Comments By Bre The Newbie

Great Advice! Congrats on passing General Knowledge and Air Brakes. Now that you know what to look for and study combination will be easier to pass.

I drove for swift briefly but I didnt have to take that course. I understand that your still in training, correct? Did you perhaps get a drive cam incident that is why they want you to take that class? Sorry for assuming if that's not the case but as a new driver I never had to do that course.

I'm a former Swift Driver and I'm not sure how it is in Richmond but I can only tell you about my experience here in California. They have you take the test in a group no more than 4. Its similiar to the DMV road test except less pressure. I can advise you that they will not pass you for things that the DMV will fail you for. They are looking to see how well you drive and your ability to control the truck.Please watch your road signs, watch your speed(speeding is a no no), dont jump any curbs, and no accidents. They wont hire you on if you make mistakes that pose a safety risk.You will also do a backing test where they will have you back into a parking space at the terminal. Thats pretty much it. I know For each individual your actual Drive time might be 20mins or less ( i can assure you I would be exaggerating if my actual road test took 15mins) I'm sure you will do just fine and congratulations.

You don't need to work for a company with a terminal near home. You only need to worry about the hiring area of the company you're interested in. Are you currently attending school for your CDL? After you have your CDL you can use this link to Apply For Truck Driving Jobs. Pay special attention to those that say they hire recent grads.

Bre, sorry to hear you're unable to drive anymore.

Thanks Rob! Pregnancy complications took me off the road. I didnt think it would have been wise or safe( for myself or the public) for me to still drive while taking 2 prescribed sleep inducing medications. I made the choice with support from Swift to Quit. I will be back just have to sit out for a bit.

Hey Brian I am also from Sacramento,Ca. I Started with Swift transportation last year in May (unfortunately I'm no longer able to drive) but with Swift they have what they call a comfort zone. You can request that you stay in the western region. I was on the reefer division so I dont know how it works with dry van but with reefer i ran alot from CA, WA,OR,ID,UT,AZ,NV WY..maybe sometimes as far as Nebraska but that was if they really needed someone to grab a meat load. Anyway it's possible just talk to whatever company you decide to go with and ask of they have a regional route if that's what you want to run. Also by running regional its alot easier to get you home but it's best to give them advanced noticed and also follow up with them to ensure your being routed home. Best of Luck to You Driver!

My ex teammate just went through this. At Swift a certain number of safety points generates a notice and after so many accumulated points you go up for review. My ex teammate was also not involved in the safety meeting it was held without him overall he was terminated for the red light. Trying to get a job with a mega carrier is going to be hard because of insurance purposes however look into smaller companies. He just got hired with one although it had to be approved by the head of safety at his new company they still hired him. So it isnt too much a career killer, it's just going to be an uphill battle but all you can do is try and do better. Best of Luck to you.

Hello Everyone!

My fiance and I are new to the truck driving industry. He is the driver and I am the passenger. We put all of our belongings into storage and hit the road in hopes of seeing the country; however, it hasn't really worked out that way. Dispatch seems to keep us going through the same couple of states that surround our home state. Is it possible that we just have bad luck and those are the only loads available at the time that he is on board? Is there anything we can do to increase his chances of getting more of a variety of locations? Is it possible they have him mistaken for a regional driver? He hasn't mentioned anything to dispatch because he doesn't want to seem ungrateful or picky. Obviously if the wheels aren't turning he's not earning, so we'll take what's given, but this is not what we had in mind when he decided to become an OTR truck driver. It certainly isn't what I had in mind either when I quit my job and decided to come with him. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I would follow the advice of others who stated to ask dispatch for a load going to where ever you guys are trying to get to. I was OTR for Swift Refrigerated and sometimes they do keep keep you in a comfort zone (region closest to your home). I live in california so I ran CA,ID,UT,WA,OR alot but trust me once I went team and told my dm I was ok with going a lil further east, I hardly ever seen the west coast again until I came home. Anyways best of luck to you guys and safe travels.

Congratulations

Im apart of the refrigerated division at my company and it's a sound you get use to overtime. It's quite embarrassing to admit this but one night at a rest stop I was sleep and didnt hear the reefer running. I couldnt remember what load I had and as rookie driver my heart starts racing thinking omg how long has the reefer been off? will the load get rejected? will I be fired? etc. I jumped up put on my warm clothes and ran outside to check the reefer. One thing I forgot. My company needed help with a dry load that day, and I had a dry van not a reefer. I felt so stupid I had a hard time falling back asleep. I guess you can say sometimes drivers depend on hearing that noise to sleep. I'm one of them lol.

Congrats...and welcome to the Swift Team. When I was in training I had the same mentor but we went from a volvo to a kenworth and maybe it's me but the kenworth feels like it has more pulling power through the mountains (or I could just have a biased opinion since our volvo kept breaking down). Anyway congrats again and be safe out there.