I guess it all depends on the DM or DL. I have driven out of Lancaster just about 10 years, idle was always high and I won't sleep in sweat. They tried to write me up once for one month but I told them to include the rest of the upcoming summer and I would sign it then. I never heard another word about it.
Kymi, you are correct on the information. Hubby is a Mentor for Swift and we have a fleet of 2 trucks on the road now hauling for Swift and Command (thru Swift). Recruiters need to get it together although when it comes to recruitment in our opinion. We have gotten to the point of one-on-one interviews with potential new drivers and had to turn several down or put them off the truck early on in the mentor training! Issues like can't hear-forgot my hearing aids, can't see-need new glasses, mental health issues brought to mentor's attention while on the road or folks who just plain don't belong behind the wheel of a big rig. We have had good luck getting GOOD drivers from the Ocala terminal and a few from Syracuse terminal as well that were able to become safe, professional and good drivers who really have the love of trucking for a living. Love what we do and have hired 3 guys so far who were new drivers who came through us for the mentor training Best wishes to all of those who get hired on with Swift, having a good attitude and good communication with your Driver Manager is key!
How long do you guys/gals go out before return for hometime ? Is 2 weeks out 2 days home feasible with Swift ?
Not really when you start out. You will be OTR 48 states and they expect you to be out 3-4 weeks at a time. Once you've established yourself in a few months as a reliable driver with no service failures or other problems, then ask your driver manager to let you know if any dedicated opportunities come up. Many dedicated accounts will have you home weekly or even more often. I ran six months solo OTR, getting home every 4-6 weeks (because I do like to make money rather than sit at home) and then transferred onto a team dedicated account that had me home every 7-14 days, depending on where we were able to take a 34. That was out of Jurupa Valley, CA (LA area) and ran coast to coast each week and it paid about 20% more than solo OTR because of the steady, long miles (about 5800 miles each week on average). Now I'm a mentor (trainer) and will be out about 4 weeks at a time, getting each student tested out to solo status before going home.
My mentor told me that if I wanted to that I could be home every 14 days for 3 days of home time. She had overheard me telling my mom that I don't expect to be home much in the next year. I probably won't make much money if I did 14 out 3 home, at least while I'm still new. I'd rather get out for 4 weeks or so personally. And not all my hometime will be at "home". I live in Indiana, but I was hoping to use some hometime to attend a friend's BBQ at the end of August over in Virginia. Tonight is actually my first night out in a truck by myself since getting off my mentor's truck on Saturday. Aside from my mom driving up to see me Monday, I haven't been home in over 5 weeks. My DL says he'll get me home this weekend after I run a few loads by myself. So with taking "hometime" again at the end of August, I'll be right where I want to be with around 4 weeks out at a time.
Kymi, you have it right when you noted that in order to make money, especially during your first year, you really need to keep the truck moving. Limiting home time will certainly help the paychecks. Be sure to request home time with Qualcomm at least 5 days in advance of the date you want, and make the date you want be 1-2 days earlier than what you really need if you have a big event you need to attend. They will do their best to get you home +/- 2 days from the requested date, but can't promise an exact date because it will all depend on the available loads to get you home. Be flexible. Limit the number of days you take off at home. Generally I try to use my home time for a 34 hour restart and get rolling as soon as possible after that. Otherwise the next paycheck will be tiny. After a year you start earning vacation days. I haven't used them yet, I'm sure others can address that, but it can keep your income flowing when you take extended time at home.
On vacation pay it gets paid on your anniversary date that you went solo with swift. I believe its 1 to 2 years you get 1 week paid vacation 3 to 4 years is 2 weeks, and 5+ years is 3 weeks paid. so you get the pay if you take vacation or not. But I take about 8 to 10 days off around September(ish) I stay out 20 to 30 days, and take 4 to 5 days off
I'm used to requesting days off/vacation in advance as much as possible. My line of thinking right now though, is that it doesn't seem too prudent to me to request multiple home-time offs in a row (i.e. putting in the next 4 home-time requests right now). I feel the more proper way to handle it would be to do requests one at time (i.e. after taking home-time, be back out on the road for a few days before putting in the advance 3-4 week request for home-time again). And then, maybe a week before the requested home-time, I could put in a reminder? I'm not all that sure. I'm just drawing on my history at my previous job where I would usually put time-off requests in at 6 months in advance. Plane tickets, hotels, etc, are best set up in advance. Then at 3months, 1month, and 1-2 weeks prior put in reminder notices. The 6, 3, and 1 month notices would always be written. The week or 2 prior would be verbal reminders.
