Comments By The Breeze

I personally had this issue, my suspension came from not paying on a traffic ticket, I was 19 at the time and didn't have the money or the maturity to get it taken care of right away. I was turned down by many companies, Prime Included. You just have to hammer away on that telephone and filling out applications even when you're feeling discouraged. Keep your chin up and keep trying, you're bound to find a couple options. Even if they aren't your first choice.

Hope this helps, Dan.

I felt like a trucker when I had a four wheeler going South bound in a North Bound lane on US 15 in MD. I was passing a truck and he came around a curve, I thought I was hallucinating. I panicked , locked them up and held it as straight as I could, he passed between me and the gaurd rail. I was chain smoking the rest of the way to final after that lol. You see some crazy stuff out here.

Thanks for the input! It's been a good ride so far with Swift and I don't take them for granted. I've talked to some other friends and coworkers about this as well, and they all have the same general consensus, so I agree leaving really isn't the best choice.

Also, on a side note I hope my post didn't come across as arrogant, I see trucks and drivers all day and often think about how they hardly get to go home and you guys are right a lot of people would kill for the gig I have. The next step for me is talking with my dm and see if he can work something out for me, I don't think I can afford to go back OTR though, I tend to make impulsive financial decisions that I partially regret later lol. Nonetheless thanks for the great advice!

Dan

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted here but I've got a personal dilemma that perhaps you guys could help me with. So I started with Swift about 8 months ago, they've been very good to me and have treated me right, after about 2 months OTR they offered me a a job on a dedicated account they had just opened near my home town. The pay was a 30% increase over the base OTR pay, and I still qualified for the performance bonus, so with that theven job proposal was a no brainer and I took it.

The account itself is refrigerated and we run NC to the Northeast and we take about three loads a week, then go home every Saturday for the weekend. After about 6 months of this I've kind of gotten tired of the same old same old, and I've thought about going back OTR, but I'm stuck. If I do that I'll lose the great pay on this account. I've put in applications with Heartland Express, and Helwig, both companies have called me but I wasn't really feeling ready to talk to them.

Any advice on what I should do is greatly appreciated.

Dan

I don't like the TA near downtown Nashville. People get real nasty on the CB and it gives the place a sketchy vibe.

Howdy all,

I know I'm sensationalizing the topic, but I've been thinking about this lately. I do not have a solution to the issue, I've only been solo for a month and a half. But I find that the 14 hour clock ticking away in the background makes me feel rushed, it also affects my end of the day parking time and decisions and sometime I end up cutting it close pulling into a truck stop to park at the end of my day. For me it makes planning my day difficult because if I get delayed I have to plan accordingly where Im gonna stop and still make my delivery window. This is hard to do flying down an interstate already feeling like you can't stop or you're going to be late. I feel like this could be a safety issue asking drivers to push hard to get 11 hours of driving done in such a short window, I find that I don't make the best decisions in a hurry, and I feel like other drivers may feel this way too. So I'm curious as to what other drivers think of this rule and how they deal with it and plan accordingly.

Thanks, Dan

Erik,

I imagine that you're working for Swift, I am too. I'm starting my fifth week solo, I too felt the same way my first couple of weeks. It was pure chaos to me, I couldn't believe how incredibly difficult it is just to navigate safely from point A to point B, you and I both have much to learn and will probably make more mistakes too. But every day you'll build more confidence behind the wheel and you'll have a better idea of what's safe and what may not be, also your judgement will improve too.

What I find helpful, is remembering that all I have to do is be safe and not hit anything or tear anything up, I find that constantly reminding myself of that makes it easier when I show up at a shipper or reciever and it's a tricky back. By saying that to myself it helps nullify that feeling of overwhelming embarrassment because it's taking me a whIle to back in. I feel that if you try and have that attitude it allows you to "think" and not worry which isn't gonna help you maneuver that truck safely.

On the hard braking, I had that happen to me as well, I was bobtail and couldn't see a traffic light around a curve, and it caught me off guard, I was able to stop but it scared me and I learned from it. I got a message on my QC asking if everything was okay, I told them what happened, and all I got was an "ok" as a response. I felt bad and was a little worried too, but they didn't fire me right then and there, so I had to continue on with my day safely. Sometimes in order to do that you have to quickly learn from your boo boo, and put the feelings of guilt and anxiety behind you so that you can continue on safely. All I can say is, make sure you're learning from your mistakes, and keep at it. This job is difficult and stressful, but don't let it break you. This industry needs safe drivers who care, and it seems like you've got that part taken care.

Good luck, Dan

Scary to think about. I was just up there before this happened when it first started snowing. The roads I remember seeing were slick and wet and the temperature was well below freezing. That was the first winter weather I've driven through. I was going very slow, I didn't want to find out if my truck would actually slide. I did notice some drivers taking it as easy as me, while some others just blew past.

Dan

Well thanks for building me up everyone. I've made it to Knoxville tonight, and I'm headed to PA. I'm gonna get some much needed sleep and a shower. I agree about there never being a routine day for sure.

Dan

I work for Swift. I have one in my truck. It watches the road and me, it records on a ten second loop. It only sends footage off to Swift during a critical event (swerve, hard braking, excessively not maintaining your lane, or bumping a dock or coupling too hard, or if you have an accident, you can also manually get it to record). My company allows me to cover up the inside camera when I'm not driving, so I don't really care. But I think drivers should prepare themselves because it's coming, but as long as you're doing what your supposed to be doing and you're okay with cameras already I wouldn't let it sway you on who you want to work for. At the end of the day just call the companies you're interested in and ask about it, plenty of drivers have just as many questions as you do, a recruiter should be happy to answer them.

Dan