Swift Vs. Prime: The Battle For Supremacy.

Lightweights don't weigh that much less, mine is just shy of 18k bobtail. I've had guys without apu's tell me there full size weighs less. With a lightweight trailer I can haul about 48k in the trailer if it's loading perfectly. I can't remember the last time I used a cat scale , which I only do on loads that weigh more than 46k. Most of my loads are in the 40 - 44 range.

Bobtail:

"Bobtailing" means you are driving a tractor without a trailer attached.

CAT Scale:

A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.

In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:

“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APU's:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

What is dedicated and what is intermodal?

Intermodal involves two or more moves utilizing different modes of transportation. For instance; from container ship, to train, to truck (called the dray move) and then finally to the customer (dock). An intermodal driver spends time in the rail yards or ship yards either picking up loads or empties and taking them to a destination. The equipment being moved about between "modes" could either be a trailer or container/chassis. The trailer or container is loaded with freight at the shipper moved from point A to B with at least two different transportation modes and unloaded at the receiver.

A Dedicated driver is assigned to a specific account, servicing a specific, usually large customer like; Walmart, Dollar General, Firestone, Quaker, Coors Beer, HomeDepot, etc. It's a very long list. Schneider, Swift, JB Hunt, and many others have dedicated accounts. Drivers assigned to a dedicated account usually work in a specific territory or corridor servicing a distribution center (DC) or hub that extends out to a network of retail stores and/or a specific set of customers.

Dave is concerned:

But what ended up putting Swift to #2 on my list is that they use team driving when you are getting your OTR training. The first week is solo but after that it is team driving. If I am supposed to be getting trained, mentored, and evaluated, I do not see how that is possible if my trainer is sleeping or otherwise unengaged when I am driving.

The mentor time (the first (I forget) 400 hours of driving), you and your mentor are together. The first 40 hours driving, your mentor is sitting in the passenger seat all the time you drive. After that is when yo switch to team. No, your mentor should not be in the bunk with the curtain closed 100% of his off time - the only seat to sit in is the passenger seat, so he'll be up there. I can only speak for my mentor here, but he actually set an alarm so that he was up, and watching, all the time I was at a shipper/receiver. A good mentor is always "engaged" with your driving.

After you get the hang of driving, you probably wish your mentor stays in bed, so you can do the \whole delivery or pick-up on your own. I used the GPS for routing exclusively, and only missed a turn a couple of times (because the GPS screen can be misleading sometimes). Then you push the green REROUTE button, and get back to the road. Remember some companies, I believe, send you out with another student team driving for a while.

Also, it seems Swift's 400 driving hours comes down to maybe one of the shorter training times before you're First Seat solo.

Your first week you're solo? As in driving by yourself? Then you go into team driving? Does that make sense?

Your first week you're solo? As in driving by yourself? Then you go into team driving? Does that make sense?

OMG no. You are dispatched "solo" for the first 40 hours (Errol, my memory (failing?) thought it was 50 hrs.) requiring that your trainer/mentor observes the student driving. Once the student has satisfied the requisite supervised driving period, the truck is then dispatched as a team.

What is dedicated and what is intermodal?

Intermodal involves two or more moves utilizing different modes of transportation. For instance; from container ship, to train, to truck (called the dray move) and then finally to the customer (dock). An intermodal driver spends time in the rail yards or ship yards either picking up loads or empties and taking them to a destination. The equipment being moved about between "modes" could either be a trailer or container/chassis. The trailer or container is loaded with freight at the shipper moved from point A to B with at least two different transportation modes and unloaded at the receiver.

A Dedicated driver is assigned to a specific account, servicing a specific, usually large customer like; Walmart, Dollar General, Firestone, Quaker, Coors Beer, HomeDepot, etc. It's a very long list. Schneider, Swift, JB Hunt, and many others have dedicated accounts. Drivers assigned to a dedicated account usually work in a specific territory or corridor servicing a distribution center (DC) or hub that extends out to a network of retail stores and/or a specific set of customers.

Thanks for the explanation.

What is dedicated and what is intermodal?

Intermodal involves two or more moves utilizing different modes of transportation. For instance; from container ship, to train, to truck (called the dray move) and then finally to the customer (dock). An intermodal driver spends time in the rail yards or ship yards either picking up loads or empties and taking them to a destination. The equipment being moved about between "modes" could either be a trailer or container/chassis. The trailer or container is loaded with freight at the shipper moved from point A to B with at least two different transportation modes and unloaded at the receiver.

A Dedicated driver is assigned to a specific account, servicing a specific, usually large customer like; Walmart, Dollar General, Firestone, Quaker, Coors Beer, HomeDepot, etc. It's a very long list. Schneider, Swift, JB Hunt, and many others have dedicated accounts. Drivers assigned to a dedicated account usually work in a specific territory or corridor servicing a distribution center (DC) or hub that extends out to a network of retail stores and/or a specific set of customers.

Thanks for the explanation.

Thanks, glad you saw it...your question was buried in the stack. Sorry for the delayed response.

OMG no. You are dispatched "solo" for the first 40 hours (Errol, my memory (failing?) thought it was 50 hrs.) requiring that your trainer/mentor observes the student driving. Once the student has satisfied the requisite supervised driving period, the truck is then dispatched as a team.

Slaps forehead sorry. This is the first I've heard of that. I just assumed it would just be the trainer sitting and coaching you for 2 months.

Little Trucker posted:

Slaps forehead sorry. This is the first I've heard of that. I just assumed it would just be the trainer sitting and coaching you for 2 months.

No I am sorry for confusing you. This is how Swift (and several others) "road-train" their students. But I know of no company that puts an entry level driver out (driving by yourself), on their own, the first week. The duration of supervised driving varies from company to company, but they all have that period with the student driving and the trainer observing/monitoring while seated in the passenger seat.

Hi there, newbie here! I'm using the High Road cdl training program right now to study for my written test and endorsements. I have been trying to decide between Prime and Swift also and have pretty much decided on Swift since they will probably have more options for me where I am and potentially offer better home time. But I'm a little concerned because I've read in several places that they are switching to automatics. Does anyone know if they still train using manuals so I won't get an automatic-only restriction on my cdl?

Hi there, newbie here! I'm using the High Road cdl training program right now to study for my written test and endorsements. I have been trying to decide between Prime and Swift also and have pretty much decided on Swift since they will probably have more options for me where I am and potentially offer better home time. But I'm a little concerned because I've read in several places that they are switching to automatics. Does anyone know if they still train using manuals so I won't get an automatic-only restriction on my cdl?

Last I checked they still train using a manual transmission (usually 8-speed) truck. Yes, they are moving to an automatic fleet. All of Swift's 2016 tractors are automatic.