Swift Orientation/Mentorship Experience

Hey everyone, I'm back in Memphis again for orientation (I finished Swift's Driving Academy a week ago, which I wrote about here: Swift Academy Diary. So I already had my first day of orientation yesterday and there wasn't too much going on. Just some paperwork, a little computer reading, a handful of safety videos, and (of course) the drug test. I figure today will be a little more 'feature-packed' since we can't use our phones today. As for the group, there's about 30-ish of us, although I'm surprised that there was only one student from my Academy class present, pretty disappointing most of them didn't make it. My roommate left after only the first day, and I'm unsure why. He wasn't terribly willing to talk about his last trucking experience, so maybe that had something to do with it. Other than that, I get a kick out being the youngest person in the group by far (I'm 23). Anyway, looking forward to what they've got in store today. And definitely looking forward to meeting my mentor tomorrow. After living here for a month, I'm anxious to actually start working, haha. I'll be updating this journal after leaving with my mentor, and then weekly after that.

Very cool!

It's amazing how few people take it the training seriously and make it through the program, ya know? You would expect a bunch of eager and excited people who can't wait to take advantage of a great opportunity to get their new trucking career underway but that's certainly not what you find most of the time.

and (of course) the drug test

You walked right by me and didn't even say "Hello"! I was sitting in the Health Center front office waiting for my physical!

First allow me to say congratulations! Secondly, I hope you do keep us posted. I'm sure you'll do well and make the most out of this opportunity.

You walked right by me and didn't even say "Hello"! I was sitting in the Health Center front office waiting for my physical!

Oh god, I didn't even realize Were you wearing a reddish-orange shirt?

Oh god, I didn't even realize. Were you wearing a reddish-orange shirt?

Yellow. But you weren't expecting to meet any celebrities yesterday, anyway!

Hey everyone, I'm back in Memphis again for orientation (I finished Swift's Driving Academy a week ago, which I wrote about here: Swift Academy Diary. So I already had my first day of orientation yesterday and there wasn't too much going on. Just some paperwork, a little computer reading, a handful of safety videos, and (of course) the drug test. I figure today will be a little more 'feature-packed' since we can't use our phones today. As for the group, there's about 30-ish of us, although I'm surprised that there was only one student from my Academy class present, pretty disappointing most of them didn't make it. My roommate left after only the first day, and I'm unsure why. He wasn't terribly willing to talk about his last trucking experience, so maybe that had something to do with it. Other than that, I get a kick out being the youngest person in the group by far (I'm 23). Anyway, looking forward to what they've got in store today. And definitely looking forward to meeting my mentor tomorrow. After living here for a month, I'm anxious to actually start working, haha. I'll be updating this journal after leaving with my mentor, and then weekly after that.

Hey Matt!! It was Great to see you again!! Glad to hear you are doing So well.....but then again, I knew you would! You performed exceptionally well all thru training at the Academy! Hope the road takes you where you want to go...! And I'll see ya OUT THERE!!

-Sue

Whew!

It's been a couple weeks since I've updated of what's been going on, but everything's been pretty busy. So I'm about 65 hours into my drive time so far and things have been going pretty nicely. My mentor is a regional driver who gets home time every weekend, so instead of driving 8 or so hours every day, he has me go almost right up to 11 so I don't have to spend forever in training.

We've mostly been running around Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Missouri. We even made a "rare" trip through all those fun hills on I-64 and 77 into North Carolina.

There's no too much I have to say about the experience so far because I'm already past the point of being intrigued at all the new things I've learned so far, haha. All I really have to say so far is that I'm actually liking being out there so far and that I actually like my mentor. Just can't wait to finish these 200 hours BTW and start making some real money.