Training on a Dedicated Route: Current Heaven or Hell for my future?

I had concerns of the same thing when I forst drove.Just make sure he goes over trip planning with you..The logs are probably gonna be the same most of the time...But you should get familiar with the route and all that....so it could be ok for you..

 

Just watch all them mountains in florida. Our chain law is not in effect, at this time !!

 

Since you are already at SWIFT, you may as well go ahead with it. For one thing it is a job. For another, it is training. It will give you experience that you desperately need, to further your career.

I really don't see where it will hurt your chances for going OTR in the future, perhaps even with SWIFT. That being said, do the best you can, try to get through a year or two with them. Perhaps by that time the economy will have turned around a bit, and you can move on to a better company.

Good Luck!

 

I trained in the Central US, with Swift. Then I ran the Central US with Swift, and sometimes the east and west coast.. Went local now for 2 1/2 yrs. If I can do it so can you...

 

The mountains are nothing to be afraid of. Neither is ice and snow. That being said though, you need to keep a lot of respect for them. Take it slow and easy, use your head.

You will probably have enough experience in handling a rig, that it will be easier for you, than if you were to suddenly go to driving, and do it in mountains. There is a lot of advice on this forum about winter driving, and mountain driving.

No, it's not the same as having a trainer beside you when you first encounter it. OTOH, you might actually be better off, as you can sort of judge for yourself. Don't let anybody else push you to drive over your head. If you feel that 35 is right, and somebody is yelling at you on the CB that you should be doing 70, turn off the CB and stick with your gut feelings.

 

I am finishing my training with Swift next week. I am also being trained by a driver on a dedicated account. We covered trip planning and I feel confident about it.

After training you are required to go otr for 30 days.

I don't know if I want to get on a dedicated account when I finish otr. There are 2 distribution centers in NY for the company. They have another one in CT for a different company that is also pwned by the dc's in NY. The dedicated runs are getting good miles and usually 1 day home a week.

 

My trainer wen training me had us sent on runs out side his area, just for mountain driving.. The only time I hit snow in my yr otr was when I was on my last trip from before going local.. It was from Salt lake City Utah, and they had serve snow storm the whole day.. For someone not use to driving a semi in snow I did pretty darn good.. It was so bad my wipers could not keep up with the snow. I drove no faster than 35mph straight down I-15 then they had me cross US 6 what a nightmare.