Profile For Cyrus R.

Lol, yeah a little nervous. I think I have a bit of PTSD from letting people know I work for swift. It wasn't till after I posted my topic that I realized this was a safe place. I posted a pic of my first truck and I on twisted truckers comment section last year when I was super green. I was too excited to be a driver and had my blinders on lol. Big mistake on my part. People went to town making silly swift memes out of it. So I learned. Glad it didn't go viral like some of the others I've seen online.

All great points you made. I've had no issues or service failures and been at platinum status for most of my career. I'd be a liar if I didn't tell you I've had a few close calls! And a few hairy situations from making a wrong turn. But I've learned from mistakes and learn everyday from watching other's mistakes.

I talked to a WM driver in SC that said they don't have any dedicated carriers in south carolina. I never actually confirmed it but it seems like a call is in order now. I'm a lot more serious about it now so I'll definitely be calling around.

It looks like you got lucky and landed something nice locally. Hourly sounds nice too. Especially if you get overtime.

I'll come back and updte once I've found a good opportunity. Whether it's with swift or not.

Thank you gentlemen. All equally great information here and much appreciated! I like going into decisions with all my options on the table and going through I used to work wal mart dedicated in PA. Loved it.

Working hourly would be nice as well! My goal is to make more than I made last year but even if it's similar initially, at least i'll be home every night.

Thanks for the reply and suggestion. That's a pretty neat schedule you have. It sounds like you're happy with Swift and that's good to see.

I've noticed a few successful Swift guys here before I joined so that proved to me it's not a bad place to work.

I suppose it doesn't hurt to try out swift locally. I'll see if there are any other suggestions but I don't see any harm in calling that terminal to see if they have an opening and see everything makes sense. Thanks my friend

Ideally there would be a walmart or target DC near me which is hiring daycabbers but sadly that's not the case in my area. I'm going to try and search for a publix or bi lo DC. Or something similar to walmart; delivering straight to the store and having them unload me.

To be clear. The mega carrier I work for is Swift. They have a bad reputation online but they've been good with me. They gave me a brand new truck, they never asked me to run illegal or do anything uncomfortable. The pay is great overall but I know it's been due to hard work and the advice I've received here and online. I've switched terminals here and there. Never late and never damaged my equipment. No issues at all. I'm just ready to live 'normally' again with a local gig

Hey TT, (if you just want to jump straight to the point then head straight down to the last paragraph.) This website gave me some good insight in professional driving. It made my first year of driving OTR a little bit easier.

With the info I've read, along with hard work sprinkled in with some luck here and there, I was able to gross about $50k my first year as a driver. That's with a big name mega carrier. (Dryvans mainly but I also haul reefers too) With a military scholarship towards my CDL schooling, I didn't have to pay anything so I feel I came out ahead of most green horns. I feel if I don't add the pathetic first five weeks of training pay, I could have made over $50k. It's nice since I was able to get rid of my apartment and use my parent's address to avoid any unnecessary bills. I also saved a bunch of money of my car insurance by selling my car. I'm single so I took advantage of this.

I'm a huge car enthusiast but I love driving trucks as well. Ot's not quite fun like a sports car, but whipping around a long wheelbase cascadia with a 53 footer in tight streets is pretty satisfying to me. I've been through just about every single state. Experienced a lot of different things, most good, some bad. My golden rule was to survive and not take any unnecessary risks. Especially when it came to backing up in truck stops. I had a deep understanding about tractor trailers due to my father being an owner op with his own 379 and strangely video games and truck simulators.

A little background about me. I'm 29, prior military(USAF), former Firefighter and a few other hats over the years.. Becoming a state trooper is still one of my goals but at this time I'm loving driving overall so I don't want to walk away quite yet.

With one year under my belt, I've decided I no longer want to live inside a sleeper. I'm not knocking this lifestyle, but that's what it is, a lifestyle. Maybe someday in the far future I'll come back OTR. If I do, it'll definitely be with Walmart. For now, I want to focus on other things. My plans for this year will be purchasing a house. I miss all the little things that come with having your own place and having actual days off. I miss body building and making food on my own kitchen. Bottom line, I've decided to go with a local driving job to enjoy my off time. I just can't seem to think of a good place to work for.

I'm looking for some help and suggestions for outstanding driving jobs in the Spartanburg-Greenville, SC area. Local daycab driver (Raleigh Fayetteville is also a plan B for me if it's a great place to work) I know we all have different ideas on what the perfect job is but I'd like to hear from other drivers from these areas (or those with knowledge on a great place) I certainly don't to be known as a job hopper so this is why I'm staying put until I find something that makes sense for me. I'm looking for a job with a set time you arrive to work. Something that doesn't require me loading or uploading a trailer. Something that pays good of course. One of my favorite gigs was driving on a dedicated account for wal mart. I picked up pre loaded trailers from the DC, delivered to a few different walmart stores and drove back empty. With stop pay, dispatch pay and miles it was easy money. Maybe a backhaul here or there. I didn't enjoy it because it was the north east but if I found something similar to that walmart dedicated (as a local driver) down by Greenville/Spartanburg SC I'd be thrilled. Any thoughts?

Thanks for having me.

Ouch, that sounds expensive. I like to think that everything happens for a reason though. Maybe stopping there prevented an accident somewhere down the road, who knows. I try to look at the positive aspects in different scenarios.

Thanks for that info Bill and that's a nice truck you have there. I'd like to drive a peterbilt someday.

So I am going to lean with true being the answer. This sure would be a bad way to start if i answered wrong.

Hello,

I was at the DMV earlier today to obtain my CDL A permit. I managed to pass tankers and combination vehicles but failed general knowledge and air brakes both by a hair. I'm going to study a little more and retake them tomorrow.

Now, I have a very important question. On the DMV paperwork I needed to answer TRUE or FALE to this question:

"I certify that I am not subject to the qualification requirements under the Federal Rule 49 CFR, Part 391 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations rules to operate a commercial vehicle."

I asked the DMV clerk for help in understanding that question but she said she's not allowed to help. I put in false, but I'm going back tomorrow and have one more chance to change it. Please help a greenhorn out.

Just wanted to thank the site creater and Brett for this forum, I recently registered but I found out so much valuable info on here before making the decision to become a trucker.