Profile For James M.

For those that don't know I drive for Swift and I have been on a dedicated Sears account out of Dallas, Tx for a while. Well a couple months ago my Dm left and went back to driving and wouldn't tell us if he was going OTR or hopping on another account. Well I finally wormed it out of him and he got on an account called tours and trades. Basically Swift hauls for Feld Entertainment which right now the shows it includes is Disney on ice, Ringling Brothers, Monster Jam and Marvel Universe Live. By the way this is an account where you have to know somebody to get on it. Anyways he knew I was tired with Sears and I asked him if there was anyway to get on it. Well he finally called me this past Sunday and asked if I was ready to go. I said yep let me pack up winter stuff and I'll be ready to go Monday morning. So I took off with a load Monday morning and 2200 miles later I met up with them in Richmond, Va and am one of the 4 dedicated drivers for this show. It's a salary position because we hardly drive. It's mostly backin trailers into the docks at arenas and convention centers. We pack up Sunday night and take off to the next venue and have to be their by Tuesday morning. Most of the jumps are only 200-400 miles. We do about 3 to 3 1/2 days of work and then the rest of the time is ours to play tourist in whatever city we happen to be in.

That sounds pretty cool. Congrats. Which show are you driving for?

any comments on KLLM Transport as far as training ?? any info will be appreciated... thanks

They use the FFE Driving Academy in Fort Worth. I just finished my time here and I absolutely loved it. Great instructors, catered food from black eyed pea mon thru sat. You never have a cent deducted from your check for tuition, it's 100%covered unless you don't fulfill your 1 year. They also gave us a $1,000 sign on bonus if you come there to get your CDL. They gave us the first $500 after we passed our tests at DPS and another $500 when we get out with our trainer driver. There are people here who went to Stevens, CRST, and other places. All of them rave about how much better FFE Academy is. One of the cons about it is that it is VERY fast pace. All in all a very enjoyable experience.

I just graduated the FFE Academy in Fort Worth and passed my road test and am now officially a class A CDL holder. Woo-hoo! I leave tomorrow for Lancaster, TX where I will wait for my trainer driver. Any tips or advice on what to expect? Great message board btw, I'm looking forward to many good years here