Profile For Jaybird

And obviously I need to do better on quoting.

but 4h or 6h off duty in the middle off the day, non-consecutive with 8h in the sleeper after you finish your day - does not.

Imma go on a limb and say the non consecutive you mention is the problem, meaning you tripped the log somewhere shy of 2 hours consecutive multiple times?… either way it’s hard to decipher exactly what you mean still.

I drive for Swift, going on 2 years. I am confident in being able to say that while you must go through Swifts academy, you do not actually retest for the CDL if you already have it. So while you will spend 3 weeks doing things on the training pad, what is it that you’re losing? You’ll end up with a Mentor, that will most likely be around a month, if not less. So not even 2 months and you’re on your own. I do know of other training schools that will take longer than that, and most likely either way you’ll have to be with a trainer for a small period of time anyways.

Now, I do know that living in the Seattle area, there are several dedicated accounts Swift runs, that will pay you somewhat decent money after you learn how to be efficient and manage your time correctly. I will say I ran a dedicated account based out of California, mostly Lathrop area, that would allow you to still have hometime almost on a weekly basis with the deliveries done in Auburn and Sumner. And you’re still running and touching all west coast states. I am aware of an account running for Costco out of Sumner, that will have you home weekly, if not every other night depending on reload times as all pull out of Sumner as well. Food for thought. And I’m comfortable in saying, I grossed over 1800 on the account I ran.

And my last pointer I can give. I’m at my 2 years with Swift in 1 more month. I have no problems paying my mortgage, wife’s car payment and all bills for us and our Son. I’m happy with Swift, we live comfortably on 1 income and I have no plans on being anywhere else and I drive brand new equipment. So why is a contract an issue when ultimately wherever you end up, most major carriers that will take you, will (I assume) roughly pay you close to the same when you hit the point that you know how to be Safe, efficient, and reliable with a great attitude no matter how crappy the day may have been. It will take time for you to learn what needs to be done to make money, and that again will be regardless of whatever company you start with.

Ok, thanks everyone for the input. It’s so stupid on my end I always assumed it was safe to just continue proceeding when nobody was in front of me. It’s been nearly 2 years of me doing that, occasionally I would stop and wait for the truck in front of me but usually I was slow enough that the scale was completely clear by the time I hit the line. I don’t know why I overlooked it.

So, I’m curious. All of you know the “STOP, Proceed when scale is clear” signs when entering the Port of Entry I’m assuming? The Stop sign is clear, the white sign under it reads proceed when clear.

Now, my question, when 4 or 8 or 15 trucks are in line, all rolling between 3-5 mph as we all approach the scale waiting our turn, how many of you actually come to a complete stop, and wait until the trailer in front of you clears the scale? Are you ever far enough back rolling at 3 or 4 mph and just continue to roll and the trailer in front clears and you just roll at 3mph and then roll over the scale?

I was unaware, some don’t even have the stop signs, a Port in Washington stopped like 5 of us and pulled us inside the office because we all rolled through the stop sign. Informed that the stop sign is to be treated as such. No tickets or citations given out, I admit I’ve questioned it, especially in Neveda and it’s always the one Northbound 15 just south of Vegas that has the Stop Sign but also signs saying don’t stop unless directed. I’ve come to a complete stop at that stop sign and I’ve seen other trucks just roll through it at 5mph. I now will always just stop before crossing a port scale. Input?

The few carriers you’re interested in? I see you mentioned talking with Prime, why not Swift? Myself (still employed with Swift) and a couple others here started with Swift. I myself am doing very well with Swift, which is why I’m still employed with them. As well as Swift offers some of the best opportunities for new drivers in the So Cal area. Many dedicated accounts that offer home daily, intermodal runs home daily, great regional dedicated on the west coast that being in Los Angeles you could go home for a night here and there due to being in LA for a delivery and/or pickup and that’s going home without a hometime request.

You also have regular regional and OTR opportunities as well. They train you, with a training location right in Lathrop.

So I’m curious, why is Swift not on the radar?

I’ll weigh in on this thread, I’ve had very little activity here posting but I frequently read the topics. Approaching my 2 year mark with Swift currently I’m running dedicated Hershey freight on the west coast. Hershey has abandoned dedicated contract carriers effective May 4th, from what the account manager told me and I’ll give good reason why I trust him, he was told that all contract carriers are affected. Prime Inc, Pride Transport, Swift, Schaffer/Crete and Knight all are no longer going to be running contractually, Hershey believes they can move their freight on the spot market at cheaper rates, while true at the moment won’t last and customer service my AM says will take a massive hit.

While I’m very annoyed with this the ethic and the attitude I’ve approached this career with has given me an in on another dedicated account I’ll be moving to, I was given the option by him to move to an account of my choosing regardless of the amount of trucks currently seated on the account I wanted, in addition with a lapse of Hershey freight he rewarded me with a change of scenery before the massive change, I told him I’d like to run to the Midwest and back a few times which turned into 4 brokered loads totaling just under 8400 miles the last 2 weeks and 3 days. The final run was a reload in Washington Court Ohio with a delivery in Auburn Washington totaling 2503 paid miles empty and loaded combined. While my teammates on the account got roped into local intermodal work I ran brokered freight that Swift made no profit on, and a lot of that had to do with my attitude and ethic this last year on the account.

In addition to all of this my current DL who has been employed with Swift for 32 years is being let go, one of the other DL’s over the Midwest Hershey region that sits next to her is also being let go, there is not a seat available in the office for them to move into. I’m noticing that the ethic and attitude of certain drivers is starting to play a more critical role in how those drivers are being treated, how they are being ran and the opportunities being provided to them verse the individuals that are less willing to attempt tight schedules, adverse hours and conditions and so on. I am noticing many drivers at Swift that are sitting for several days on end, and I know a mentor with a current student in the team phase that have waited for 2 days without a load. While drivers in the OTR/Regional sectors are struggling to remain moving the dedicated sectors are still doing well over here and Swift is pulling brokered loads quite frequently on the dedicated side to keep the dedicated drivers moving back to the contracted customer to keep that dedicated freight moving.

Point is overall I guess that I’m finding it imperative to continue to build my reputation, provide the best service that I can, and be as positive as I can be regardless of any situation I’m in. Run Legal, safe, hard, and find every possible way that I can to maximize my efficiency, and above all, stay in the dedicated lanes until this nationwide market starts turning upward. I only have just about 2 years of experience, not a lot and I started in the COVID era when freight seemed much better than it is currently, but I’m noticing a major downward trend in miles with most drivers here and I’ve found myself fortunate to be in the situation I’m in.

Hello!! Great Choice with Swift. I too went through the Swift Academy a little over a year ago. Assuming the layout and process in Lewiston is the same as the location I attended, the instructor assignment for road drives and skills was random day to day. I would advise approaching the instructor you felt comfortable with, calmly explaining your feelings and your thoughts, and throw in the need for maybe a different prospective as multiple viewpoints and trainings in the small amount of hours you have to prepare on your road drives, is in my opinion beneficial. As well as that may be a route to go down that won’t potentially annoy the instructor you are having issues with.

Now, that being said, at the location I attended there was an instructor that several students had an issue with, myself included. In hindsight I see that part of the issue was myself and some overconfidence. For example we did not see eye to eye on his perspective of follow distance and slowing down in relation to approaching a red light. I mean he’s like yelling to be on the brakes, 200 yards from a red light. I’m with the mentality of, please, I got so much room. Nowadays and over a year going strong I still find myself shooting myself for not taking that seriously. Just yesterday I was grateful for 300 yards of room to stop safely having scaled at 79600.

BUT with that in mind, that instructor was recently terminated. That instructor received several complaints from students. One other instructor I still swing by and visit when I go through the terminal vocalized to me that at first they (the other instructor’s) were unaware of students feelings and what was going on in the truck out on the road and on the training pad when it was just this instructor and no other instructor’s present. It took about 4 months from what I’m told, and some solid investigation to actually be able to understand and see what the instructor was doing before action was actually taken. Not good for 4 months of Students during investigations and all the students before. Myself included. There were many more problems I had with this particular instructor, the one that I gave as an example was not a him problem it was a me problem, and I hope, was meant obviously to just try and open your mind a little to potentially helpful reasonings.

That all being said, I was informed that polite discussion, vocalization of your feelings, followed with actions by said instructor, and the simple mindset of taking seriously what you are learning now, SHOULD, go a long way with the instructor you are more comfortable with. After all, this is your new career. I am very happy I can actually give some advice having seen and experienced this now, at the same company as you.

And, now all of that aside. 4 weeks in I assume CDL testing is fast approaching although thanksgiving may or may not delay it correct? Bottom line. You are at the home stretch and will soon test out, number 1 thing. Have some serious self confidence when you approach your pre trip, skills and road test. I mean come on. You got it. Between this website, everything swift gave you and some common sense, you got it without overthinking. And again, you can GET OUT AND LOOK more than the amount of times the tester gives you. Better to lose a point getting out an extra time, then feeling like you got it in the box and you didn’t. Self confidence goes a long way, and don’t worry about getting out if you need to.

Swift from my year and 2 months has been a great experience thus far, I am still here, getting miles, and supporting my family in these dark times with my wife a stay at home mom. I will proudly wear my Swift shirt and represent a company that has done me right. Good luck! I look forward to hearing how it goes for.

To be honest, I very much prefer to keep to myself and I find myself watching others doing many of the countless odd things you see out here everyday. I actually got annoyed with a guy that was measuring other trucks 40 foot marks on the trailer to compare to his own as his did not have markings, I told him to get away from mine. If he sees me he is more than willing to ask and I would be more than glad to help so that he can be legal and comfortable running into Cali but the fact that he’s walking through the middle of 15 trucks at 2am just makes me uneasy.

My point, I am a little over paranoid but then I just calm myself and say if someone wants to cut the lock and get in the trailer at least I did what I’m supposed to do. It’s. It my cargo, it’s my job to move it safely and make my best effort to protect it but if something happens it’s not on me as long as I follow company policy and procedures.

Now, if someone comes into the Cab, I got a couple mallets and I ain’t afraid to mash someone on the head. I actually kinda want to find myself in the situation with a gunless robber or carjacker. Might bring some spice to an otherwise monotonous cycle of load, drive, sleep, deliver. BUT, don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly love this monotonous cycle and not running into problems of robbers and thieves is also very nice.

Point, you’ll be fine if you follow policy and procedures, if someone diverts to the cab cuz policy and procedures are followed, Kick butt or be butt kicked.

Hey man I'm curious, that looks like an Ag needs truck I've seen, I live less than 20 minutes from Richmond where I see them parked, I've thought about applying to them but that's beside the point. My point is, is it an Ag Needs truck and if so then thats cool because I really think I've seen that volvo on the road several times. I'm through Utah 2-3 times a week chances are I've seen one similar but I just thought it's a small world.