Swift Academy - Richmond, VA - My Experience Begins

Two Hundred hours are done!!

Once again I am here at the Super 8 in Greer, SC. I would have updated last night, but after three plus weeks of driving as a team ... my driving was mostly over night which I despise ... I was completely exhausted and promptly went comatose when I intended to take a nap. I slept from about 5:30pm to just about 10:00 am today. Wow!

Unfortunately for me all that sleep caused me to miss the college football games I was interested in. But I guess I really needed the down time.

Tomorrow, even though it's a holiday, I am scheduled for the 6:00 am Sims class, followed by the 8:00 am Close Quarters class. I am assuming that this is the testing that I need to pass to upgrade to solo. The thing that's really worrying me is the decided lack of trucks here in Greer ... or so it would seem. It's not that I don't feel that I should have to wait ... it's a deep dread regarding the possibility of having to ride the Dog to go get a truck. But the prospect of getting home will over ride that.

From what I understand, once I upgrade they will assign me to a Driver Leader / Manager and he or she will do their best to get me a load back towards home. The good thing is that the Walmart DC in Harrisonburg, VA is open and operating at full capacity so that's a really strong possibility. As of right now I have no place to park a truck and trailer near the house, so I suppose I am looking at bob-tailing and playing the trailer hunt game once I come back from home time. I plan on taking all four days ... but that remains to be determined.

My wife has to appear in a trial back in Massachusetts on the 4th of November. It's a case where an ex-roommate (when we were temporarily separated due to my having to take care of a family member) stole her rent causing her to have to loose her apartment and move to Virginia ... long long story, but suffice to say that she needs me to be there. I have no one that I can tell at Swift until I get assigned a DL, but I am told that it won't be a problem. It may cause me to have to turn in my new truck depending on how long it's going to take and how long I'll be gone. I can't imagine that I'll be gone for more than three days. The evidence against this woman is so overwhelming I would be shocked if it takes the entirety of a day, but then it is Massachusetts.

At any rate, I am excited to be finally done with all this training ... it's been a long odyssey which began back in July. Hard to believe that it's October 12th. One step left, here's hoping that my brains will be in full operation by tomorrow at 6. Until next time ...,