Comments By Big T

Congratulations Daniel. "Just wing it" is probably the best parenting advice I ever heard lol. You will also find that a lot of people without kids are like some of the newbies that come through here. Somehow they became experts without having any experience beyond what their dad, uncle, friend did.

Thanks Jamie!

Haha Old School please do come. Always a pleasure to meet the legend. We need advice. Our linehaul dispatcher has 8 kids and I asked him for advice this morning and he said "just wing it". I'm sure you can do better!

Rob, I get the feeling that that's how it will go from here onwards. No one ever warned me it would be this difficult to get the first one though. He's set to arrive End of January 2021.

Companies that hf are looking to see if you've used. They don't care if it was two weeks or two months. If you pop positive then you go home.

Beyond the use, if you pop positive it means you have already lied on one federal form. Your physical asks if you've used any illegal or illicit drugs in the last two years. While it may be legal in your state it is still illegal federally.

To your point about being a number. Starting out, especially right out of school, you are just a number. The majority of new drivers don't make it 90 days. So until you prove yourself you are just a number.

It's not difficult to prove yourself even at a mega carrier. Everyone at my terminal knows my name and the driver qualification leaders at any terminal I've taken a student from know me as well.

Not really a caring issue. As Rob pointed out it is expensive to bring in new drivers. Pre Covid it wasn't uncommon for Swift to have 60 drivers in orientation between students and experienced drivers. That is just one terminal.

Why would you compare apples to oranges? Pre-employment drug tests are not the same as randoms. You are dealing with a sample of people that may not be aware of the hair tests, or drug use in general. Compare that to current drivers that are fully aware of protocol.

Then they are comparing numbers to testing results from over 20 years ago?

Maybe I'm missing something, but if they're wanting to improve safety then they should maybe due a study that includes random hair sampling along with the ua tests of current drivers.

There is a reason why million mile accident free drivers are praised in this industry. It is really hard to accomplish. When you consider all the different scenarios, environments, and hours we run it is expected that at some point you may have a wreck.

This is a performance based job and those that perform well do get some "slack". Especially if they own up to their mistakes and show what they learned. Which seems to be exactly how you handled it.

Thankfully it was just a sign and some landscaping that can easily be repaired. Not cheap, but no one was hurt.

Mike if multiple applications hurt your DAC this industry would collapse. A lot of drivers tend to job hop so they are always putting in new applications.

I would fill out the app on this site and between that and your school you should be in a truck soon.

I keep two cases of one liters under the bunk. Plus whatever I'm currently drinking at the moment.

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.

Not sure. Freightliner is closed today so I won't hear anything until tomorrow.

That sounds MISERABLE! Any idea how long it's going to be down?

I woke up this morning sweating because my truck derated due to a DEF issue and a fuel pressure problem.

The temp was already in the 80s and quickly climbed. The temp inside the truck seemed to climb even quicker.

It ended up being 11 hours from the time I called break down until I ended up getting a tow.

Unless you were on the veteran program, which I have no knowledge on, it's 13 months.

They take out the cost of the school every week while also reimbursing half every week for the first 13 months. At the end of the 13 months you can walk away and owe nothing. You end up actually paying half the school in the first 13 months because of the reimbursement.

In my case they took $75 a week out, but reimbursed me $37.50 every week as well.

For months 14 to 26 they then pay you back the other half every week so that at the end of 26 months your school ends up being free.

My case again, they reimbursed me $37.50 a week until the end of month 26.

If you quit before the end of 13 months you're on the hook for the entire amount including what was reimbursed to you.

Best thing to do is look at your paperwork and to talk to Swift directly. If you have the ability I would try and go back to Swift and hit that 13 month mark.

Reality is any reputable company is a good company to go to regardless of adjective.

As OS mentioned you have to lobby for miles and prove yourself. Most companies give newer drivers these types of runs in order to keep from overwhelming them as they work on mastering their skills. Prove you don't need the time.

If I get a 300 miles run I'm going to get it done in five to six hours. I'm going to tell my DM, and then execute. If we can drop it or move the appointment up we will do so. I also have no problem contacting the customer directly and seeing if they will take it early. Worse thing they are going to say is no.

Keep doing that and if you don't see an improvement then you may have to go up in the chain of command. It is in no one's interest for a truck to sit. You're not making money, the company isn't making money, and the company may be losing money.