Swift Training

Whatever you chose, chose it wisely. Many options... whatever you do, stick it out for the time needed (at least one year) & then move on to greener pastures. Any giant, bottom feeder comany is going to be a drag, but make the best of it. A year is nothing over the course of a 20+ year driving career. Be smart and be safe.

 

I did 240 hrs. when I was out with a mentor, so they are telling you 200 hrs? Finding a good mentor is essential, as there are many drivers who do mentoring only for the extra cash, especially the owner ops. My mentor was an owner op and said it really helped him make payments on the truck when he had a student on board. My owner op had me running team in a very short time, which makes him lots of money and gives you the hours you need to get off the truck fast. Count on 6 weeks to get your 240 hrs, less if it's really 200 hours.

Be wary that a lot of the owner op mentors don't like to let you practice backing up a lot using their truck because it costs them time and money. When I did it, you had to log 40 backups and where you did them. When you get your required hours, you will be dropped off at a terminal and "tested out". You will be given a road test and a backing test. If you don't know your backing all that well, you will fail. Phoenix is especially hard, in my opinion.

When I quit I was getting .46 per mile with a year and 3 months exp. I was doing flatbed, which is a lot of work. You will get sweaty and dirty doing load securement and then you gotta drive! They are always trying to get FB drivers by the way. I also did dry van for 9 months and there are a lot of short haul trips for solo drivers there, which are a huge waste of your time.

 

As far as home time goes, I can honestly say that I got home late every single time, but I learned how to anticipate that and plan accordingly. I always had at least 2 nights home and once had 3. Depending on where you live, hometime can really decrease your paycheck. I have deadheaded close to 140 miles to get home and always over 100 miles. Sometimes with a trailer, sometimes without and sometimes under load. Trucking is a very fluid job in many ways.

 

I did my training with a mentor starting august 1st and finished and had my own truck august 27th. I had to have 40 backs and 150 hours of drive time. As a dry van hauler I get paid .36 to .50 cpm. Usually get the .36 cpm. I went to the Kansas city Academy and was done with it in 3 weeks.

 

Also I average around 2100 to 2500 miles a week. Last week I had my personal best since I started at 3100 miles.

 

Really?
A recent video was telling how many more trucks were getting the cameras.
That was a video from Swift to all the drivers, by the way.
Nothing is on hold. Quite the opposite.
Only O/O and L/O are not getting them... for now. (And that is a quote from the video. Including the 'for now' part.)

I'm due for a new truck in the next couple months, and I'm OTR.
I'll let you know if my new truck has the camera; but, I'm betting on it.

 

Yes, the pay per mile depends on the length of the load. The shorter it is the more you are paid per mile.

It looks like you are doing well so far.

 

Yes thank you forgot to explain the bracket pay lol. Pay while during training with your mentor really sucks though. That's why I busted my butt to get through it and learn as much as I could.

 

A lot of the new trucks I've seen have them... and are automatics

 

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