The start of my first year with Swift.

Sorry to hear that. Mine didn't have a problem when I picked it up. I haven't been home to test the waters yet. I guess when I was issued the truck it was technically a recovery. The other driver parked it at the yard and left. I was told to go to the yard and get it. I drove it home and made sure they knew where I was.

When I was going through orientation I asked about it and was told I could take it home. I hope to be home by the 22nd. I guess I'll find out then.

 

YES!!! I finally delivered the load. I got up early and headed for Memphis. First I had to get fuel. I was surprised when I didn't get a fillup. When I sent in my macro they changed my routing and sent me to get more fuel before I hit my final. No biggie.

On the way to Memphis today I had an interesting time. It was snowing like crazy in Alabama and in Mississippi. I mean the kind of snow we get in Idaho. Cars off the road, people pulled over and waiting.

Never ever trust the qualcomm to take you to the final. Always keep your head up and watch for the address. In this case the qualcomm said the business was supposed to be directly in front of me. It wasn't. The only thing in front of me was a low railroad bridge. The sign said 13'11", I was sweating it. I mean, did they measure it after the last time they fixed the road? I got under it and then next one said 13' 7". I was not going to tempt fate again. There was a street to the side and I pulled a U turn in the road. I had traffic blocked but I didn't care. I was not going to be on the 5 o'clock news today! I got back under the bridge and found the location on a side street. What a mess. There was a Schneider truck in the driveway and another truck backed up to the dock. The rest of the very small parking lot was full of cars. The guy from Schneider can't wait his turn and so he pulls ahead and blocks the only lane to get a backing position. He then drops his trailer. He had a preloaded trailer at another dock. He couldn't get it out because of the truck in front of me at the dock.

Finally it's time for the guy in my dock to move. He was a really nice guy and gave me some advice about getting backed in. I think he was training someone. When they tried to pull out he got high centered on the large speed bump. The drives were off the ground and he couldn't move even with the two axles locked. They had to put wood under one side to get moving. I decided I was going to let the guy from Schneider get his stuff done and out of the way before I tried to get in there. He got his the loaded trailer out ok but getting the empty to the dock was a different story. It was a 90 blindside back with very little room to move around. I asked him if he wanted help and he said know. After he wiggled around for awhile, another driver, who got tired of waiting, came up and helped him out.

After seeing the other two guys have such fun, and learning from my experience yesterday, I moved my tandems up. I know the tail will swing but it helps me move around a bit tighter. I swung around, got a straight back to the dock, moved the tandems back and I was ready. Unfortunately the warehouse wasn't. Now I had to wait for someone to unload me. After almost an hour they came along and got it done. I'm now at the terminal in Memphis for a much needed shower and to do laundry.

I wasn't here more than an hour when I got two preplans. One for a short run into Arkansas and back for a T-call load and another one headed to Utah and closer to home. I can't wait!

One thing I can say for Swift and the terminals...there are no two that are alike. You would think there would be some kind of standardized operating procedure. If there is I sure can't figure it out. If you come here you cannot stayed hooked to your trailer for more than 30 minutes. If your are empty and you drop it, it's fair game for anyone else. I put a seal and my lock on my empty and parked it in the loaded lot. I knew I was going to need it.

I managed to do two loads of laundry....man, those wet clothes from yesterday got sour in a hurry. I'm surprised that a facility like this has some old broken down washers. I think there are six of them in there but you can only use two at a time because they flood the room. The dryers worked great for me. The wash costs $1 and the dryer was 50 cents. The showers were ok. Not very clean but I've come to expect that at a terminal. There was good water pressure and plenty of hot water.

That's all I can think of. I'm sure I forgot something but I can't keep my mouth shut so it will be on here later.

 

Thanks, I was told about that option but in the heat of the moment I didn't think to use it. I was worried about the bridge and where the news crew was going to come from. I'll try it tomorrow when I go pick up.