Looks Like I Am Going To Be A Swiftie!!!!!
Topic 18832 | Page 4
Don has to wait:
I had my CDL-A for a while now since I graduated from the school but had to hold off applying to companies for family reasons & will be able to apply in April.
A heads up: if you must wait too long, your employer may require you to take a refresher. In my Swift school class, the was a mentor trainer who had to take 6 months off for family. He was required to take the class all over. (But he tested out in a week.)
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
G-Town you are like a life savior or super hero of some kind! Thats awesome because now all I have to do is set 3 day up of vacation (2nd week), and then that should be good! 
Don, you are feeling a sudden compulsion for blue trucks with orange writing on the side, lol. Seriously though, shoot my company an App and see what they say. Couldn't hurt to get as many prehires on the table as you can to choose from.
Btw, I drive for H.O. Wolding.
Haha, Patrick never misses a chance to shamelessly plug H.O. Wolding.
Prehire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Prehires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
must be a really good company to work for! Lol but you are right he does shamelessly put it in there 
How do you like working for Knight?
Knight is fine, has its ups and downs, just like all other companies. I just keep chugging along, taking whatever my dm throws at me. Had a few issues with some break downs, but the truck I'm in now seems like it may hold up, or at least I hope it does.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Nice thing about Swift is that I have two terminals close to me. Werner I would have to go out of state and that is always a downside. I am very enthusiastic about getting that first year under my belt!
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Don, you are feeling a sudden compulsion for blue trucks with orange writing on the side, lol. Seriously though, shoot my company an App and see what they say. Couldn't hurt to get as many prehires on the table as you can to choose from.
Btw, I drive for H.O. Wolding.
Haha, Patrick never misses a chance to shamelessly plug H.O. Wolding.
I am fairly shameless about it! We have had 4 drivers leave the company recently. 1 was my trainer. He got himself a local yard hostler gig. He never cared for being OTR in the first place, LoL. There are seats that need filling. I don't mind do my best to help out.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Prehire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Prehires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Victor-- They told me to plan on 5wks Training, afted Orientation. Recruiter said Mentors don't take Home Time, so we won't be stuck in a motel for 2 days. Or if they do, Swift pays for our lodging.
G.Town, Errol, et al-- How do we spend, or what do we do, for 34hr reset? Sit in our bunks? Eeeek!
Don-- I got my CDL over a year ago, failed to find any local work, and only Swift and US Xpress would hire and train me. I really burned myself by waiting so long, and got really depressed as I crossed off company after company. Not trying to bring you down! Just my own experience...
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
KaTow's mystery:
G.Town, Errol, et al-- How do we spend, or what do we do, for 34hr reset? Sit in our bunks? Eeeek!
Well, you could get in the bunk, zip up your sleeping bag and hibernate for a day and a half. Fire up your gaming computer. Sit in front and watch all the other drivers try to back in to slots.
Most common, though, is to take it easy, get a car and go somewhere, catch a movie, visit a local friend/ neighbor/ army buddy/ relative, do your taxes, whatever - it's truly your own time.
But when your 34 hours are up, you must be rested and sober, ready to hit the road and drive for up to 11 hours that day.
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No problem Victor. Here is something I wrote in a reply to another Swiftie in Training; KaTow...
Swift orientation is 3 days; basic introduction, drug test, physicals (if needed), paperwork and classroom instruction. I know this sounds obvious, but bring your license. Someone actually forgot theirs during my orientation... Stay awake/alert and silence/stow your cellphone during classroom instruction. At some point they will administer a road test and yard skills test. Probably in an older, 10 speed Columbia. GOAL, and be obvious about it after setting up and before the backing move. Treat the whole affair as an extended job interview, focus on yourself. Once they give you a driver# and CommData card, you're hired as a Company Driver in Training. After lunch on day three, you will meet your driver development manager (DDM); they will work to match you with a trainer/mentor; offer expectations and discuss periodic evaluation calls during mentoring. Your DDM is your primary advocate. Although I encourage you to work out any differences or issues directly with your mentor, if you need an intervention, mediator the DDM will provide you with that. There will also be a trip-plan quiz about the halfway point of training. Be prepared to leave that day so come packed and ready to go; 200 hours total, first 50 hours of it fully supervised, the remainder you operate as a team with your mentor. Don't worry if you need to interrupt or wake-up your mentor if you need them, they expect this. During training you will learn trip-planning, performing daily PTI, and Qualcomm; e-logs , the NaviGo system and macro communications. A paper log must be maintained during this period. You will learn Swift procedures with shippers/receivers, how/where to locate empties, driving under a load, drop and hook , scaling, setting the tandems , and basic life on the road.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.