Saw a real Swift move form a Swift driver.. lol

Swift is a mixed bag. But some people like to judge the whole by the actions of some.

 

can we get a "ressurrection" icon??

 

seekeroftruth - You need to thicken that hide a bit. Yes we all pull bad moves at times. But if you have no humor in life it gets to be a real drag. Life's screw ups should provide lessons for you and those watching. Laughing is a release that we all need.

Charlie

 

Well I guess I'll feel right at home. I'm supposed to graduate from Roadmaster(Tampa) this Friday, and with all my research, it seems Swift is who I'll be working for. They seem to pay a little better, and home time looks no worse than the best companies (recruiter says 1 day for every 6). Yeah, I'm a FNG... I've got a perfect MVR, have never been arrested, and will pass any drug screening. (The application person at Roadmaster says I'm "golden". Yeah, let's see if I can keep it that way. I'm doing pretty well in school,

 

Well I guess I'll feel right at home at Swift. I'm supposed to graduate from Roadmaster(Tampa) this Friday, and with all my research, it seems Swift is who I'll be working for. They seem to pay a little better, and home time looks no worse than the best companies (recruiter says 1 day for every 6). Yeah, I'm a FNG... I've got a perfect MVR, have never been arrested, and will pass any drug screening. (The application person at Roadmaster says I'm "golden". Yeah, let's see if I can keep it that way. I'm doing pretty well in school, like others; nearly everyone in the my class needs more backing practice.

I lost a pretty good job ("downsizing") after 29 years. 70K and 7 weeks PTO, 4-day work week. I had my own office & workstation... and now my office will roll # 62 MPH (on a good day!) Quite a switch, but I think I'll live through it...

Thanks to all for their support!

I'll try not to be one of those Swift drivers that are generating these stories.

No, really.




Florida Floyd->>>

 

Well. Good luck.

 

It makes for a nice story, but I've been with Swift for 18 months now and we NEVER fuel at the J's, Swift is comdata only, not even an emergency would have us at a Flyin J......so, nice try. Everyone makes mistakes, doesn't matter who they drive for. The lucky ones make their mistakes when noone is looking, the unlucky ones get seen/reported.
Any new drivers headed to Swift, it's a good company, but since they are the biggest and have the most trucks of course they are the butt of everyones jokes. Like all other companies, get a good DM, work hard, keep your nose clean and you'll do fine.

 

Floyd...Go for it. I got my CDL at 57. Was used to a 7-330 job at a desk and went to a concrete truck, old and no AC, working 12 hour days in the summer, bout killed me. But, I survived and now in a nice 08 KW hauling concrete pipe on flatbed. If we go out overnight, its in a hotel with pool, hot tub, comp breakfast.Ah life is good in a day cab.

 

The thing with swift and backing is, they only really train you for the CDL test back. The mentors are SUPPOSED to teach you to do all kinds of backs, but not all of them do. Then they send you out without ever seeing the docks themselves, and as long as you get it backed in EVENTUALLY they don't see a problem.

I'm not as good at backing in as a lot of more experienced drivers, but I can at least say I've never spent more than 15-20 minutes fighting a ###### dock. I hear stories about people sitting out there for hours trying to get it in blindside and feel a little better about my own self.

I see the best screwups out of the guys that go into a lease right out of training and get one of the really long-nosed Kenworths, then try and navigate some of the really tight docks in LA with them.

I'll tell one on me though: pulling into a yard last week I scraped a railing good with the trailer. Was aiming for an empty pullthrough drop spot and not paying attention to the left of me. Worst of it was some paint swapping fortunately, but the sound it made just about had me #### myself...

 

Thanks for the encouragement, Rock' ~ it's good to know us young 'old' guys can survive in this business. I'm finishing up some yardwork here in Winter Springs (at the Significant Other's place-1.75 acres) I'm cleaning up the oaks and azaleas (I call it Sherwood Forest). I figure if I can work this hard without killing myself, I should be able to handle whatever the trucking industry is going to throw at me. Tomorrow we'll drive back to Pinellas Park (north St. Petersburg) and I'll take care of what I have to at my place and button it up for a while. I'm going to miss both places. (we've been commuting)

I agree with Skiddy' The entire group I trained with at Roadmaster (Tampa) agreed that we did not have enough backing practice. Hopefully, the miniscule amount of practice I have had in the past 3 weeks will be enough to help me understand what my mentor will be trying to show me over the next 6 weeks during my training. I have learned that you can GOAL, and from what I am reading here... as long as I don't scrape things up, I'll be able to have as many pull-ups as it takes. I'll get it in there eventually. I do have concern about the tight ones in cities like NY and LA, but jeez I guess that comes with the territory. As I used to tell my co-workers... "you knew the job was dangerous when you took it". I am well aware of my green-ness. I am also well aware of the many challenges I will face, and am certain that there are some I am not aware of... but I am ready and willing.

I am hoping to stay in touch with all of you by taking my laptop. I know my days will be long, but I promise to check in from time to time to let you know how things are rollin'.

I start orientation with Swift on Tue. Oct 21. I expect to be out at least 6 weeks, perhaps more. And yes, I am hopeful of a few days off in my home town sometime before Christmas... but I guess we'll have to see where those chips lay when they fall.

Cheers,

Floyd->>>