Covenant

Alan is getting to be quite the orientation expert. Which is a sad thing. He made it through 2 and a half days of orientation at Swift and they cut him loose. This time it was because he didn't have his license for at least a year. This was something I had alluded to (but not specifically spelled out) in my email to the recruiter. So that was a wasted trip to Dallas and back (twice).

When he got back to the rig, we immediately started work on finding another company. He still had the pre-hire letter from Covenant and I called the recruiter to see if they had everything they needed. They did and gave him an orientation date of the 25th. In the meantime, Alan was working other companies but none would give him a look.

By this time Alan is getting pretty dejected. He doesn't like Covenant because of their policy of making drivers team drive for six months after training. He doesn't want to share the truck with another person. Alan is quite the loner so having to put up with another person is not something he looks forward to.

However, we are in desperate straits so he is resolved to do what he must in order to get our finances straightened out.

He has totally lost every last shred of enthusiasm he might have had for this career. He said after the Arrow debacle he felt as if they had shoved a vacuum cleaner up his ass and sucked out every last bit of liking for trucking that he had. Now he is just going through the motions.

So I drove him up to Dallas on Sunday night and dropped him off at the hotel. This time he stayed at the Comfort Inn rather than the Days Inn. At least Covenant puts their drivers up in a decent hotel. They also fed him dinner every evening (at Denny's). So that was nice.

He made it all the way through orientation and was hanging around Thursday waiting for them to tell him he had a trainer. Again he is watching everybody else get their paperwork so he's waiting for the ax to fall yet again.

He was the very last person to get his trainer, a guy by the name of Mike who is from El Paso.

So he made it. Alan is now employed....at least for the next 5-6 weeks. After that, he will have to take another road test for an evaluation. If he passes that, he will get his own truck (and a teammate).

He and his trainer are currently hanging out at the Dallas terminal waiting for a load. Alan says there are a lot of drivers there so he'll probably be there all weekend. He is bored to tears.

Swift

Tomorrow is the big day. Alan has another chance to get with a trucking company. Swift has given him an orientation date and we leave tomorrow for Lancaster, TX which is just south of Dallas. I'm driving him up there since it is only 80 miles away from Waco and I didn't have the heart to see him endure another bus ride from hell. Supposedly he has three days of orientation and then he's supposed to go out with a trainer for six weeks. After the fiasco with Arrow, I'll believe it when I see it. The sad thing about it is after getting jerked around for so long, Alan is super cynical now and has lost his positive attitude. This job is now a chore rather than a money making opportunity. Which sucks as I've already had experience with a man who hated his job and I know how damaging to the psyche it can be. I have been trying to convince Alan to give Swift a chance and to try to not be so critical. We'll see how it goes.