Profile For Rob S.

Great advice so far. My tips are turn off all radios roll down your windows.

Sometimes you will see the driver in the cab that you're parking next to. Don't be shy about asking for their help. I was parking near the entrance of a busy Pilot. The spot available had limited space for pulling forward. I noticed the driver who was going to be on my blind side. I told him I was confident enough but if I saw me approaching disaster I'd rather be embarrassed than fill out accident forms. I stuck the landing and earned his compliments.

Food grade tanks are also manual. While that's not for beginners if it's on your bucket list, you'll need the restriction lifted.

Kudos to you for taking the load. That would be a terrible reason to turn down a load. Also, remember to keep your window down while backing.

Me too. Excellent staff and fine program. Try talking directly to a Swift recruiter if you're interested in learning more.

Welcome!

I attended the Swift Academy at Lewiston, it’s pretty solid training.

Cheers,

G

When I came here my biggest questions were,

1. Will it pay enough, soon enough to meet my budget requirements?

2. If I arrive at school with my head on straight is it going to be possible for me?

3. If I'm successful, what opportunities become available to me later?

Of course, I know the answers now but those were my main concerns.

My employer hires out of schools sometimes. We are Northwest only and it's local work. Not sure where you are.

...college reimbursement that "benefit" the company. What would that be, and that is an honest question?

For example, if an employee was interested in taking some management or leadership courses a company might offer tuition reimbursement to offset the cost. The gain for the company is that the employee could be a potential candidate for promotion.

On an interstate in an urban area, if you're passing through and not exiting, stay out of the right lane. Leave that for the commuters that are entering and exiting.

3 pound hammer. No carpenter hammer, but a pry bar that can pull nails from the trailer floor. 2 pair of Visegrips. These should open wide enough for the trailer tandem pins. Bolt cutters with at least a 24" handle. A push broom. There's a thread on here somewhere that has a very comprehensive list.

If the cruise isn't turning off when it's supposed to that a pretty big deal. I can overlook a lot of things but I need the tractor to stop when I tell it to. I wouldn't use cruise control until it's fixed.

Hmmm, I've heard that posting pictures here is tricky. I haven't tried it in a very long time. Turns out when I followed the instructions it worked on the first try. Go figure.

JJ, It sounds to me like most of your concern is related to driving without proper rest. When you're OTR you can never have what civilians call "proper rest". When you have to shift from day driving to night driving as the loads vary, don't be afraid to take an extra short break. Pulling off to catch a 20 minute nap sometimes does wonders to refresh you. You won't be earning during that time but you won't be driving off the road either. After a couple months you'll get used to it and it won't bother you. When I had to drive an "off" shift I would wake, shower, and have a small coffee with some honey in it. That's as close as I get to an energy drink. Be patient and stay safe.

Maybe dump truck or cement truck. You'll have long hours during the construction season but might be laid off in winter. With your lower income needs, it might fit.

I should add that there's a lot of close quarter maneuvering involved so it really isn't the greatest for new drivers.

Maybe dump truck or cement truck. You'll have long hours during the construction season but might be laid off in winter. With your lower income needs, it might fit.

I did several loads there when I was with Swift. We used the Walmart multi zone reefers. Follow their policies for multiple stop loads. The had a veteran walk me through the process, it was pretty straightforward. Fuel, park and shower at the Swift building in Los Lunas. I was running to El Paso every trip but I think they serve a big area. Maybe Gladhand did the same gig I think.

Congrats and nice pic. Where are you though? I didn't think that was legal in California.

If you're at the T/A on I5 I could swing by and say hi for a few minutes. I pass there frequently.

I did a favor for a planner, 4 miles from terminal to customer and try to deliver a late load. The customer rejected it any forced a reschedule. The planner knew I tried and hooked me up with about a week of work that sent me away from California and ended with me picking up a brand new trailer from the factory.

Another load was 70 miles of dead-head to pick up a load at the terminal and deliver it 11 miles away. I dropped the trailer and bobtailed back. When I finished I went in to talk to the planner, I was trying to get Northwest for home time. He said there were about 20 drivers waiting for loads but since I was the one that had just done the short haul, I got the west bound load that was sitting in the yard. I was only there long enough for a shower and those terminal rats are probably still griping about no freight!

All pretty good guesses, for those who suggested that it was riding to low they are correct I noticed on my walk around that it was really low on the right side. Normally I can fit my whole fist vertically between the tire and the box, on this one I could barely fit a finger.

Why was the trailer frame cut? That part above the tire isn't optional. That entire piece and all the rivets are important. It needs to be intact, not carved up with a smoke wrench. Although they did do a nice job of it.

All of our 28 ft pups come from the factory like that.

Well, I guess I learned something today, Thank You.

Some other details of local milk hauling;

We are required to chain up when necessary. Parking and waiting out the weather isn't an option. My company pays hourly though so that takes some sting out of it.

We use different log book rules than when I was OTR. The 11, 14 and 70 clocks are the same but we use the local option that lets us do 12 hours with no 30 minute break and up to one 16 hour shift per week. It took me awhile to get used to it but since most days are the same it doesn't take a lot of study.

A typical week for me is five days starting at 0300 and returning to the yard about 1430. Then three days off. Lather, rinse and repeat. Last year's gross pay was about $60k.