Comments By Mnemnosyne

Automatics are here to stay because:

• They are more fuel efficient
• You can't hurt the engine by over-revving it on the downhills
• Eliminating the need to shift has removed a big distraction for the driver so you can now focus better on more important things
• It eliminates the danger of missing a gear on a downhill, and the inconvenience and danger of missing one on a big climb
• It makes the initial CDL training faster and easier for new drivers
• It eliminates an intimidating factor that prevents some people from taking a shot at trucking when in fact there is a big demand for drivers

I could go on, and in fact I may write an article about this at some point.

As someone new to trucking, I'm wondering why it's only now that automatics are being adopted. Manual transmission cars have been rare for my entire life - I've never been in one, to my knowledge. With all these advantages, why has it taken so long for manuals to start disappearing from trucks?

Welcome to the forum, Mnemnosyne, and also, welcome to Swift. I've been with Swift for almost four years, and in my first year had no problem moving along three different trucking operations: OTR, shuttle and dedicated regional. So your idea of trying and finding your career "sweet spot" might work. BTW, where will you be going to the Swift Academy? I'm now an instructor in Memphis.

Look for an inverter that plugs in to the 12 "cigarette lighter" socket. Most of these go up to 130W, though you might find higher wattage. Swift will not allow inverters that connect directly to the batteries.

I'm going to be in Columbus; I currently live in northern Ohio and was told that I would be sent to the nearest one.

And thank you for the welcome, and the information about the inverter; so my power limit's going to be whatever I can get an inverter for that will plug into the cigarette lighter. That gives me a good baseline to work with so I can start planning what kind of computer I'll want to get that I'll be able to use.

Thanks, and read that post you linked. What you said about someone trusting me and giving me a shot is exactly how I feel; I'm sure I seem like a big risk, even more than many, with my near-nonexistent work history to back up how I say I'm going to do a good job and work hard. I wouldn't feel right doing anything but trying my damndest to repay the trust someone's putting in me by driving as well as I can for them.

Hey folks. I've been lurking around here from time to time for a little over a year and a half now, and I was considering looking to become a driver last year, but stuff happened and I got delayed.

Now I'm back on track; I've started studying, I put in an application to Swift (mostly because I agreed with the reasoning behind the advice of picking a large carrier due to them having lots of resources to keep me going, and because I figured the largest carrier would also have plenty of opportunities to transfer in-company if I should want to later) and they've responded positively; my recruiter says she can't give me a firm schedule more than two weeks out, but on monday I should call her and she'll set me up to start my training on the 13th.

So, now I'm studying hard while working out my last two weeks as a Walmart associate, and hopefully I'll start training and do well. Naturally, I'm nervous, scared, excited, and sometimes swing between being optimistic and dreading the bad turnout, but I think I'll be okay. At the very least, I'm planning to commit myself to doing well and sticking it out for a year or two no matter how rough they are.

I'm saying hello because, well, a lot of what I've read on this site has been encouraging even when it's being pointed out how hard it is, and it looks like people get a lot of good advice and responses (including the calling people out when they're being stupid).

I do have a question that I intend to re-ask my recruiter, but I figured someone else here might know just as well also. I know I'm going to want a laptop for gaming, for internet, etc, when I'm on the road. Does anyone know what my power limits are likely to be in a Swift truck? I don't want to go getting a laptop that's going to demand more wattage than I can have available. I'm probably going to wait until I actually get assigned a truck and am sure of exactly what wattage I can make use of, but I'm a little curious if anyone can give me any information so I can start making plans early.

I have a similar problem; I've got no employment history, since I've never actually been employed before (I'm a pretty big introvert and I've never had to work since I've been able to stay home, so I haven't). After doing some cross-country driving and enjoying it enough to realize I could probably handle truck driving pretty well, (especially since I could easily be on the road all the time without home time being a big deal for me) I decided to look into it, but I have no employment history at all (and I'm in my 30s).

Based on the idea that truck drivers that are qualified and have no negative marks on their history have a very easy time getting jobs, I hoped that it would make it easier for me to get into this line of work, but as I'm starting to look, I'm seeing the same thing - a lot of required employment history. Is there any good advice out there on overcoming the lack of employment history as an obstacle? I should probably add that due to the aforementioned introversion, I have basically no friends from activities that I could use as references either, only family.