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David's Road Journal Male, Age 30 Introduction After reading all of the wonderful accounts here, I decided I'd like to contribute my own story. I hope everyone enjoys it.
Overview Just to bring everyone up to speed.... Last summer, I drove for USA Truck for a while and wasn't really impressed, so I dropped the truck off at the nearest authorized drop yard and decided that the trucking industry wasn't all I had hoped it would be. I realized that it was career suicide, but I didn't care....until this summer. To be honest, Swift wasn't my first choice as far as companies went. I'd heard all the negative comments and read all the bad press about the way Swift treats their drivers, and I really only filled out the application so I could say I tried everything. Well, a few days later, I get a call back from Swift, and a few days after that, a pre-hire letter. Swift was the only company to even take a chance on me, so I decided to give them a shot. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! Orientation was the same as I'd remembered with USA. It was long, boring and a challenge to stay awake for. After 3 days, I was exhausted. The next Monday (orientation is Tue-Thu), I was assigned a trainer. My trainer's name is Jeff Adams and He's a really great guy. We get along like franks & beans, have the same sense of humor, same tastes in a lot of things and we both like to drive about the same schedule. I knew from day 1 that I wouldn't have any problem with the training arrangement. I don't remember exact dates, and since I'm already into my 3rd week on the trainer's truck, I'll just use trip numbers... Trip #1: We left out of Neenah, WI (home terminal to both of us) en route to Jacksonville, FL. Strange thing about this is that, when I drove for USA, I lived in Jacksonville and the first solo load I got for them was going to Kimberly, WI (about 10 miles from the house I grew up in). Here I was on my first load (with a trainer, but my first load no less) for Swift, leaving the Fox Valley, WI area and heading right back to Jacksonville. Talk about coincidences!! Anyway, it took us 2 days to get to Jax, since Jeff had to do most of the driving. Swift's policy is that new trainees can't drive more than a few hours the first couple days and NEVER in heavy traffic (I drove through Chicago anyway...heck with 'em). Anyhoo, when we got to Jacksonville, I knew exactly where to go to park overnight (my old neighborhood is off an exit about 100 feet from the highway to the receiver) and when the morning came, I knew exactly how to get to the receiver and how much time it would take to get there. We got to the receiver and unloaded very quickly. Everything was going great. Trip #2: We deadheaded from Jacksonville up to Savannah, GA to pick up a load going to Fairless Hills, PA (suburb of Philadelphia). After running through the night (the driver manager said it was a hot load), we arrived in Fairless Hills and waited....and waited...4 hours worth of waiting. Some hot load, eh? Turns out we could've just cruised right in, but Swift told us that we needed a drop number, so we waited for one to come in over the Qualcomm. When the day DM got in, she told us just to pull it through the gate, no drop number needed. Fine, we drop the trailer, pick up an empty and head out to grab some breakfast. Trip #3: We picked up another drop & hook load in PA and ran it to the Columbus, OH Swift yard. From there, we picked up a load and ran west with it. Jeff lives in Minnesota, so it works out pretty nice for home time. Anyway, he ran by my house and dropped me off, then went to the Twin Cities and driver-unloaded a load of truck tires (ouch) by himself. Trip #4: Fresh out of the house, we leave the Neenah terminal again, this time headed to Olin, NC. It takes us 2 days to get to Olin, and from there, we turn back. We pick up a load in NC headed to Columbus, drop it and pick up a load going back to the Twin Cities...gee this seems familiar....and I'm home once again. 2 loads between home times...are you sure this isn't a regional trainer? Trip #5: Fresh from home once again, we leave the Neenah terminal, only this time I'm kinda excited. We have a load that delivers in Hermiston, OR 3 days from now. Why am I so excited? I've never been out west. Closest I've ever been was sitting in Fallon, NV while I was in the Navy 10 years ago. So we head out west. The scenery is AWESOME. From SD to Wyoming to Montana, then across Lolo Pass (Muy Cool!) into Idaho, where we stopped for fuel at Swift's Lewiston terminal. A few more hours driving, some along the GORGEOUS backdrop of Lake Wallula on the WA/OR line, and we're in Hermiston. Whaddya know..another drop & hook. Oh, by the way, we haven't had a load over 25,000 lbs since I've been riding with Jeff. Strange, isn't it? Trip #6: The night DM told us to deadhead back to Lewiston. The only problem is that Lewiston is a good 200 miles away. It takes time to drive 200 miles, especially in a truck that only goes 62 MPH. Those hours have to be logged, but Jeff doesn't get paid for them? How rude! We decide to take this one on the chin and drive the empty miles to Lewiston, where we spend the night. The next morning, we get our load assignment, and it's a sweetheart...Las Vegas! Never been there, either....so Viva Las Vegas and off we go... The roads between Lewiston and Las Vegas are, shall we say, BORING. It's mostly desert and a couple mountains, but nothing to get all worked up about and really nothing to write home about. However, when I turned onto I-15 from US 93, I started getting excited -- VERY excited. I knew it would be quite a site, and the fact that it was the middle of the night would make it even better. When I came around the corner and saw the lights, I was in awe. I've always wanted to come here, and now I'm getting paid to be here? Zesty!! But alas, my plans in Sin City were cut short. I was under the impression that we'd be stuck in Vegas all weekend (this was just today), but we got a dispatch. Had we been there all weekend, I would've taken a cab downtown and seen the Blue Man Group show I've heard so much about. Oh well, maybe next time.... Current trip: We got the dispatch from Vegas to Katy, TX (a suburb of San Antonio). We drove from Vegas to SwiftWorld (what I call the main Swift terminal) in Phoenix, AZ, which is where I am typing this from right now. Who knows what tomorrow brings? That's what I love about the trucking industry. You never know from one day to the next what's going to happen, where you're going to be or who you're going to bump into. And as for Swift....I haven't found any reason not to like this company. Their equipment is excellent, everyone I've met here has been very polite and I've had no reason to feel like I'm being treated badly. People have said Swift treated them like a number. I don't see it, honestly I don't. I've been treated with the highest degree of respect by everyone at Swift, and I have no reason to believe that's unusual at all. Stay tuned for another entry when I get a chance to catch my breath at a Swift terminal somewhere between Miami and Seattle.... 7/20/01 Wow...things are moving so fast. I made my last entry here only a week and a half ago, but so many things have happened since then. When we left our hero (me), I was sitting at Swifty World (Phoenix terminal), en route to Katy, TX. Well, we arrived in San Antonio early the next day, were told by Swift to T-Call (repower) the load at the San Antonio yard and head up to Austin to pick up a load going back west. That worked out pretty well until we got to Austin. To say that the Central Freight yard in Austin is a boring place is a minor understatement, but we sat there all day anyway. The best part of this adventure was that Central cancelled our load sometime right before the sun went down. Great. Now we have no load. Fine. We head up to Irving (Dallas) and sit at the terminal there waiting for a load. Lucky us, we get a load headed for Columbus (we can't escape Columbus, I guess). We decide to spend the night at Irving, under the glow of the Texas Stadium lights.... The next morning, as we were just about to roll, the Qualcomm beeps..."David, go into Irving terminal and see Heather". Now I'm pretty bright, folks. I know I'm not going in there to get the "best student driver" award. I'm going to be drug tested, as is the case with Swift much too often, in my opinion. I cruise in, meet Heather, we do the necessary drug/alcohol testing, and I hop back in the truck. We're on our way to Columbus, thank goodness.. Next day, we get to Columbus, and Jeff is anxious to get home, so we pick up a load in Groveport, OH, headed for Shakopee, MN (near the twin cities). This time, however, we "run with" 2 other trucks...man, I don't know how these guys make any money...I swear they stopped 20 times between Columbus and Milwaukee. Anyhoo, strictly by the grace of God (I'm quite sure), we make it to Shakopee Friday morning. I'm sleeping throughout the entire unloading ordeal, which is fine with all concerned. We unload and have the usual trip from Minneapolis to Green Bay. Woohoo...I'm going home! After 4 days at home, I'm back at the Neenah terminal, back on Jeff's truck (last time!) and headed back for Green Bay. We pick up a load at the same shipper that sent us to Oregon last time, only this time, we're going to Loveland, CO. The trip to Loveland was pretty smooth. I finally got to see the great Iowa 80 truck stop in all its glory (what's the big deal?). I learned that Nebraska is a long friggin state and that between cities in Colorado, there is basically nothing. Once we get the load off in Loveland, we get our next load. Pick up at Safeway in Denver and deliver at Dominick's warehouse in Chicago (oh boy). We run hard, day & night to get the load back to Chicago on time...only to find out that the appointment time is simply a tool the receiver uses to get you there when they want you there. Nevermind that we had a 1:00 AM delivery appointment. We finally got unloaded and on our way sometime around 4 AM. We were told by the drivers who deliver there frequently that this was the standard practice. As a side note, in my short truck driving career, I've seen a lot of this. Anyone contemplating a career as an OTR driver should make sure they have patience in spades. Sometimes this job requires the patience of Job, and the payoff is nil. Chin up...it's not just an adventure, it's also a job. :) So that was this morning. We left Dominick's and headed to the Manteno, IL terminal. After about 3-4 hours sleep, we got up and started heading for the shipper for our next load. We thought we were taking this load from Chicago to Modesto, CA....but we were wrong. Due to a data entry error, we spent 2 hours looking for the shipper to learn that they'd moved TO IDAHO!! So now we have no load...but fear not, the Swift brain trust is on the case... We got a double load assignment...first load as a local (yes, LOCAL) run....pick up a load in Lincolnshire (northern Chicago suburb) and T-call it at the Gary, IN terminal. Seriously, folks, a local run in a team truck. I knew what was coming next....the second load...pick up in downtown Chicago and deliver in Little Rock, AR. Some consolation prize...after the 2100+ mile run to California was taken off us, we get a 600 mile milker to Arkansas. Whoop de doo....Needless to say, the only one of us actually getting paid by the mile (Jeff) was HOT. He fumed for a good 3 hours, until we had the Lincolnshire load in the Gary yard, then the REALLY good news came.... "You have been un-pre-planned on the Little Rock load". So here we sit in Gary. No load, no preplan, nothing but time. Oh well, it gives me time to sit on the net and gab with my wife. The good news is that I only have a week left as a trainee, then I conceivably get my own shiny new Swift truck to putt putt slowly down the highway. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Catch you folks next time...hopefully we get rolling soon. Dave |
