I Am Now A Rookie Solo Truck Driver.......

Thank you all of you! I'm very happy to have a supportive family like you guys. I just got settled in my truck my bunk heater is definitely going tonight and I had an awesome friend today help me understand things and even looked through my permit book and saw that my one Oregon permit had expired so we got that fix. I got a 10 speed manual and I am surprising me doing alright with it. I am definitely double clutching the whole thing since I don't know how to successfully float the gears. Truck smelt like cigarettes. But I got a lot of Febreze spray and made it smell a lot better here. It's 1:43 a.m. in the morning back east. Here in Oregon at 11:43 p.m. . I got assigned a trailer which is a dry van until I can get to Phoenix which I already said and so that I can get my flatbed securement training. I'm also going to take the road ready class so I have tools and I know how to use them so I can have more convenience. Have a great evening or morning Wherever You Are today. Thank you for all the congratulations I really do appreciate it. So excited to get started.

Congrats Victor ...... like Brett said take it easy.... we never stop learning in life enjoy and stay out of the dungeon lol..... this site is the best learning tool one can learn from.... just like my boss asked me the other day?\: how do you know so much about what truckers do? I said tell everyone in the office to register to trucking truth .... you have a family here with you Victor

Congrats!

Good luck to you and be safe!

I'm very excited for you, Victor. It feels like we grew up together... haha... just from reading all your posts about your journey. Post some pictures, when you get a chance, of your flatbed, etc. after you pick it up.

Sure will do that Han Solo Cup! Yeah it sure does feel like that. I found out that I was told incorrectly about the whole flatbed division here at Swift and that I would have to wait 6 months before I could even go flatbed. But right now I will just get the hang of this dry van and handling it and then maybe in a month or two find a flatbed company. I dont know if maybe you all have some advice for me on that to.

I was over on my drives yesterday when I picked up the load that I am on right now so I had to move the tandems back then I was legal. But through talking with another driver he taught me that I could move as much as 34,000 lbs there on the tandems and I only had 32,000 some on it. So he taught me how to mark the hole that I needed to go to and how to get the tandems to move. We moved them four spaces. He also showed me some tools that I could get to make my job a little more enjoyable.

I am still tryimg to get used to the manual tranny after not being in it for 8 weeks lol. Not doing too bad but sure can use some reminders and tips.

Really hoping this gets a LOT easier soon.

Thanks for all the help I really appreciate it😁😁😁.

Glad you're finally driving. However, you should definitely stick with them for a year instead of jumping ship in a month or 2. At that point, you won't be considered experienced, would probably have to go through training again and would likely owe swift still. Nor sure how you paid for training but it's a really bad idea to leave so early. You guys have tons of opportunity there and I would take advantage of that if I were you.

Glad you're finally driving. However, you should definitely stick with them for a year instead of jumping ship in a month or 2. At that point, you won't be considered experienced, would probably have to go through training again and would likely owe swift still. Nor sure how you paid for training but it's a really bad idea to leave so early. You guys have tons of opportunity there and I would take advantage of that if I were you.

True C.T. we certainly do have lots of oppurtunity here. I trained at a privare school not here at Swift. I will see how I do and how I like it. I really want to go to flatbed but this sure is a learning curve. Relearning manual sure is a bit hard.

Wait..your trainer didn't teach you about sliding your tandems? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you said, but if he didn't that's pathetic (not that I'm surprised).

Do you have a copy of Swift's "Driver Quick Notes"? It's a spiral bound plastic pad with a bunch of important how-to info and phone numbers you may need on the road. It has a section about sliding your tandems that includes the legal tandem placement in all 48 states. I don't know if your trainer taught you this, but in many states (mostly midwestern and eastern US) there are additional state regulations restricting how far back you can have your tandems. The most well-known is California--your tandems must be at or forward of the 40 foot mark.

Also, if you don't have one, get yourself an atlas--you can find one at any of the major chain truck stops. Get the Rand McNally Motor Carrier atlas for 2017. You can get an older year if you're strapped for cash and it will be almost identical (that's what I did). It will have a section that includes the legal axle weights of every state (steers and tandems). All states allow up to 34,000 on the drives and the tandems, and some allow up to 36,000. All states allow allow up to 12,000 on the steers and some allow up to 20,000 (but our steer tires are only rated to something like 12,500, so that would be your real limit).

As far as flatbed goes, sorry to hear you can't get into it right away at Swift. I strongly encourage you (as will everyone else on this site) to stick with Swift for the first year--at the very least 6 months. (I'm not just saying this because I work for Swift--I'd give the same advice if you worked for Prime, Werner, etc). We have tons of threads on this very subject. The two biggest reasons are that 1) you aren't even hireable at most companies until you get more experience (and the ones that you are will put you through training all over again) and 2) your first company has more invested in you. You said you went through a private school--did Swift pay you for it? Even if they didn't, they still put you through training and have their whole system set up to help new drivers be successful. What happens if you have a couple minor truck stop accidents? At Swift, you'll be penalized and have to take some classes but you'll still have a job. There's no guaranteee that will happen somewhere else if you leave so early on. You can do what you want of course--that's just my advice. Besides, six months isn't that long anyway. It'll take you that long just to get comfortable driving your 10-speed and backing into a parking space at the end of each day.

And sorry you had such a poor excuse for a trainer. Any questions, just ask. We're here to help 24/7/365.

Congrats Victor on going Solo. I hope you will continue your journals as you go on.

I will echo the others on jumping ship early. Another way to look at it is you have six months to get more of a hang of things without having to add securement on top of that.

You know what you are all absolutely right about that. I am going to stick with Swift for a year.