Comments By Sheffield Mick

Hi AJ, I started up here in Michigan just before the start of the worst winter on record so far.......(this past year). I think I did it right as any fears I had of driving these big rigs are out of the way before the new ones arrive......as in driving in snow and ice. What ever your decision I wish you the best of luck.....I've been driving now for around fifteen months and don't regret my own decision one bit.....Take care

Just a quick note Dan, to let you know I was 55 when I first started training as a truck driver. I'm from England......never been in a big rig before I arrived here and I'm used to driving on the opposite side of the road to you ;-) .......and I still made it through with room to spare. I've been driving for over a year now....been to all 48 states and now driving into Canada as well. Just as a side note......I have a mate of mine that drives for the same company as I do that's 83.....and he stated at 82!

Best of luck my friend.

Mick

Hi Guys, just a quick reply to this age thing..........work and trucking. I started my trucking career at age 55. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade and gave up on even trying to find work within this field. Now I would like to let you know about a friend of mine called Bob that I've met at Swift.......he started trucking at 82!

We both work for Swift out of New Boston, Detroit and we get together on the odd occasion for a coffee and a chat. Funnily enough we tested out on the same day. Which would make us both a year and couple of months out on the road. The good thing about working for a company like Swift is that you get choices as to which division you might like to get into. Both Bob and I worked OTR........Bob stayed with OTR where as I now work just Canada which means I'm home every weekend. Regular miles and yes it does have its moments, but life is ok. I wish you all the best of luck and anything you want to know about Swift or me please just ask.

Congratulations Old School.....I'm five days off my own first year of driving. Staying the course and keeping rolling is the key. Thank you for all your posts, its been great sharing your experiences with you and I'm looking forward to many more adventures ;-)

Sheffield, if hitting a curb is considered an accident then every truck driver in America has about 100 accidents a year. It sounds like your job is safe and after a short game of "pleasing the safety people" you'll be back out there doing your thing. I would definitely ask about your DAC report though and get a copy of it to see what they've put on there. Maybe they won't put anything on there, maybe they will. If they do, you just want to make sure the report is accurate. You wouldn't want it to simply say, "Preventable accident" without an explanation of exactly what happened.

Thanks Brett/Chris, I've already taken one of the tests and past. I have also had other tires blow out and never had a problem Chris. With this one it was the damage to the rim on the hub that caught me out. Like I said I could have fixed it and made it disappear, but the trailer was brand new and I wanted it done the right way. I will ask about my DAC report and see if anything is on there.....I'm sure my DM told me that nothing has been recorded......but it's always worth me checking.

Got into some bad news this week......I managed to burst a tire on my trailer by going over the curb with it. I now know I could have gotten away with this and fixed it myself. But I followed the company rules and called it in......big mistake. In Swift this is known as a crash and carry's points to it. I got 12 points to go with my already 10 points for the police ticket I got which now gives me a grand total of 22. I now have to take a truck test and a safety test on a simulator. Swift pride themselves on getting their drivers up to speed on everything.....yea I know.....Swift don't have the best reputation out there as far as careful, cautious drivers are concerned. The tire damage came to all of $70 to repair (no damage to tire and just a ding in the hub) and I now get three days suspension and written up. The thing that gets me the most about this, is that I drove without incident throughout the worse winter in North America for thirty years.....without a problem

The good news is that I'm really ok with it....they know me now and I pull my weight, do the miles, get there on time and don't ***** and moan. Back at my own terminal today the staff (and safety manager) where joking with me about it....which means that my feet are firmly under the table. And as no police or DOT where involved I'm still classed as clean.....that's if I did want to move on to another company....right?

Thanks Guyjax, duly noted about Conway....I knew about UPS and Fedex, but not Conway with their own strict time schedules.

Well....by the end of April I will have had one years driving experience with Swift. I couldn't have picked a worse winter to start my driving career I know. Since starting with Swift I have had my ups and downs with they way they do things but kept with them for that all important first year under your belt. OTR has been a blast and I'm now doing Canada on a regular basis which gets me home every weekend. I have to admit to missing getting around and seeing America.....but I will give Canada a run for a while longer before making a decision to move on to another company. Swift are a good company to start out with and I have been given the miles to run to make a decent living.....So why do I want to move on. I guess I have around ten to fifteen years left of a driving/working career. (I'm 56 years old).....I'm new to trucking with just the one year experience and I guess I want to see if there are any better companies out there. I am seriously thinking of going to Conway and back to OTR.....as in all these things I'm still doing the research....asking their drivers...looking at how good their trucks and trailers are....etc, etc. I don't mind running the miles or doing the work....no problem there....but with my next move I hope to be staying with a company for more than just the year. I have to prove myself again I know and it will take time to do that, but I just don't feel settled at Swift....any thoughts or comments as always please let me know......as a side note.....I'm also looking at flatbed....you appear to get more miles doing that kind of work..

This company that your working for wouldn't happen to be Swift would it Joe??? That's who I work for.

Thanks Michael and Brett for your replies and for the information you have both provided. It might be the routine that gets boring after my OTR adventures, but I'll take it for now as I thinking of leaving Swift at the end of my first year. I love this site and I will keep my adventures coming Brett...