My First Week On The East Coast

I was dispatched to Virginia from Texas about a week and a half ago. Ended up in Pennsylvania. I spent 5 days running surge out of the Pottsville Walmart DC. (Happens to be G Towns homebase). I was running to Delaware, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania. Let me put it this way. I have gained a new found respect for all of you East Coast drivers. It was the most tense and difficult driving that I have experienced in my short 5 month driving career! These were 1,2,and 3 stop runs from the DC to various Retail Stores. I survived, made all of my deliveries on time, although I only made it back to the DC on the same day, 2 out of 5 runs. I used all of my limited skills and learned several new ones. A very special public Thank You to G Town for all of his help, great advice and patience with me. He freely gave me numerous hours of his time on the phone, email, and text messages, to get me through this. I never would have been able to make it through this without Him. Today I pick up a load in Muncy, PA, and head to Jackson, TN. Heading back West for some much needed Hometime in Tucson, AZ. I would also like to give a big Thank You to the entire Swift Team at this DC. A great group of people. Looking back on the last week, it was a great experience that I will NEVER forget. I came out of this a better Driver, and just maybe, a bit of a better Man!

I just left Pottsville yesterday ...I think. Smam in TN and shutting down in west Memphis AR today. Swing by hahha

I was in pottsville this morning. Now i know why i saw so many swift/walmart trucks

I was dispatched to Virginia from Texas about a week and a half ago. Ended up in Pennsylvania. I spent 5 days running surge out of the Pottsville Walmart DC. (Happens to be G Towns homebase). I was running to Delaware, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania. Let me put it this way. I have gained a new found respect for all of you East Coast drivers. It was the most tense and difficult driving that I have experienced in my short 5 month driving career! These were 1,2,and 3 stop runs from the DC to various Retail Stores. I survived, made all of my deliveries on time, although I only made it back to the DC on the same day, 2 out of 5 runs. I used all of my limited skills and learned several new ones. A very special public Thank You to G Town for all of his help, great advice and patience with me. He freely gave me numerous hours of his time on the phone, email, and text messages, to get me through this. I never would have been able to make it through this without Him. Today I pick up a load in Muncy, PA, and head to Jackson, TN. Heading back West for some much needed Hometime in Tucson, AZ. I would also like to give a big Thank You to the entire Swift Team at this DC. A great group of people. Looking back on the last week, it was a great experience that I will NEVER forget. I came out of this a better Driver, and just maybe, a bit of a better Man!

To VA from TX? Was it a beer run? I made that drive a few times, from the brewery in Ft. Worth to the one in Elkton.

I'm jealous that you met G Town! He has been a huge help to me out here.

What was so difficult about Walmart? I'm curious to hear about it from your perspective as a newer driver like myself since I'm about to start Walmart dedicated out of Loveland, CO. I did Walmart out of Corinne, UT, for a week last month, but it was pretty easy because of the area we were working in--little to no traffic and often only one delivery per trip. The stores were so spread out it sometimes took two full days to make a round trip.

I just left Pottsville yesterday ...I think. Smam in TN and shutting down in west Memphis AR today. Swing by hahha

How long are you going to be in WM? If you'll be there into this afternoon, send me your phone #.

TT.errolv@spamgourmet.com

Lunch?

I was dispatched to Virginia from Texas about a week and a half ago. Ended up in Pennsylvania. I spent 5 days running surge out of the Pottsville Walmart DC. (Happens to be G Towns homebase). I was running to Delaware, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania. Let me put it this way. I have gained a new found respect for all of you East Coast drivers. It was the most tense and difficult driving that I have experienced in my short 5 month driving career! These were 1,2,and 3 stop runs from the DC to various Retail Stores. I survived, made all of my deliveries on time, although I only made it back to the DC on the same day, 2 out of 5 runs. I used all of my limited skills and learned several new ones. A very special public Thank You to G Town for all of his help, great advice and patience with me. He freely gave me numerous hours of his time on the phone, email, and text messages, to get me through this. I never would have been able to make it through this without Him. Today I pick up a load in Muncy, PA, and head to Jackson, TN. Heading back West for some much needed Hometime in Tucson, AZ. I would also like to give a big Thank You to the entire Swift Team at this DC. A great group of people. Looking back on the last week, it was a great experience that I will NEVER forget. I came out of this a better Driver, and just maybe, a bit of a better Man!

Thanks for the call-out Tractor, you're very welcome. All I did was fill in some of the blanks for you. I strongly believe we should help each other out whenever possible, besides us old far** have to stick together! You did a great job; professional, kept your cool, and never lost focus. You definitely performed (uneventfully completed your work, all of it), big props. Enjoyed our conversations.

Paul asked:

What was so difficult about Walmart?

I will let Tractor offer his own perspective, but much of it likely has to do with hard core driving in the Northeast; specifically old and very congested Philadelphia neighborhoods, rush hour traffic (out and back) and Urban North Jersey, many unfamiliar roads/routes, unfamiliar with the DC/delivery process, and multiple daily delivery deadlines. Very different from OTR , especially in unfamiliar territory. Its more like captive "local" driving in the Northeast; hustle, hustle, hustle.

Surge drivers are basically thrown to the wolves with only basic instruction and guidance. In your case Paul, since you are considering the possibility of WM dedicated as a full-time gig, they will likely offer you some training, possibly having you run with a trainer for a day or two. You also know the CO area,...which is of great benefit. If Tractor was running surge out of an Arizona DC (for instance), this would have been far easier for him.

I just helped him navigate the unfamiliar territory and provided assistance with the process. It's second nature to me at this point. I think he is well prepared to run WM near to his home territory, he did a great job, never lost his cool or focus. Anytime a new surge driver doesn't have a missed delivery or require a T-call to complete their route, it's a success. He's seasoned now.

Unfortunately we never did have a chance to meet this week. Our paths never physically crossed. Missed him by one day.

I just left Pottsville yesterday ...I think. Smam in TN and shutting down in west Memphis AR today. Swing by hahha

How long are you going to be in WM? If you'll be there into this afternoon, send me your phone #.

TT.errolv@spamgourmet.com

Lunch?

Figures...I got re routed. Had to had a stop before Springfield. :(

Paul asks:

What was so difficult about Walmart? I'

It wasn't the Walmart part that presented the difficulty. G pretty much summed it up in his response. I'll put it this way. Pull out your Atlas, or better yet, pull up Google maps and zoom in where PA, NJ, DE , and MD kind of coagulate. It is a GIANT Spaghetti Bowl of intertwined Freeways, Beltways, Turnpikes, State Roads, and Surface Streets to navigate. The QC does not do you much good. Each delivery has specific written driving directions. You MUST follow them, PRECISELY! Now, if it were just one stop, you could take those directions, follow them backwards and return from whence you came. The problem lies in making multiple stops, then trying to figure out where the F&@# you are, and find a route back to the DC. Have you ever tried to use 5 or 6 pages in your Atlas, then add in multiple insets of Cities and make heads or tails of it? Not an easy task. As G mentioned, a new driver should be out with someone who is familiar with that area to help them understand which roads lead where in an efficent manner. Very good experience, not sure I would want to live it again. I promise to NEVER complain about driving in SoCal EVER AGAIN. (at least publicly on this forum)!

Paul asks:

What was so difficult about Walmart? I'

It wasn't the Walmart part that presented the difficulty. G pretty much summed it up in his response. I'll put it this way. Pull out your Atlas, or better yet, pull up Google maps and zoom in where PA, NJ, DE , and MD kind of coagulate. It is a GIANT Spaghetti Bowl of intertwined Freeways, Beltways, Turnpikes, State Roads, and Surface Streets to navigate. The QC does not do you much good. Each delivery has specific written driving directions. You MUST follow them, PRECISELY! Now, if it were just one stop, you could take those directions, follow them backwards and return from whence you came. The problem lies in making multiple stops, then trying to figure out where the F&@# you are, and find a route back to the DC. Have you ever tried to use 5 or 6 pages in your Atlas, then add in multiple insets of Cities and make heads or tails of it? Not an easy task. As G mentioned, a new driver should be out with someone who is familiar with that area to help them understand which roads lead where in an efficent manner. Very good experience, not sure I would want to live it again. I promise to NEVER complain about driving in SoCal EVER AGAIN. (at least publicly on this forum)!

Should have just called me. Lol. I get there am calls all the time "I was.on RT 42 looking for I 295 in NJ and wound up crossing a bridge into Philly hhheeeelllllpp" hahha

Driving gets worse too. Once i hit Carlisle PA from the west and Baltimore from the south...I KNOW I'm home. People pass on the shoulder for no reason and try to hit pedestrians. Even the truckers double time it through the truck stops trying to avoid getting hit. I didn't realize until I traveled the country that drivers actually take he pedestrian law seriously lol. There's a higher chance of an idiot crossing four lanes of traffic to exit.