Comments By Big T

Bubbles there are roller coasters out there with fewer twists and bends than your journey lol.

Good luck.

As I mentioned above if you're in your first 50 you should be running solo. If your past the 50 and can't acclimate then you can talk to your mentor and driver qualifications to see about a mentor willing to run solo or super solo. But it is rare to find a mentor willing to run that way.

Reality is the way our compensation works there is no real benefit to run that way.

Swift Transportation

Which company are you with?

You should have your license when you get to your mentor's truck. Until you have 50 hours behind the wheel you will run solo. The mentor is supposed to be on duty during that portion.

Once you reach 50 hours behind the wheel you will usually run team for the remaining 150 behind the wheel hours. There are some mentors that will run solo the whole time, but that isn't the norm.

If for some reason you only have your permit then you will have to run solo until you get your actual license.

Generally "Team Driving" means the truck is always moving. Both drivers need to be licensed CDL drivers. Some company do train like this. If you are just a permit holder and your trainer goes into the sleeper that is unsafe as well as illegal. One call to training or safety would shut that down.

I did 15K miles with my Millis trainers and I was never required to sleep in a moving truck. I did almost all the driving and we basically took our breaks at the same time. Trainer trucks always have double bunks.

Maybe I don't understand the training then. I'm going to be with Swift hopefully soon and I believe I'll only have my permit when I go out with a mentor. So are you saying that both of us will be awake all day and sleep at the same time? If so, that relieves some of my worries. I thought it was team driving where he sleeps and I drive... whew..glad that may not be what happens.

Which company are you with?

Doubtful Swift will give a second chance. The cell phone is a big issue with swift. Automatic termination if your caught.

What was the accident?

Western Express and Swift gives chances to guys even with DUI (depending on how old it is). Pretty sure Western Express and Swift will give you a chance even with the accident and smartphone while driving. Especially with a year experience.

Also may I ask, how does Prime Inc work? I was told after training (for new grads), in order to drive for them you have to “lease” their truck. Meaning you have to pay for fuel, maintenance etc. is that true?

Kearsey can probably answer that for you, but a quick phone call to your recruiter or email to them will get you an accurate response.

Bubbles I know it is frustrating. You're ready to go but everything else seems to be getting in your way.

When I first started coming back to the industry it was shortly after I had shattered my pinky finger and had to have it put back together. My knuckle had broken into seven pieces. I went in for my physical with my hand still in its brace and they wouldn't certify me. I had to have a grip strength of 40 pounds per inch and I had ten.

Finally got to school and failed my physical due to sugar in the urine. Got that under control and a month later was back at school May 9th, 2017. May 10th President Trump issued the executive order requiring showing proof of citizenship to upgrade your license even if you already did it to get your initial license. Guess what for the first time in my life I couldn't find? My birth certificate was nowhere to be found.

To make matters worse I couldn't just go to a court house and get a copy. I was born in Iceland while my dad was stationed on the NATO base. I had to go through the State Department to get a new certificate. That process was supposed to take 10 weeks from the time they processed my application. However, someone took pity on me and I had it 14 days from the day they received it.

I just finished my third year with Swift. Keep your eye on the goal.

Were you a lease op?

He was already going to be getting off my truck due to family commitments.

Had we not needed to be on opposite sides of the country I would have kept him on. He took ownership of his mistake and learned from it.

I did refuse to sign off on him upgrading early though.

Thankfully I have only had to remove one student from my truck because he wouldn't drive more than three hours without having some kind of problem: tired, stomach hurts, shoulder hurt etc. Almost two weeks on my truck and that was over.

In general though I have rules for the truck and if I have to bring it up more than once or twice then we will have a meeting with driver qualifications and figure out a better mentor for them.

Cellphone use while driving, alcohol use, and threatening me are automatic tickets off my truck.

What about the student that put the trailer tandems in the ditch, nearly rolling it over, trying to get turned around?

Thankfully I have only had to remove one student from my truck because he wouldn't drive more than three hours without having some kind of problem: tired, stomach hurts, shoulder hurt etc. Almost two weeks on my truck and that was over.

In general though I have rules for the truck and if I have to bring it up more than once or twice then we will have a meeting with driver qualifications and figure out a better mentor for them.

Cellphone use while driving, alcohol use, and threatening me are automatic tickets off my truck.