Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

Haha thanks for the posts. You guys have me laughing outside the Altavista, VA Wal-Mart like I'm insane.

 

I'm actually still talking to Brandi everyday now since I left Virginia. Things are moving along nicely. she made a comment that if I'm close enough to Norfolk she would drive out but I think where I am tonight in Altavista, Virginia it a little bit too far since it's probably about 3 hours away. but I'm looking forward to getting back to Virginia and seeing her again.

this has been an interesting week for sure. I think I'm taking my next home time out in Virginia sometime in mid May so I'm looking forward to that.

I'm not too sure what's going on with freight lately but it seems slow everywhere, at least that's what they're telling me. I've been getting runs but they've been crazy with mostly live loads and live unloads. The last three loads alone have each been a headache in their own way.

 

Swift terminal - Jonesboro, PA.

Just ordered a pie from Pizza Town 2 to be delivered and finished up my laundry. For whatever reason, Swift's computers are down everywhere so I don't have a load taking me back out of the terminal. This last load was a t-call from Maine and I have a home time request out in San Diego set for 5 days from now on 4/22. I'm thinking that I'm not going to make it there on time.

I received and watched the new camera system video last night and I'm not happy about it. What made it worse was just the overall tone of the video that this is some kind of "tool" for us to use. I'm not a big fan of corporate smiley faces telling me how I will enjoy screwing myself. And that was my take away. I'm pretty much in shock at this point that Swift is actually going through with this. I'm pretty much disgusted and disappointed enough at this time that I don't even want to write anything more about it. It feels like my days here at Swift are numbered.

I keep hearing that freight is slow all over. Not sure why, if it's just the season or what. I heard this from another driver of another company at a shipper so maybe it is just industry wide right now and not just a Swift issue.

 

That is right. Dick is there to help me. What was I thinking? That camera system is nothing but positive.

 

Indianapolis. About to head back to the walmart. I don't know what is going on with freight lately but it seems slow. Dropped a load here last night and I'm still waiting on something.

I put a home time in for San Diego last week. I scheduled it for the 22nd, less than 2 days from now and 2000+ miles away. And yet I sit.

Just feeling better everyday about Swift since the camera proposition.

 

haha...I hate that phrase of dropping a load. But it is kind of fun to say that I've dropped loads all over the U.S. including once at a maximum security prison in Georgia.

 

Mileage is still down. I tried to take a hometime out in San Diego but it was a complete fail. I put in for it when I was up in Maine. Thought this would get me moving a little better and also give me those better mileage runs out west. Man was I wrong. I made it as far as Indianapolis when things just went from stalled to stopped. My scheduled home time in S.D. was coming up in less than two days and I still had 2000 miles to go. The planner called me up and basically stated that she had nothing going out that way whatsoever. I could take a little short run kind of heading west but that was all she had. She had 6 other drivers behind me waiting to get loads to take them home out west. It was evening when I spoke to her and the next morning I was on the phone with my DM telling her to withdraw the hometime request and just get me rolling. Green circles were all out east so I told her to just send me wherever I would get miles. Miles still have been pretty tough and I'm getting a lot of live loads and live unloads.

Right now I'm near Jacksonville, Florida at a Walmart DC with a mini Swift terminal. It was awesome that Swift has a place here because by the time I dropped this 2 stop load out of Indy, I had 7 minutes left on my 14. At least I have a good place to park for tonight, free WAlmart DC wifi and a bathroom nearby. What else can a guy ask for.

This next load tomorrow picks up in Orlando and is taking me up to New Boston to t-call a Canada load. Finally some great miles and I'm ready to get rolling on this.

Heading out to Virginia again for Mother's Day weekend. That's my next "real" time off. I want to see my mom since her cancer took a turn south again. That's one thing I'm learning about this disease - it has it's ups and downs. My mom went for one of her regular tests and they told her that the spots (her words) were larger on her lungs. This last trial medication they put her on, one of three she takes, had no effect. It only had bad side effects. So it's back to the drawing board. A new third med is on it's way so we're hoping this one will reduce the cancer in her lungs. My mom never smoked. Ever. It's just one more place that this f'ng thing spread. And to hear my mom upset when my parents are known for their stoicism, is tough. It makes me want to make this move to something more local to Virginia even faster.

Speaking of time off, Brandi asked me how the time off works. We were discussing when your time off actually begins and the answer I got from my DM was kind of shocking. I always assumed that if I put time off for a certain day that if I arrived later in that day requested that that day doesn't actually count as my time off. My thinking is that if I spend any amount of time working on a given day that that day is actually a work day. Not true, I'm told. So following this reasoning, if we want two days off, let's say Friday and Saturday and we arrived to a terminal with a load on that Friday, park the truck and go to our home that we really only have off the remainder of that day and the Saturday. Doesn't seem right to me. Up until this point I have always counted a day when I arrive at the terminal to either t-call my load (which is typical) or I drop a load that day somewhere nearby and drive to the terminal, that that day doesn't count towards my time off. I guess I've been mistaken. I'm still going to look at it my way, right or wrong. This next time off I think I'm going to put in to be there on Friday. If I arrive on time on Friday and I work half the day I'm going to consider Saturday as my first day off. Then I won't return to the truck until Tuesday most likely.

Things are really moving along with Brandi. It's odd that she is so interconnected with my family. I don't see it as a problem, I actually see it as a benefit. If my family thinks highly of her then that is a huge added bonus. It's moving along so nicely at this point that it is making me rethink my priorities of being OTR and rethinking how much time I spend on the road. I think she is the one I wasn't looking for but happened to fall into my lap. We compliment each other nearly perfectly. This was completely unexpected but I couldn't be happier that this all happened. I'm already starting to look at options of driving somewhat more regionally to Virginia. I still have to work out what I'm going to do with my stuff in storage out in Washington and my other motorcycle out there. But it's getting to be about "that time" with this. This camera proposition is just about the kick in the ### I need to get moving on something different. And with my mom getting sicker and my time limited with her, I want to be around her as much as possible. Life is indeed too short and valuable to waste on not being near your family.