My Journey Through Swift From Orientation To Mentorship To Solo Status.
Topic 20897 | Page 1
Well good luck then JR! I went to the Richmond Academy a few years back. They did right by me...here's hoping you'll have a similar experience.
Orientation was 3.5 days of boredom, which was to be expected. I didn't need a new physical.
Had to stay an extra night in the hotel waiting for my mentor.
Driving Day 1: Richmond VA to Suffolk VA to pick up a load headed for Target in Amsterdam, NY. 95 through Washington DC on my first day driving a semi truck. Was completely exhausted at the end of the day. Shut down at the Swift terminal in Harrisburg, PA for the night.
Driving Day 2: Harrisburg, PA to Amsterdam, NY. Drop and hooked and headed to Greenwich, NY to pick up a load of paper products headed to Galesburg, IN. Tons of two lane roads, super tight right/left turns in old New England towns. Really having to learn at an accelerated pace it seems. Backed twice, both being very close to straight backs. Ended the day at a service plaza near Syracuse, NY.
Day 3: Syracuse to Gary, IN. Nothing remarkable. Surprising amount of parking left for being nearly 8:00 by the time we pulled in to the Flying J.
Headed to Galesburg IL tomorrow. Don't deliver till Monday so that'll leave us with a little down time.
Loving this so far.
Terminal:
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.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
Anything happen this week?
Where did you go? Hope all is well
I'm headed to orientation with Swift in Richmond, VA on Monday, 10/9/17. I intend to update this post with updates from 10/9 until I'm in my own truck.
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I'm headed to orientation with Swift in Richmond, VA on Monday, 10/9/17. I intend to update this post with updates from 10/9 until I'm in my own truck.