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

Sitting in the driver's lounge of the Richmond terminal.

So it doesn't sound like I'm going to get paid for all that time sitting in Ocala waiting on my truck. Not going to go into details but it is pretty discouraging. The way I look at it, I'm not salaried. So anytime I'm somewhere under the authority of Swift and I'm not where I want to be doing what I want to do then I should get paid for it within reason. I don't count non-driving time as "time off". Not if I am not somewhere I choose to be.

When I first put my truck into the shop on that Friday I was told it would be done possibly over the weekend. Weekend came and went and I was told maybe Monday. Monday came and went and I was told Tuesday. And so it went. I was offered some junky Volvo over the weekend to take instead of my truck. I considered it but when I found out that the Ocala terminal didn't have one of those safety platforms to move stuff from one truck to the other, I turned it down. Yes my fault. But without one of those platforms I'm not going to attempt to move my stuff out of the truck to another truck. My mattress is a pillowtop aftermarket mattress that I purchased with my money and I'm not going to attempt to climb down the steps with that thing. Or my tv. And I'm not going to just throw it out the door and then push it into the next truck. Without that safety platform I'm not moving my stuff. It's unsafe and I'm not ruining my stuff to move into another truck. Especially when I was being told that my truck would be ready the next day, then the next day, then the next day...

So I was told that basically my private things are mine and my responsibility to move from one truck to the other. If I didn't have large items then I could more easily move. So given the option of throwing my things out, ruining them or trying to carry them up and down the truck steps from one truck to the other - I'll opt to keep my truck and my personal things. I'm not sure what is expected about the use of personal items inside a company truck but we are going to collect some things over time to make our life more comfortable. I know I will. I spend up to 2 months on the road, in my truck the entire time. I'm going to be comfortable. I don't drive a day cab. I don't slip seat with another driver. If this company truck goes down broken I should get paid for breakdown pay. No ramp and I don't switch trucks. So that is that. I understand my responsibility in this matter but I don't agree with how I was treated. To sit for 7 days due to my job then I should get paid. Any other profession, working under a company doing their business, you would get paid. Welcome to trucking...

I finally left Ocala and took a load down to Miami. Uneventful. Deadheaded about 200 miles north to pick up another load that took me up here to Virginia. After clearing that load I checked with my DM and the Richmond shop about bringing my truck in for its B Service since it is due very soon. No need to waste more time sitting around another terminal a few days up the road. I just hit 39,090 miles as I got into the terminal and the B Service is due at 41000 miles, so I am within the 2000 mile window. They will get me in the shop around 0700 tomorrow and projected to leave the shop around 12 noon.

 

Wall Street Journal article states trucking jobs are everywhere...


My father today was telling me about a Wall Street Journal article regarding the trucking industry.

Apparently there are thousands and thousands of trucking jobs going unfilled. Good news for us truckers. The article is here but you have to log in to see the whole thing.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/help-wanted-jobs-in-trucking-go-unfilled-1404770060

Apparently our industry is growing and they are having a shortage of drivers. Some companies are offering more incentives to keep their drivers from being poached by other competing companies. It's all good news for us drivers.

I'm starting to think that once my two year anniversary with Swift hits I'm going to move on. Not sure where I will go yet as I'll shop around while I'm still driving for Swift. But I want to get compensated for my time out on the road. --- I'm safe. I have my feet wet out there driving and I'm learning the industry. If you're going to get on me about my idle time when I try to be comfortable and get rest yet in the next breath tell me "safety first!", I have a problem with it. If you're not going to pay me for downtime in your truck then it is an issue. And just the feeling of being driver #123456 out a ton of other drivers gets to me. It may just be this thing about not getting paid while my truck was in the shop for 7 hot and humid, dreadfully boring days in Ocala, FL. It could be that I spent more money on food and one night in a hotel to be comfortable while I didn't make money for 7 days. It could be that all my groceries spoiled while the truck say in the Florida heat waiting for parts. As my dad used to say, this is one of those "hard pills to swallow". My fault for not moving my stuff into the other, old Volvo that was available. But I don't make enough to ditch my personal belongings. I didn't ask for my truck's clutch to break. I don't lease a truck. I'm a company driver. Truck breaks down offer me breakdown pay or a reasonable alternative.

Ill always be thankfully that Swift gave me this shot to get into this profession that I love. But I have also made money for Swift over these past 1.5+ years driving. I've been safe. I've been ontime. I've taken care of their equipment to the best of my ability. I'm customer service focused. So I'm like a loyal dog to Swift, Swift being that owner that gave me a home when others rejected me to a previous scattered work history. But I feel like I've been beaten a little lately and not sure if I need to look for a new home in the coming months, post vacation and the New Year.

Hopefully I'll get over this bitterness pretty soon. Otherwise I'm going to heed this Wall Street Journal and start shopping other companies when I hit that 2 year mark with Swift.

 

A trucker finds a date. And he goes on an actual date. Finally...


Last week, Tuesday to be exact, I was bored and sitting around at the Ocala, FL terminal alternately playing around with the wifi while entertaining myself with some exploring on this dating app on my phone. I contacted one particular woman out in Virginia. She was cute and she had a picture of herself with a big old Pitbull head resting on her. A shot in the modern, dating website dark, I sent her a quick message commenting on the beautiful pitbull in the pic. She responded. I didn't think it would go anywhere so playfully I responded back. It was back and forth and we continued messaging on the phone app site until she asked if we could continue the conversation via text messages. It was easier that way, she had said. And that is a truth as the messaging on the app is slow and kind of tedious.

Text messages started and I told her what I did for a living. She was ok with what I did. Conversations continued and evolved and we decided to talk on the phone. We hit it off. We had conversations for hours on those following days until it was time to go to sleep.

After I left Ocala I went down to Miami with a load. After I cleared it I found out I was taking another load up to Norfolk. As it happened, she lived in a town next to Norfolk and she would be free from work the day that I arrived in Norfolk to drop. We wanted to meet up and she stated that she would drive down and pick me up from Big Charlies truck stop in Virginia Beach. Daring on her part, I had thought. Meeting a guy for the first time at a truck stop. It was risky but it was her idea and I was all for it.

She insisted we call it a date. We joked about it back and forth and I told her that I was more comfortable calling it a "meeting" since a real date cannot possibly start with a woman picking up a guy in her car from a truck stop. But she corrected me, "It's 2014, it's fine". Okay, her choice and I'm good with it. She picks me up for the "meeting" and I'll fill her gas tank and pay for everything. I would have paid for everything anyway but letting her know that I needed to do something to feel better about the inconvenience to her, driving all the way down to Big Charlies and her shuttling me around for the day.

I found a spot close to the pumps and the building at Big Charlies and backed in. She was only a couple of minutes behind me for the meeting. I saw her as she pulled in and she was beautiful. As she got out of her car, on her cellphone with me, I tried to direct her to where my truck was. I was getting out and was trying to keep her from wandering around the truck stop aimlessly. As we were both on the phone with each other, her walking back and forth laughing about trying to locate me, and I was telling her "no, to your right...no I'm the other way, to your left..." she finally spotted me as I checked my truck to make sure it was locked up and made my way over.

We met right there in the middle of the main drag through Big Charlies, on the pavement in the thoroughfare of a dingy, old-school, busy, Virginia truck stop. Somewhere about half way between my truck and the building we physically met and she immediately wrapped her arms around me squeezing me tight. Very tight. I returned the gesture and squeezed her in a hug hoping that my hug wasn't too tight as I was nearly twice her size and weight. It felt great. Before meeting, on the phone, she had mentioned that she was going to give me 20,000 hugs when we met. Her number might have been slightly off but she was aiming for the target number.

After the hug in the middle of the parking lot we walked over to her car. Before getting in she hugged me again and I hugged her back. This went on a few more times, alternating between the hug and smiling at each other pretty close, face to face. Instinctually I wanted to kiss her as she was close to me and in between hugs we were still in an embrace just smiling and staring at each other. Of course i wouldnt. But instinctually the feeling was there between the proximity of our faces and being wrapped in a close embrace. Somewhere mixed in there we both commented that we couldn't believe we were actually meeting in person. We were happy and very satisfied that the culmination of messaging, texting and phone conversations resulted in this meeting. She exceeded my expectations and was even more attractive than her pictures presented her.


Ghent Norfolk lunch and a visit together to Virginia Beach...

We decided to get some lunch and she took me on a tour of Norfolk while we made our way to a neighborhood in Norfolk called Ghent. She drove me on a tour of Norfolk, seeing parts of the city I had never seen. My sister lives in Norfolk and I"ve been there before but I don't really know the city. I've seen my sister's neighborhood and part of downtown Norfolk near the waterfront but that is it. She drove me past some of the neighborhoods, some of the apartments she lived in in the past and past some notable landmarks like the art museum and opera house.

She is from Virginia originally, raised there almost from birth. Although she was born in Korea she was young when she was brought to Virginia so it is all she knows. We made our way to Ghent and figured we would walk around among the strip of restaurants, old theaters, video stores and shops to find a place to grab lunch. No sooner had she put her car in park in a parking space when a cop apparently appeared out of nowhere and was at her driver's side window while we gathered our things to get out. He noticed her inspection had expired (technically only a few days before) and was checking up on it. He let her go with a very friendly warning to get it updated. We lucked out with no ticket and took it as a sign of good luck to come. And it was...

The cop left, we got out and she walked over to where I was on the sidewalk. She hugged me again and when she released she looked right at me and kissed me. And I gave it back. Glad we got that out of the way.

We had lunch at a little place called No Frills. She told the hostess that she wanted a booth and when we sat she insisted we sit on the same side. She was so affectionate. She was either rubbing my arm, my knee or just pushing up against me in the booth. It was fantastic and, admittedly, I was not used to it. I was slightly uneasy as it has been a very long time. A very, very long time. My exwife was completely unaffectionate from the start and it never changed. I thought it would. My mistake. So I could honestly say that the last time I felt this kind of affection was way before I ever even met my exwife. This was strange but it was positively wonderful. We both ordered burgers, her's without the buns medium well, mine with one of the buns medium rare. She asked for mayo as a condiment and I was even happier as this is my primary choice of condiment and it is not typical first choice. Odd and ironic. Conversation centered on how awesome it was to finally meet and how both of our expectations were exceeded in meeting in person. Perfect.

We finished lunch and left holding hands as if we had been dating forever. Odd how quick two people can become acquainted and comfortable with each other. Earlier we had spoken about meeting up with my mom down in Norfolk because she was down there watching my nieces. A few days earlier when we had spoken about our available schedules and possibly meeting I had mentioned that I wanted to squeeze a little time in with my mom when I came out to Virginia on this load. My mom's cancer came back recently and I wanted to see her. Plus my mom had asked about me seeing her when I came out. Refreshingly, when I brought this up to this girl she suggested we both stop by my sister's house, where my mom would be watching my nieces, and say hello. So after lunch we made our way over to my sis's house and hung out with my mom, nieces and brother-in-law. My date was fantastic. She openly conversed with my family and this was the first day she even met me in person! I was extremely impressed and was proud to introduce her as my date. My date has cajones to meet some guy's family on the same day she meets this guy.

We left after a while and headed over to Virginia Beach. We parked a block from the boardwalk/beachfront and walked around. By this time we were already holding hands and all over each other. We walked down the boardwalk occasionally stopping on a bench to talk and people watch. She rested her head on my shoulder while holding my hand. It was pretty surreal but it was fantastic. We grabbed a seat on the outdoor deck of a beachfront restaurant and watched three young kids in "skinny jeans" breakdance poorly on the boardwalk. We laughed as one of them repeatedly tried to spin on his head, failing over and over. We agreed that their routine probably should have been worked on before coming to the boardwalk with all their speaker equipment and tips can.

The rest of the day was wonderful. We strolled past the area with the amusement rides and henna tattoos and didn't stop touching each other at any time. As evening set in we found ourselves at another beachside boardwalk bar and restaurant watching a live band play. We got the last open table outside and considered it more good luck.

We finished up the night on the beach walking barefoot in the sand and sitting leaned against the concrete barrier that supports the boardwalk above. It has been about 20 years since I've been to Virginia Beach and it has been over 8 years since I've felt beach sand between my toes. I forgot how good that feels. We got beach sand in everything, on all our clothes and in every crevice of property and body before we decided it was getting late and we needed to head back to Big Charlies and my truck.

Before we left, after I felt confident that everything went perfectly and that she would want to go, I asked her if she wanted to attend my little brother's wedding in a few weeks. I had brought up his wedding earlier on the date and she had made an innuendo that made me believe she wanted to go. She said she would work around my schedule to see me around the time of the wedding. So, I waited and then asked her. She was ecstatic that I asked and said yes. I checked with my brother just to make sure I was a "+1". Of course I was and now she will be attending with me. I have a hotel room at the Marriott for after the wedding, as does the rest of my family. We have most of the floor reserved for the "after party" after the reception on the boat. She will be staying with me at the Marriott. In my room.

She drove me back to my truck and after a short tour of my truck and some goodbyes-for-now, we parted ways. By far the best date (which is what I called it after about an hour in to the "meeting") I have ever been on. No exaggeration. She was absolutely perfect. The affection was unbelievable. She is smart, funny, smart-###, kind, mature and beautiful. I am lucky.

So now that I'm back on the road, after our first day, we are back to texting throughout the day and talking at night. She is good with me being a truck driver. We have both agreed upon the idiom of "absence makes the heart grow fonder". There is balance and it is good for both of us. I am working, she respects my love of riding and she has her job and friends in her life. Balance makes happiness. ...

"When one door closes, another door opens; but we so often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us" - Alexander Graham Bell.

I can't say that applies here as I definitely have seen this door that has recently opened for me. Very unexpectedly.

As for that other girl that I had been talking to, I've given up on it. I don't care anymore as someone much more important, more beautiful, more attentive and more accessible as come into the picture. That other girl from N. Carolina texted me the other day. She had been visiting family in Maryland. I'm going to scratch that whole thing with her as a bout of needing someone to talk to and she fitted the bill. She was attractive and I was interested. But not anymore as she has been replaced with someone much greater. Funny how that happens.

 

Thanks LJ. Let me know if you have any questions I can answer or give any help. Keep reading along!

 

Thanks for the links and suggestions. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet exactly but I'm trying to at least get 2 years in for consistentcy. That way I should be a little more marketable.

 

I'm going to start picking up on some research of some other companies as time goes on and weigh my options. I'm going to try to stay OTR for a while longer.