Starting school at Swift in Richmond, Virginia Dec. 11
 

I will be starting at Swift's training academy in Richmond, Va Dec.11. I will only be required to work for Swift for 6 months to pay back my training, because I am starting the 11th. If you start school on the 4th or the 11th is what this "special" is for and I will make sure I get in writing! Another thing is that I live in Richmond and will not have to stay in one of those school motels that everyone complains about. Swift also has terminal here in Richmond, so I am hoping it will be easy to get a decent trainer. Anyone ever trained in Richmond for Swift? Any words of advice?

You will find that Swift has perfected the art of screwing their drives. I think they actually list their drives as a source of income. They will short you ever chance they get. They will refuse to pay you detention pay, breakdown pay an layover pay. Never with an explanation. Usually your fleet manager will tell you "I'll do what I can" and that will be the end of it.

With that said, this is a pay your dues kind of job. If you can get Swift to put you thru training and call it square after 6 months, not too bad. Better than paying ATI $7500 for the same CDL. You don't learn anything in Truck Driving School anyway. The actual learning happens on the road.

Consider this a short term job, put in your 6 months and get out. There are a number a companies that will hire with 6 months, and once you get to 1 year almost any company will hire.

When the time come keep Crete in mind. They will actually hire you with 4 months exp, but you will have to run with a trainer again. But once you are on your own you will be at 40cpm(41cpm with 1yr). That is unheard of money for a 1st year driver and it beats the hell out of what Swift is going to be paying you.

Best of Luck

Remember, we all have to start somewhere, and that is what Swift counts on to fill it's seats

gotta agree- swift is a good place to start, but not anything to base your career on.

You might want to check with Swift again about being square after 6 months. Last I knew you had to stay 13 months to be out of it. And it is not free unless you stay another 13 months. At the end of your first 13 months you paid out of your pocket 1,950.00 half of the 3900. That is $37.50 a week, for 13 months. Then the next 13 months you get the 37.50 back a week in your check. If you quit before the first 13 months then the 3900.00 balance is owed. Unless they changed things in the last year that is how there contract is.

About detention and layover pay, I have only had a problem with that once. And my dispatcher took care of it and it was on the next weeks check.

Swift is running a two week special for the 6 months because they are having problems getting students over Christmas and New Years. I will check with the recruiter once again.

I got a call this morning from those LOW-LIFE LYING SCUMBAGS, otherwise known as Swift Transport saying that the 6 month offer was not available now and that I would have to drive for them for 13 months to not owe them and 26 to get all the $3900 back! What kind of company is this? I told SWIFT TO KISS MY BIG %#&!!! Are there any legit reputable comapnies to train with and have a career with? Anybody that works for Swift is crazy as hell!!! :evil:

Welcome to the wild wild world of trucking!

Your learning fast!

My recommendation to you, would be to find a way to pay for your own trucking school. They have all sorts of programs out there that won't break the bank. Just call a reputable school, and they will help you out and put you on a payment plan.

My step son's payment is 47.50 a month at 2% interest. I know, because I am the schlep paying it.

Re: Starting school at Swift in Richmond, Virginia Dec. 11
 

I'm sorry. BOL in whatever you do! :wink:

:lol: :lol: :lol:
read my mind :lol:

Get a hold of Tidewater community college in portsmouth, if you dont mind driving to there every day. There course cost $1300, they have night and day classes also.

That sounds like good news to me ... i dont want to spend xmas at home ... for all that is worth

Taking notes and lurking ...

One baby step at a time ... boy I am scared ...

On the other hand ... SNAFU

I feel sorry for anyone at Swift. My brother started there, and well, I know the stories.
For the driver that said you learn nothing in driving school.......are you talking about Swift school or just school in general???
Because my 8 weeks in school has taught me alot!
Not saying I dont have more to learn because I know I have alot to learn, but a good school, which I am finishing up now, is awesome. Learning how the tranny works and trailer follows is the most important step.

I am done with their lies and anyone that goes to their school or works for them is crazy or REALLY desperate!

I have never had a problem and definitely not desperate. I like them, I get paid decent. And never have a problem getting home. Alot of these big company's are the same in most ways. BOL to you in whoever you choose. :lol:

NorthMSdriver wrote:



Relative to what lays ahead, I mean all Truck Driving schools. I don't mean that they are useless, only that in the time you are in a school there is only so much you can learn about driving. Rules, laws and regulations can be taught in a class room, but skills can only be learned in the real world.

I'm not trying to put down the schools, just wanted you to realize they will teach you what you need to get your CDL, so why pay one company $7,500 when you can find someone who will do it for free. Smart shopping is what I'm saying. The real challenge still awaits you.

Best of Luck

Cajun,
Sorry to hear about the swift deal. I don't know what your feelings are about schools but there are a couple in the tidewater area. I have some info on them if you are interested. However one I think is a recruiter for Werner first the Swift so I think that school may be going down the list a ways

Southside Virginia Community College also offers a truckdriving course in BlackStone at the Fort Picket Military base. I went to the school in SouthBoston and it is a good one. The instructors are top notch and want to see you succed. I still keep in touch and have become good friends with them and it has been 5 years since I graduted. The school is 6 weeks long and I believe the one in BlackStone they will let you rent one of the Bericks at a reasonable price. The cost of the school is'nt much either, 5 years ago it only costed a little over a grand for tution. It may have went up a little now though. They also have job placement assistance avalible too. But I cannot say enough about these guys and this school. There web site is www.sv.vccs.edu,(434-949-1051) I use to have the schools number but cannot find it. Hope this helps. :lol:

I am both ... can I have the job?

I will move on to greener pastures eventually.

I have a Class B CDL, so I have hit the streets looking for a job and after ONE week, I have a offer with a company locally that will allow me to use experience to my advantage. The pay is mid 40s to start and I am being trained for a supervisor position and the pay goes up. This is great being home at night and weekends off, being that I was just married in October and I have a baby due this summer! Thank for the helpful info fellas!

Kinda lost the point of this story...On Dec 3 you were looking to go to Swift to get a CDL A ...now Dec 13 you have a CDL B and gonna make a bunch of money. Sounds great CAJ, best of luck to you. But for me...anybody know any CDL A training and or tips available in Durham NC?

Uuhhh, After driving for most of 30 years, I took a job as a CDL instructor. I was astonished at how much of the detail stuff I didn't know. I swear I learned as much as the students did at first. It was a real learning experience for me as well as the students. You learn to drive on the road, but there's a lot more to it than that. You DO learn a lot in class- PAY ATTENTION- It's all important.

i have been with swift for 6 weeks now only problem I have had is they didn't have a truck available for me to go solo in whenI finished my training.

That and a miscomunication because I wanted to go flatbed I didn't let them know soon enough so I have to wait until January to do their flatbed training. No biggy ill just run van for the rest of the year.

I find those that bad mouth swift suffer from one of 2 things if not both.

They have an attitude problem ( most likely )
or
They can't keep the drivers door closed

If you are willing to run swift is willing to run you.

Silver85327 Wrote:


WOW!

That opens up a can of worms. I'll just let your future at Swift clarify your reasoning.

And yes, working for Swift will cause you to develop an attitude problem, and no one will blame you.

As far a swift running you, I can't agrue with that. They just won't pay you for it. You will be shorted miles, refused detention pay, refused layover pay, etc. As for pay, students with my company make 40cpm after their training period(we have FB too). What is Swift paying you. Ouch!

What company do you work for evertruckerr?

Glasman2, I run for Crete. Hunt Transportation(not JB Hunt) is the Flat Bed division.

How's life going up there in Kennewick, I used to run through there every week. Pulled loads out of Americold and Welch's.

Could you be a little more specific on the charges you make against Swift? Is this from personal knowledge from you working for Swift? I seem to read alot on this forum about Swift, but most of it comes from people that have NEVER worked for Swift. I understand the Internet brings out the worst in people, but, come on guys. Spreading second hand news, or personal unjustified gut feelings, is a waste of time, and serves no purpose, other than making people feel good for bashing. I have talked to over 20 drivers from Swift and I hear the same thing over and over. Which is, most of the complainers at Swift are simply lazy. And yes, what company do you work for?

Cold and frosty over here, looks like it snowed, but it's from the fog.
Guess you could call them fogflacks LOL.

life is good but boring at times. Reading the CDL book over and over, waiting for doctors and L&I to sign me off, so I can get a job. Haven't worked since Jan. 2005.
5 surgeries and a lot of waiting. But I keep myself busy working around the house. Seen 2 crete trucks today going down the road today when I was hitting the truck stop to talk to drivers. Do they hire out of washington?

Nevada wrote:
I've told the story B4, and w/o going into to much detail, yes I worked for Swift back in 2000-2001. I ran team with my wife for 1 year. I don't jump companies w/o a damn good reason and we should have never stuck around as long as we did, but the wife needed the magical 1year exp. She was new to driving and Swift was the only company that would let me train my wife out of school.

We were a solid team, stayed out for 6-8 weeks at a time, we were never late, not once and we never turned down a load. We were actually classified as a preferred team or something along those lines. Meaning we had proven ourselves as a responsible team and we would get allot of hot loads.

I kept accurate records and we ran over 300,000 (I have never been accused of being lazy) actual miles and were payed for about 260,000 of them. We would have 3200 miles runs and get payed for 2750. I was constantly calling dispatch just to squeeze out an extra 50-75 miles out of them. Layover pay was seldom payed. Their excuse was we were under dispatch, so what if we have to sit for two days B4 the load picked up. The truck broke down on us 3 times in that year and a hotel was only payed for once. I was charged for an additional enforcer lock in the middle of that year for absolutely no reason. We still had the original one. That was never cleared up. Payed a pet deposited that was never returned and the truck was spotless when turned in. I just so happened I turned the truck in on a weekend when the person responsible for the paper work wasn't there. I was told that wouldn't be a problem. My fault on that one for trusting them.


The list goes on, but it's a good start.

In short, Swift will keep you busy, as a matter of face they run silly if thats what you want. They will train you and give you a good truck. If you are just starting in the business, it's a place to start. If you're experienced and content making substandard pay for doing exactly the same thing I'm doing. More power to you.

Thanks! It helps someone do his homework when the info comes from the horses mouth, and not the rumor mill.

Johnny

Future Truckers of America is in NC, I believe about 30 minutes south of GSO. http://www.futuretruckers.com/

I received an email requesting this info for the school I am considering, and was asked to place it on the board. So here it is for those Hampton Roads folks.

Advanced Technology Institute
5700 Southern Blvd # 100
Virginia Beach, VA 23462
(757) 497-7300