Profile For Susan D.

11 hours?? Ick! Yes, everyone should always keep water in their truck. I have some in the fridge, and in a cabinet and keep another case in the sidebox.

That TA is a den of swift trucks.. also late at night, that back row can get crazy. That said, while I can appreciate some drivers readiness to help spot people.. what gets me is when they're stupid enough to get behind the truck they're spotting. I prefer to goal myself because at the end of the day, spotter or not, the driver is responsible for any accidents. The mayhem can be entertaining to watch. I learned so much as a new driver by parking early and watching that madness.

Could you drive intrastate possibly? Glad to hear your feeling better though.

I don't believe all states have the requirement to have a regular operator's license for a year. I'm not sure but I don't think Texas has that requirement. Most states do, but I know at least a couple don't.

I'd recommend sticking with a company for a full year, then taking a leave of absence for the couple months you want to travel. Of course you'd have to reapply after your leave time.

When you have the rare trainee who really wants to learn it's wonderful. When you have someone who "knows it all", doesn't want to listen, or gets easily offended, it's a nightmare.

I expect them to act like an adult, which is sometimes asking too much. It's been a while since I've bothered and honestly I've enjoyed having space to myself for a change. The majority of those I've trained (that made it through training without quitting) are still with the company, so I guess that's a good thing. I'm too blunt for some.

Oh we believe how things can change in a minute in those dollar store parking lots. The money just isn't worth it. They often push these accounts on new drivers because even experienced drivers don't want the aggravation.. I know I sure wouldn't. I wouldn't even do one in a day cab.

Someone will give you a chance so don't give up. What part of the country do you live in?

I would absolutely go to CHAZ. I have a couple close friends there and the media is lying about the events, even using fake photos.

What's really happening is peaceful protesters are hanging out in a park, potlucking, sharing ideas and discussing solutions.

I refuse to go to Minneapolis and did so Tuesday before last, refusing a load there. There were no repercussions for me. I've made it explicitly clear that I will refuse to go to any area with active rioting and my company understands this. It might screw up my miles and has, but I do not care. The kind of freight we haul is not worth risking unsafe areas and can easily be rescheduled. As far as food loads we do haul (dry van) they can live without gatorade, pancake mix, cereal and oatmeal etc. for a short time.

My company has also informed us that before we go through an area with recent active rioting, we are to park, and call operations on the latest events and whether to proceed or not and what route changes to make.

The DCs won't be a problem but Omgosh the backing at most of the stores would be a career killer unless you're very very good at backing into tight busy lots.

Lol my safety director is on my fb friends list. I've never been called about a hard break, not that I've never had any. I was trained by a company "rebel" and if I'm having a little trouble with weight and not hauling breakable stuff, I'll either go forwards or backwards and slam on my brakes to shift my load whichever way needed lol.. especially with those scap paper bales. I find I can shift a couple hundred pounds fairly easily if the loader didn't balance the bales well. Then I've had the couple of times in heavy traffic where a 4 wheeler cut me off too close, but that's been extremely rare. If they see I'm scaling a load more than a couple times and from one hole to the next, just can not get it right, they definitely know what I'm up to. It's gotten better since international paper (the mills) require a particular "safe load" configuration.

Yep, you had to leave and your company's os&d person will let you know what to do with it. When I've had similar partial load rejections, either I was told to dispose of it in a dumpster or give it away.. once was a bunch of gatorade I donated to a food bank, or take it to a terminal where they'll deal with disposition of the product. BTW when you signed those Bill's accepting the load, you signed it as a representative of your company.. while in transit, your company actually owns the freight your hauling. Lots of newer drivers dont realize that.

I have a friend.. a woman, who was in a similar situation. It took 7 months to get everything settled and have the case against her dismissed. A lawyer took pity on her and took her case probono. She was unemployable as a cdl driver until her case was dismissed and she also lost her job at west side when she was taken to jail.. and yes it was while she was on hometime too. She was terminated for company policy violation, as she apparently didn't report it to "the correct person" within the company and had reported it only to her DM, however they did allow her to draw unemployment during that time.

So yeah, crazy stuff happens. Companies dont want to hire you on with anything pending, because, what if the case doesn't get dropped and then they have to recover their equipment.

I feel your pain. My 2019 freightliner.. ac is freezing up lately and its been uncomfortable. I too have a 12 speed automatic like packrat, and can set the opti-idle on comfort control where it pretty much idles 24/7.. otherwise I'm melting. For some reason my bunk ac is blowing uncooled air unless I'm idling.. no fuel bonus for me lol but idc. I'll get it looked at soon. The truck has had wiring issues lately for which I had to get towed.. amongst other things.

What he should do, is apply everywhere. See what offers he gets, and THEN make that decision on which company will be the best fit, regarding hometime, type of freight, passengers or pets, etc.

Missouri did pass a law saying commercial vehicles can continue driving where protesters/rioters are causing you to fear for your life.

The FedEx driver will be okay. He did what he had to do to protect himself.

States vary. In Kentucky your required to take your written tests in your county of residence. In Tennessee, it doesn't matter at all.

In case you weren't aware, Memorial Day is to honor soldiers fallen during their time of service. In other words killed in active duty.

Veterans Day is to honor all current and former military.

Of course it's never a bad time to thank a military member for their service to our country.

My company automatically routes us home when it's time. So if regional, every weekend or if OTR routes home every other weekend. Yes, I get paid the miles to go home.

Something crazy.. once, I'd been in Miami and they managed to get me a load out and to the Atlanta area. It was Friday night and they were having trouble finding me a load home (Kentucky) and I generally go home on Saturday morning or if lucky, Friday night. Nothing was loading before Monday. I offered to sit in Atlanta for my hometime, but they actually deadheaded (sent empty) me home to Kentucky, and yes, paid me for the miles.

If we choose to stay out longer, that's fine. But we have to let them know at least 3-4 days in advance so they can have loads planned for us and know not to send us home. Same if we want to take time off somewhere other than our home.. have to let them know preferably a week or more ahead of time on an alternate location... especially if it's not in our typical freight lanes.

I take my truck home (well near home) because I don't live near a terminal. Some companies require you to park at a terminal (Averitt and Tyson foods) immediately comes to mind. I park in a city owned lot that they allow trucks to park in. It's less than 2 miles from my home and pretty much truck stop central every weekend. There's also 2 lots where drivers can rent parking space by the month on the south end of town. The lot by the skating rink allows nightly parking too. My take is why pay for parking when I don't have to. We all leave our cars there. It's quite safe.. small town and in easy view of the security cameras on Fort Knox.

A funny story.. they watch our trucks in particular as a favor to the company, because West Side Salvage division does work for Ft. Knox on occasion. Michael and I both had trainees. Monday morning ready to head out and had already picked them up from the hotel. We arrived at the trucks and couldn't get near them. Turns out someone had left a blue plastic cooler about 20 ft in front of Michael's truck. Our trucks were surrounded by caution tape and none other than the Ft. Knox bomb squad was out there in full gear investigating the blue cooler lol. They finally determined the cooler was empty and let us access our trucks. It was fun explaining to our dispatcher why we were going to be late leaving out.. and Michael too as neither was aware of the arrangements west side safety department had made for the secure parking of my truck when I began working there. I dare someone to mess with my stuff when I'm home, because post security keeps an eye on my equipment. In the last year or so a guy who pulls a hazmat tanker has began parking near me as well every weekend. Easy view of Wilson Gate security and cameras for the Navy FCU across the street. At the other end of the lot are a bunch of JB Hunts, Hill Brothers, Schneider, Ryder Logistics and about 6 owner operators. If you're ever near Fort Knox/Radcliff KY on 31W in a truck and need a place to park, it's the place to be and plenty of room. Corner of Knox Blvd and Wilson Rd.. old Redmar shopping center.

I know unemployment varies from state to state.

My question is, is this reduction temporary? How well do you/have you liked this company?

I know many companies are hurting right now. Me? I'm grateful to have been able to continue working through this pandemic.

Why would unemployment be preferable to working? How do you know you'd make a lot less? I'm not trying to be judgmental, just trying to figure it out.

I know my own company struggled a bit and stopped hiring new drivers. Our customers are coming back and we've got some new ones starting soon so our hiring should start up again. Companies tend to take care of loyal productive drivers, I think... at least I know for certain that mine does.

Companies really aim to please in matching up trainees and trainers, so your request for a non-smoker may have you waiting a bit longer. Yes, you said a smoker would be fine, but I'm betting they're waiting for an available non smoking trainer for you.

While there are plenty of non-smoking drivers, non-smoking trainers.. or even trainers in general are in short supply, and especially at my company. I can't imagine Swift is any different.

I've never worked for Swift, but I know they have plenty of happy drivers, so good choice there.

I will say this. I'm a trainer at my company and I smoke. I used to accept non-smokers with no problems, however after having several who told our training coordinator they wouldn't mind going with a smoker then did nothing but complain about it once they were on my truck, I will not take a non-smoker. No exceptions.

I've had plenty of trainees who said they really couldn't tell I smoked in my truck. I keep the sleeper curtains closed, dont allow smoking in the sleeper, and make sure a window is open. I keep my truck very clean. Then there are those who tell the company it's ok then they're quite rude about it. Just need to be honest so they're better matched with a trainer. Yes, you may have to wait a bit, because the nonsmokers may already have a trainee on their truck.

Just sit tight and you'll get a trainer soon enough. It will be worth the wait and trust me.. both of you will be more comfortable. Swift wants you out there learning to do the job as much as you want to be out there.

That would be some massively expensive fruits and veggies, sounds like to me.

But who knows? do that and sell to high end restaurants that only want exceptional quality, along with some high income customers and it might work.