Swift Training Academy

[MJC]

sounds like you guys are having fun. I'm in my 6th day with Falcon Truck School here in Vallejo, CA. Today was our second day on the road. There are 7 students and 2 driving instuctors so we have 4 in our truck and 3 in the other. Not too bad, I did around 75-100 miles in the two days. Doing a lot of backing also. Duid the straight and 90 degree dock, haven't tried the parallel park. Thats tomorrow. Along with that we will learn how to adjust the brakes and couple/decouple. We've been doing our pretrip inspects since Tuesday and will be tested one day next week. About what day do you take your test. Ours is the last week of the month

[SickRick]

sounds like you guys are having fun. I'm in my 6th day with Falcon Truck School here in Vallejo, CA. Today was our second day on the road. There are 7 students and 2 driving instuctors so we have 4 in our truck and 3 in the other. Not too bad, I did around 75-100 miles in the two days. Doing a lot of backing also. Duid the straight and 90 degree dock, haven't tried the parallel park. Thats tomorrow. Along with that we will learn how to adjust the brakes and couple/decouple. We've been doing our pretrip inspects since Tuesday and will be tested one day next week. About what day do you take your test. Ours is the last week of the month

Vallejo - I was on the Mare Island Naval Station (back when it WAS a naval station) back in the late 70's. My Tattoo Artist (being that I only have one) is in Vallejo also. I come out every 8-10 years to have my ink restored...

Rick

[Kevin0915]

Ford, i can tell from your GPS track you're doing much more driving in different areas than i did. We had 3 to a truck (4 on the first road day) and we only saw about 2.5 hrs driving a day at best. Our route basicly was leave the terminal, over the bridge, turn right over the R.R tracks, past the park, under the tall bridge, over the R.R tracks again, turning right, then we'd either turn left and head toward that stop light with the steep incline before turning left going down 'the hill' thru town, or go straight going thru back country then catching back up with 'the hill' thru down. Back across the river, then turning right going down past the hotels we stayed at, taking a back road left behind some businesses to come back down the same road and head to the terminal (like you do on the morning shuttle). I hear they dont allow trucks to take that road behind the businesses anymore. it was pretty narrow =)

[Ford390pwr]

sounds like you guys are having fun. I'm in my 6th day with Falcon Truck School here in Vallejo, CA. Today was our second day on the road. There are 7 students and 2 driving instuctors so we have 4 in our truck and 3 in the other. Not too bad, I did around 75-100 miles in the two days. Doing a lot of backing also. Duid the straight and 90 degree dock, haven't tried the parallel park. Thats tomorrow. Along with that we will learn how to adjust the brakes and couple/decouple. We've been doing our pretrip inspects since Tuesday and will be tested one day next week. About what day do you take your test. Ours is the last week of the month

Sounds like about the same curriculum. We will be on the range for day 11, Saturday, and then on the road for Monday through Thursday. The final state tests will be on Friday, and we will be testing in Pasco WA.

[Ford390pwr]

Vallejo - I was on the Mare Island Naval Station (back when it WAS a naval station) back in the late 70's. My Tattoo Artist (being that I only have one) is in Vallejo also. I come out every 8-10 years to have my ink restored...

Rick

I too was stationed at Mare Island, but not until 1989/1990. I went to the Marine Security Forces school before I was stationed onboard the USS Nimitz in Bremerton WA.

We wold take the ferry to San Francisco on the weekends. Great night life with some decent clubs!

[MJC]

The drive lot where the trucks are is on Mare Island. First left after the bridge. The school has been there for years and the Vallejo DMV uses their lot for the back up tests

[Kevin0915]

Hey, we had our last update on the 9th. "Day 10".....where are days 11 and 12? =)

[Ford390pwr]

Hey, we had our last update on the 9th. "Day 10".....where are days 11 and 12? =)

SORRY KEVIN !

No I did not forget to post on Friday, but I was really tired and I ended up moving into a different room in the motel. I am now roommates with Dave, my teammate in the truck. We are both going to be based in Sumner, we are close to the same age, and we have a lot in common. So we decided to become roommates rather than be stuck with some unknown new student.

So day 10, Friday started out with me driving out of Lewiston along the river. I drove for 1.75 hours and 72 miles all on line 3. Next Dave jumped in the drivers seat in Kamiah ID, and drove for 1.75 hours and 52 miles. Daves driving included some windy uphill grade as we headed to White Bird ID. Once in White Bird we switched again and I drove to Winchester ID. This was 55 miles and 1.5 hours all logged on line 3. When we reached Winchester ID Dave drove all the way back to the academy in Lewiston for 44 miles and 1.5 hours.
Here is a link to the morning GPS Track. Now one problem with the tracker. My phone was low on battery, so it was turned off from White Bird to Winchester. The GPS program simply drew a straight line between the two points. The actual route I drove was on Highway 95, as opposed to the plotted route.

11 | Author Ford390pwr | free Mobile GPS Tracking Service

After lunch I again got behind the wheel for 1.5 hours and 26 miles on line 3. This was all in town driving and focussed on some tight turns, a few residential streets and a bunch of traffic. All went well with the exception of a few curbs that may need new paint. I quickly learned that it may not always be possible to miss the curb.
Dave got 25 miles and 1.5 hours of similar driving. He got frustrated with downshifting from 5th to 3rd, but again he did not have any major problems. All in all, the afternoon was a lot more stressfull than the morning, but we still had an awesome day.

Here is the link for the afternoon of day 10:
10-2 | Author Ford390pwr | free Mobile GPS Tracking Service

We heard that most of the other students went on the long runs and did not get into the traffic as much as we did. 2 trucks with 4 student even revisited the road that we did on the first day of driving where they practiced upshift and downshift for the 27 mile stretch.

Bob still says that we are way ahed of the other teams. I don't think he would tell us this if it wasn't true. He continues to give us greater and greater challenges, so I think that means we are improving. Nobody else has been on Lewiston Hill, and we have both driven down the hill already.

Now, I am adding Day 11 to this post also. Today was Saturday and Bob was the only instructor on duty. He showed us how to chain up, slide the 5th wheel, and slide the tandems. Being on the range, we had all of the usual stations. 100' backing, offset backing, 90 degree dock, 45 degree dock and straight back. We also had a station for drop and hook, sliding 5th wheel and tandems, and tire chains. Chaining up in 95 degree weather with no trailer was not realistic, but at least we got to do it!

So Bob helped the students that needed to still take the school tests for offset backing, 90 degree dock and straight back. There was one studen that had problems with these and needed to retest. Bob was able to get them comfortable by the end of the day, and she was able tocomplete them all with a passing score. This student is going to run teams with her husband, so once she passes the state tests, she can learn more on the road.

At the end of day 11, we still have 10 students, and the only retests that still need to be done are for the pret-trip inspections. Everyone seems to be ready to get out on the road and try to maneuver through some city traffic. I think Monday will bring some pretty intense driving fo everyone.

Sunday will be a day off for us. Most classes will only receive this one day off during the training program. Because of the July 4th holiday, this is our second day off. We have all been able to accumulate the required hours of Lab and Range time to meet the PTDI requirements. Next week will have 4 days of Road hours, so we should have plenty of hours to graduate. Testing for us will be in Spokane WA on Friday, the last day of school.

[Ford390pwr]

We are trying to figure out what this thing is. it is bolted onto the tire chain hangar on some of the trucks we are using. Some are newer FL Columbia's, and some are older FLD's. Now, not all of the truck have it, but some do. Can somebody tell me what this is?

[rapatorr]

I too just graduated a couple months ago from AREA truck driving school in Santa Clara,CA, unfortunately I can get a job even though I have all my endorsements and a clean record, best of luck to you, I hope you get hired as soon as you graduate.

[Windwalker]

I too was stationed at Mare Island, but not until 1989/1990. I went to the Marine Security Forces school before I was stationed onboard the USS Nimitz in Bremerton WA.

We wold take the ferry to San Francisco on the weekends. Great night life with some decent clubs!

Years ago, there was a place called "THE AVALON CLUB". Is it still there... Well, might have a different name by now.

[Scottt]

Why do most Swift trailers you come up behind say "SW" or "IFT" on the back??

Do they teach how to not rip off the doors in their school??

[Biscuit Lips]

Why do most Swift trailers you come up behind say "SW" or "IFT" on the back??

Do they teach how to not rip off the doors in their school??

It is because the Swift truck go so slow, that other trucks literally blow their doors off!

[ForcedInduction]

We are trying to figure out what this thing is. it is bolted onto the tire chain hangar on some of the trucks we are using. Some are newer FL Columbia's, and some are older FLD's. Now, not all of the truck have it, but some do. Can somebody tell me what this is?

I believe that is for the kingpin lock.

[SickRick]

I too just graduated a couple months ago from AREA truck driving school in Santa Clara,CA, unfortunately I can get a job even though I have all my endorsements and a clean record, best of luck to you, I hope you get hired as soon as you graduate.

He's going to SWIFT SCHOOL. That means, as long as he doesn't have anything GLARING thats negative in his background or driving record, and isn't STUPID ENOUGH to drop a dirty urine at orientation (it happens, can't frikkin IMAGINE WHY, but it happens) - he WILL have a job with SWIFT...

Rick

[Ford390pwr]

He's going to SWIFT SCHOOL. That means, as long as he doesn't have anything GLARING thats negative in his background or driving record, and isn't STUPID ENOUGH to drop a dirty urine at orientation (it happens, can't frikkin IMAGINE WHY, but it happens) - he WILL have a job with SWIFT...

Rick

I hope you are right, and that is basically what the recruiter said too. I have not heard of anyone that finished the school and was not hired for any reason other than the drug test, so I am fairly confident that I will have a job when I graduate.

[Ford390pwr]

Why do most Swift trailers you come up behind say "SW" or "IFT" on the back??

Do they teach how to not rip off the doors in their school??

They actually did touch on this in class! The instructors were talking about preventable incidents and it was said that crunching a trailer door was one of the most popular reasons to be let go for a preventable. She said to always carry extra bungees for the trailer doors because the hook, and chain do not hold the door very secure.

[Ford390pwr]

I too just graduated a couple months ago from AREA truck driving school in Santa Clara,CA, unfortunately I can get a job even though I have all my endorsements and a clean record, best of luck to you, I hope you get hired as soon as you graduate.

Good luck on your job search. That really sucks to spend all that time and money on school and not be able to get on with a carrier. Just hang in there! I know Swift is still accepting newbie drivers, they just aren't looking for any experienced drivers right now.

I have talked to a few other recent CDL school grads that are waiting about 4-6 weeks to get into a Swift orientation class. Most of these guys are on the East coast though. They may need more drivers over there than they do in California.

[Ford390pwr]

I believe that is for the kingpin lock.

So do you think that is used for adjusting the kingpin lock jaws?

[Kevin0915]

Why do most Swift trailers you come up behind say "SW" or "IFT" on the back??

Do they teach how to not rip off the doors in their school??

and maybe a driver opened a door in high wind, and sprung a couple hinges, so they replaced them, hence the "SW" or "IFT" trailers.