Profile For Karl A.

So my student from 6 months ago, whom is actually my younger brother, popped hot on a random dot through swift.. He had marijuana in his system and know obviously he can't drive..

He asked me how to get his cdl back, I don't know any of the hoops to tell him what to do there..

Also sometching about a dot substance abuse councilor?

How do I pull up his cdl right now and see if he can legally drive, like maybe fell through cracks or swift didn't report him..

Any knowledge on how to get his life back on track after I whoop his ass would be very helpful..

Appreciate your time

I have 6 months experience otr, no tickets or wrecks, live in fl but homeless.. Tried to do the family thing when I came off the road didn't work.. I am going to get back in a truck but don't want to make mistakes in choosing bc I am in a rush to do so.. Need advice

What happens to company drivers if the tractor is towed on hometime?

Well my first month on the road solo consisted of 2 wrecks both not my fault and non-preventable.. had someone hit me while i was parked and i had a bed frame fly out of a dumpster on 95 south near jersey.. I feel like my DM is hustling me bc he asks me to jump and i say how high do you need me to jump... I still cant backup very well so i only stop at truck stops if there is wide open places to park which leaves me with showers once every 3 or 4 days and im used to 2 showers a day.. Started gaining that weight everyone does lol not bad though.. last week only came out to around a 1000 miles and I have yet to get a check over $500...

Well thats the end of my rant just need to vent!

Hey guys sorry been bust my butt to get this last load in before xmas. Just wanna say I appreciate all the input.. Hey pj I got some questions for you when you can find the time.. Can I send you a personal message on here? Did Brett fix that yet

but have no idea what it is until i see it around midnight thursday, i just know its a 2014.

That's what's up

So my mentor is an owner OP and has a brand new Kenworth which has been awesome.. Before I had talked with this guy I had this negative perspective of leaseing a new truck.. But this guy kinda broke it down to me without his personal numbers and swears by it.. Now he is a million mile no accident driver and he made the jump to owner after 3 years.. So I asked this guy knowing what he knows now if he was me what would he do. He tells me I have safe driving habits and could easily make a career out of this, that if he was me to apply in 6 months for an owner OP bc it will be more freedom and less politics with work..

I am looking for advice on both perspectives

I am from Florida so no I haven't seen snow in over a decade and I thought the Appalachia was a mountain range lol.

My first time driving was from GA to TX which easy right? Well I learned I don't like Dallas at 5pm..

I drove up to Colorado after that and my mentor is like well we are going to Cali after we drop n hook in Denver.. Now I have never seen a mountain let alone drove on one and my mentor was talking on his phone most of the time leaving me pondering if I was going to kill us half the time haha.. But he always seemed to know when to tell me I was messing up before that happened..

I was delivering in north LA during rush hour and after that drop it was straight to NJ.. Omg I never want to drive in the northeast again.. Haha IM doing 15 maybe 20 under the limit bc it's dark and snowing and everyone is justfflying by me with comments on the cb like still wet eh?

Haha well a week in a half in I have my first 150 hrs done and many thousands of miles and I have to say I think I have found my career..

I btw I mastered straight **** backing in nj bc the roads all end EVERYWHERE

Was the trailer only allowed to do 58?

Just kinda curious as to how many gigs some of you use up on your data plans while out on the road. Do any truckstops have wifi available? Ive got an iphone and ipad right now that i would be taking with me. I stream alot of movies via netflix which i fall asleep to so I'm assuming id be using up alot of gb's without wifi, not to mention needing a hotspot for my ipad.

Verizon doesnt have unlimited plans anymore. Any suggestions. Do ya'll use a ton of data out there without wifi

Wifi is not a common thing.. I have been on the road for 3 weeks and used 4gb. I have unlimited though. If suggest at@t bc the are HUGE coverage.. See people streaming video with them often

Since this is only a temporary rollback, I am curious how this will affect training & testing for newbies over the coming weeks and months?

I am out with my mentor know, the changes I found out about and he was like ignore that for now

I remember you talking about unions in my last post, my goal is still ltl union work

Good Evening

I'm suppose to go to orientation in Syracuse New York for swift trucking I was just wondering if someone would be willing to tell me something more about this company I mean more then the recruiter did I know it's there job to get people there so I wouldnt expect them to say anything bad about this place so if someone can please just tell me what the company is like and how the drivers are treated.

I go to orientation for swift on Tue in Florida, just got done with the school

Brett, the insight on the politics behind the matter at hand is priceless.. Between you breaking it down and Daniels advice I am going to stay this first year with swift. I now understand why staying for my contract is the best position I can put myself in.. Appreciate your time sir

Karl, here's some things to consider that might help.

Consider your work history and how important it is to have a stable work history. If you take the job offer you'll need to do some explaining to future employers on why you only lasted under a month with Swift. That in itself will be a burden on your back for many years to come.

Consider this also, you don't even know if you'll like this job. The truth is, youre on the extreme tip of the iceberg right now. If you quit Swift, you'll be in the hole for many thousands. And that sign on bonus will hardly help because it's never given to you all at once. They probably split it throughout the year.

Having said all of that, what if you turn out to hate the job and lifestyle. Then you'll ruin your work history, owe Swift many thousands, not get any sign on bonus, and walk away losing everything and more.

A lot of folks don't know this, but some of these schools will reduce your schooling costs at the 6 month mark. Not by a whole lot though.

My advice, first learn if this is something you'll enjoy doing. Test the waters, don't just jump in. Stay OTR with Swift for now and get a feel for how things work and get some experience under your belt. The good thing with Swift is that they have many dedicated/regional opportunities that can get you home often. So you're not sentenced to a month out at a time. Excel above all others and they'll give you these opportunities they reserve for the drivers that are above and beyond.

At your 6 month mark, revisit this idea. By then you'll have even more offers, including offers from Swift so you might not even have to switch companies. You'll also save your work history in a way as well as your pocketbook.

I appreciate the advice Daniel.. All good points.. I am going to stay here and build up my work history.. I have just never had so many people contact me about jobs before it's an off situation for me.. why are bonuses broken up over time?

Beware that if you went to a paid training school through swift then you signed a contract saying that you will drive for them a certain amount of time. Usually a year. You can choose to leave and take another offer but you WILL be charged for your training that they provided. So keep that in mind if you go elsewhere. It's not cheap for these companies to provide this training to get your cdl so they would hope you return the favor by helping them recoup the cost.

Yeah, I understand this.. I am tempted at the more home time by one of these companies.. They offered me 2500 for a bonus which would pay half the school off top.. I was just more or less curious for the experiences of others and multiple job offers, IM new to all that

So I just got my CDL this past Friday and I am very stoaked about this.. Now all wkend I have been getting calls from other companies with job offers.. I did a company sponsored program and feel I owe this company a year but some of these offers come with bonuses and more home time, slightly more pay.. I don't know what I should do.. Also how did all these companies get ahold of me so quickly?

If you did company sponsored training aren't you obligated to drive for them until the training is paid for? What company trained you?

Yeah I plan on driving for swift who has sponsored me, just didn't expect all these job offers right out of school

So I just got my CDL this past Friday and I am very stoaked about this.. Now all weekend I have been getting calls from other companies with job offers.. I did a company sponsored program and feel I owe this company a year but some of these offers come with bonuses and more home time, slightly more pay.. I don't know what I should do.. Also how did all these companies get ahold of me so quickly?

Sorry about your brother and congratulations on the new job

I've seen bikes and such strapped to the back of the tractor, but some companies frown on that. As for the passenger seat, my first two trucks did not have a passenger seat.

Walking does wonders for health. Try to walk 20 minutes a day at least.

I started walking about 30 mins a day about 3 months ago, it surprised me how different I felt.. I sat a lot before honestly was super lazy so now I am looking for other things to do, kinda step it yo.. I lost 15 lbs and am only 202 at 6ft so IM not fat fat but it could go either way at this point and I want to make sure it's healthy