you how much it will cost, you tell your company and then they will advance the money to you. When you scan the receipt in with the bills afterwards, that fee will be reimbursed to you and will not be taken out of your check, but you must scan that receipt. After you are empty, then you will deadhead to your next shipper to pick up your next load and then head for the next delivery location. And it just continues like that until it is time for you to go home and they will give you loads that will work you in the direction to get you home. It's not that hard.

When you talk to Swift about starting, or any other company if you go somewhere else, talk to them about parking locations. They may be able to help locate a suitable place. I always park at the local Walmart, but then I live in a town of about 30,000 that isn't the crime capital of the world. If you are planning on moving away from NYC, that may be a good thing, but if you plan on staying in trucking for awhile I would think twice about Florida. Even though Swift has a terminal there, even they have difficulty getting freight in and out of Florida. And if you leave Swift, you might find that a lot of the better companies aren't hiring out of Florida for that reason.

Oh, one more thing you had mentioned earlier...doing your time at Swift then finding something dedicated that pays better. Like dptrucker said, your first year is gonna be rough no matter where you start. At least as far as pay goes. Just hang in there, it will get better. And once you learn their system and begin to figure out how to work it, you'll begin to make some pretty good money and may find that Swift is actually a pretty decent place, dispite what the trolls (who have never worked for Swift) have to say. And Swift has dedicated accounts also that pay better than standard otr. I was with Swift for 6 1/2 years and would still be there if it wasn't for some ignorant safety manager on a power trip. I have yet to find a company that will pay me even close to what I was making there and treats me as well as I was treated (overall).

 

Just FYI ... You will probably drop/park at the Avenal terminal in NJ for your home time.

Also, don't know for sure, but I believe Swift runs dedicated local drivers out of Avenal and picking up and delivering in the city ... essentially LTL.

 

You'll probably go to Syracuse for training/orientation. Avenal is an ops only terminal - no admin functions.

Swift has lot of dedicated in FL/