Swift School First Week.

I was gonna wait for the end of the week because not much is happening so far but my sleep schedule is all screwed up soooo. Dateline Indiana. You're allowed to check into the hotel on Sunday, any earlier and you pay for the extra night. Class starts at 0600 Monday, don't be late. I strongly urge you to drive your own car if at all possible as opposed to the bus. People not from Indiana were required to get their permits and DOT physicals in their home state before coming which is what I wanted to do anyway. For some weird reason Indiana residents were not supposed to and they are sorry they couldn't. First 2 days of class so far, after a drug screen and basic paperwork, is prepping for permit test but enough new information for us permit holders to keep it interesting and review is never bad either. I'm surprised to hear myself say this but I had hammered a pretrip video into myself for a week prior to starting this but I think now that maybe it did more harm than good. I say that mostly because of specific verbage they want you to memorize for the test with the DMV guy. I keep tripping up so far over what I ingrained from the video but it's only day 2 and maybe it's just me. Anyway, so far so good, very happy to be here. My attitude is that I am giving myself to this school for 3 weeks and will be happy with whatever they want to throw at me no matter what.

Brian has urges:

I strongly urge you to drive your own car if at all possible as opposed to the bus.

Be sure to have a full tank gas receipt, Swift will pay you for your own transportation. And, with your own wheels, you'll make lots of friends.

Yes, the pre-trip is that important. Two years ago, you had to memorize the in-cab part word for word.

Good luck on the backing practice, Brian!

Good luck Brian!

Most of us had to endure what you are about to go through. There are tricks and techniques we can share that may help but in the end it all boils down to focus and applying yourself to the challenges of learning. I think you have that figured out which already will set you apart from half your class.

We're here to help if you need input. Try to keep us posted.

Thanks all. I am 101% focused and determined.

We have to memorize the entire pretrip not just the in cab part. 5th wheel instead of skid plate = wrong, yellow lens instead of amber = wrong. You get the idea. That's the reason I say that studying before getting here was a mistake because I have slightly different terminology stuck in my head now. Not the end of the world.

For anyone coming into it get a jump on recognizing the parts by sight in a pretrip but don't dwell on terminology or even what exactly is part of the pretrip because that changes regularly as well.

Brian what exactly were you studying that referred to the fifth wheel as a skid plate?

I have never heard it called anything but a fifth wheel.

The fifth wheel skid plate is the part of the fifth wheel assembly that is connected to the fifth wheel platform by the fifth wheel pivot pin.

The apron of the trailer sits on top of the fifth wheel skid plate, and the locking jaws that engage around the shank of the king pin are contained within the fifth wheel skid plate.

That is the very terminology that we have been taught to use at my school.

The fifth wheel skid plate is the part of the fifth wheel assembly that is connected to the fifth wheel platform by the fifth wheel pivot pin.

The apron of the trailer sits on top of the fifth wheel skid plate, and the locking jaws that engage around the shank of the king pin are contained within the fifth wheel skid plate.

That is the very terminology that we have been taught to use at my school.

Thanks John...yes I understand how it works.

Calling it a skid plate without the fifth wheel prefix is the issue.

When I tested (quite a few years ago) the term fifth wheel was acceptable. They also preferred the term upper coupler over apron.

G-Town said:

Thanks John...yes I understand how it works.

Fine business, G-Town. I wasn't trying to be a wise guy, just trying to be thorough.

Its so easy to get vague answers to equally vague questions that I prefer to be as specific as possible when posting either.

On my study sheet it only refers to skid plate and mounting assembly.. Geez I might have mounting assembly wrong as I'm exhausted right now but the words 5th wheel are no where to be found. It is Apron btw. Another interesting piece is the brake "linings" are now "not dangerously thin", no mention of 1/4" thickness.

G-Town said:

Thanks John...yes I understand how it works.

Fine business, G-Town. I wasn't trying to be a wise guy, just trying to be thorough.

Its so easy to get vague answers to equally vague questions that I prefer to be as specific as possible when posting either.

Never suggested you were being a wise guy. And I too try to be truthful and thorough.