Update On Swift Training.
Topic 32507 | Page 1
I thought I'd do a quick update.
Graduated Swift Academy, tested out with CDL , and placed on Mentors truck early October.
Today I hit 60 hours of drive time. Mentor does not team drove, which at first I was very happy about, he is an owner operator , he owns the truck with no payment. He is on a Walmart Dedicated account that I will also be running on here out west.
It was great, he's an awesome guy, we get along, Swift itself has been phenomenal. Everyone is friendly, Driver leads here are great and friendly, no complaints from them.
BUT, my mentor takes home time, nightly pretty much. We go to and from Elko, he takes his 34 every weekend, for more like 60-72 hours, while I just hang out. He takes the short route to Elko, rather than the planned Fuelstop route, because as he says, he's going home. He's a good dude, I like him alot. But 60 hours of drive time in almost 3 weeks, I had to ask for another mentor, hopefully it would speed up the process.
Getting picked up Monday by a new mentor, hopefully it all works out. Swift itself has been awesome, the little driving I have done, has been awesome. I'm loving it and just itching to continue driving. Thanks for reading I'll update again soon!
Nothing wrong with asking for a different trainer, as long as it is done with the right attitude. It sounds like this is exactly what you did. Keep doing what you are doing and you will be in your own truck before you know it.
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.
Owner Operator:
An owner-operator is a driver who either owns or leases the truck they are driving. A self-employed driver.
My perspective on this is slightly different.
Swift requires the Mentor to observe the first 40-50 hours from the passenger seat (unless something has changed). So…you’re not too far off schedule.
Teaming on a Walmart account is not easy. In addition to sleeping in a moving truck, you also must sleep through potentially numerous dockings, multiple live unloads and drop and hook. All of these things are likely to interrupt sleep.
That said; if you can find another mentor who is assigned to Walmart Dedicated, all the better. Running this type of account is not like general OTR… clock management is very different, as is trip planning. And man you gotta hustle…
Here is a blog article I wrote about my first year running Walmart:
Freedom of Trucking, Blessing or Curse
Good luck! 👍
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.
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.
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I thought I'd do a quick update.
Graduated Swift Academy, tested out with CDL , and placed on Mentors truck early October.
Today I hit 60 hours of drive time. Mentor does not team drove, which at first I was very happy about, he is an owner operator , he owns the truck with no payment. He is on a Walmart Dedicated account that I will also be running on here out west.
It was great, he's an awesome guy, we get along, Swift itself has been phenomenal. Everyone is friendly, Driver leads here are great and friendly, no complaints from them.
BUT, my mentor takes home time, nightly pretty much. We go to and from Elko, he takes his 34 every weekend, for more like 60-72 hours, while I just hang out. He takes the short route to Elko, rather than the planned Fuelstop route, because as he says, he's going home. He's a good dude, I like him alot. But 60 hours of drive time in almost 3 weeks, I had to ask for another mentor, hopefully it would speed up the process.
Getting picked up Monday by a new mentor, hopefully it all works out. Swift itself has been awesome, the little driving I have done, has been awesome. I'm loving it and just itching to continue driving. Thanks for reading I'll update again soon!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Owner Operator:
An owner-operator is a driver who either owns or leases the truck they are driving. A self-employed driver.