Welcome Gabriel. That's an awesome achievement considering the difficulty of Dollar General. Congratulations on that accomplishment.
I am a Swift Dedicated driver on Walmart in the North East, although not OTR , the money is great. My suggestion is to give Swift a chance; ask about OTR Dedicated accounts like MillerCoors, Kohls, Weyerhauser, etc.
Check your Voice Your Choice App through you phone or the Swift portal. You'll can see all the Dedicated Accounts in your region.
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Well, the Dollar Store accounts are always the worst for Rookies, but considering you survived the year with it and actually enjoyed it, that's an achievement! I'd recommend what G-Town recommended; Move around within the company. Some accounts pay more, most are less difficult than the one you're on. If you don't like any of those, seeing as you are already in a good big company, there are other big companies with different accounts! I know Werner has some interesting ones, as well as Schneider. Prime is good if you want to go OTR , as is Roehl if you care about home time. So look around, indeed.com has some good listings. Or, like I earlier mentioned, stay where you are but change it up a bit.
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
I'm with CFI and I love them. However, Swift is a great company. They have so many opportunities, from dedicated, to regional , intermodal , OTR , local, and more. Dry van , refer, and flatbed. So many options in one company. Plus you have spent a year there building a great reputation and rapore with the company. Why start over at the bottom someplace new. As G-Town said look within the company first. Good luck and I hope some other Swifties add to this.
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
Another Swift, here. It's great you happily survived one of the toughest trucking assignments with the dollar store account. Now you can really take it easy.
I'm heading into my third year at Swift. In my first year I ran OTR , Georgia Pacific dedicated (home weekends!) and Express Shuttle (home daily). Swift has many other driver assignments you might like. They all have their pluses and minuses.
Talk to your DM or FM to find out more. Then you won't need to do another orientation.
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Are you looking to stay OTR? Not knocking Swift, I run regional and am quite happy with the pay and work.
But if I were looking to get back into OTR Crete has an excellent OTR package. .46, 3 weeks out, 3 days home and I believe their benefits are slightly cheaper. I have a couple of academy friends that jumped to them at the 8mo mark (No retraining required).
But like others have said, ask your DM what's available. GeorgiaPacific, Del Monte both come to mind.
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
I'm always a big fan of remaining with a company if at all reasonably possible. Once you have some time in with a company and you've developed a great reputation there will be a lot of "secret doors" opening for you that most drivers won't know about.
Every major carrier has a ton of small accounts that require top notch drivers. Most of the company won't even know these accounts exists. If you really talk around within the company to management like terminal managers and operations managers you might dig up some real gems.
I also wouldn't leave a company over just a few cents per mile. People think, "Hey, it's only 5 cpm but that really adds up!" Yeah, that's true, assuming you're going to get the same number of miles and you're treated just as well at your new company. At the new company you're not going to be given any of those "secret gem" accounts that no one knows about. You don't have any reputation or relationships established so you have no leverage to make things happen the way you do at the place you're established. In other words, if mileage slows you can't just call the fleet manager or terminal manager and get things fixed in an instant the way you can when you're established somewhere.
Personally, I wouldn't jump ship unless you're getting at least 8 cpm more and you've absolutely exhausted every possibility where you're at. And with Swift, they're going to have 8,000 opportunities available all over the place. You should do a lot of digging before you decide that leaving the company is your best option.
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
Hello all,
I've been with the Swift Family Dollar/Dollar Tree Dedicated run for almost a year. Either way I will be completing my year within a few months. I thoroughly enjoy the extremes of this job, physical activity, backing challenges, weather challenges to work in. I have zero accidents on my record since i have been here and i am meticulous in details and professionalism which have been recognized and noted by the company and the contractor.
However, this being my first year in trucking i have no idea what my next job would best assist in my goals. My next objective is to switch to OTR and do this for a solid 2-3yrs.
Right now im earning around $800-$1100 a week.
I have 3 objectives im looking to achieve listed in priority first.
- bring my wife along with me. (As a passenger she is not a cdl holder) - better income - get back to Utah for wife's family events to drop her off occasionally
(Children are not a factor) (Family for me is not a factor) (Home base is not a major factor)
Any ideas, suggestions, companies i might direct my attention to are sincerely appreciated. If anyone is with Swifts OTR, and has experienced their pay i would be interested in knowing that if your willing.
Thanks all.
I cant emphasize this enough: Stay with Swift. You have been with the LARGEST trucking company in this country with the MOST opportunities available. You did your first year on one of the toughest accounts Swift has with no foul ups or mistakes. To me that speaks volumes to me that you truly are an amazing person and driver. Look at what you want to do with your trucking career now and I can GUARANTEE it and I am sure the other Swifties on this forum will back me up on this one: whatever you are lookin for Swift has it. Brett and the other Moderators on here are 100% right: stay with Swift but change accounts WITHIN the company if you so desire.
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Operating While Intoxicated
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Hello all,
I've been with the Swift Family Dollar/Dollar Tree Dedicated run for almost a year. Either way I will be completing my year within a few months. I thoroughly enjoy the extremes of this job, physical activity, backing challenges, weather challenges to work in. I have zero accidents on my record since i have been here and i am meticulous in details and professionalism which have been recognized and noted by the company and the contractor.
However, this being my first year in trucking i have no idea what my next job would best assist in my goals. My next objective is to switch to OTR and do this for a solid 2-3yrs.
Right now im earning around $800-$1100 a week.
I have 3 objectives im looking to achieve listed in priority first.
- bring my wife along with me. (As a passenger she is not a cdl holder) - better income - get back to Utah for wife's family events to drop her off occasionally
(Children are not a factor) (Family for me is not a factor) (Home base is not a major factor)
Any ideas, suggestions, companies i might direct my attention to are sincerely appreciated. If anyone is with Swifts OTR, and has experienced their pay i would be interested in knowing that if your willing.
Thanks all.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Dedicated Run:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated