A few weeks ago I found myself, as a growing number of americans in this economy, laid of. I have wanted to get my CDL and drive OTR for several years, but with a wife and kids that was just not an option. Well back in September the wife and I separated, so with no "home",and no job, I decided now is a great time to make my move into trucking.
Now, I do not have the money or the good credit rating to pay for my own school, so I am looking at the few companies that offer a school and driver training. The list has gotten smaller in the last few months due to the economy. My research found that the only places still accepting students are C.R England, Central Refrigerated and Swift. Schneider and Prime have stopped accepting new students either completely or in my regional area which is the West Coast.
So out of my three choices I have decided to go with Swift Transportation. They seem to have a lot of terminals across the country, so I figure they have enough freight to keep moving even in this down economy. I have a tentative date of June 1st to attend the school in Lewiston ID, which is only about 7 hours away. The school is 2 weeks long and then they send me back to the local terminal in Sumner WA, about 1.5 hours away from home, for a 3 day orientation. After that it is out with a mentor which is another 6 weeks.
I would like to get responses from drivers that have attended a Swift school at some time or another. Did they actually train you, or did they just throw you to the wolves and use you for as long as they could then toss you aside like garbage?
As I said earlier, I have no place to call home. I want to get out and travel this great country to see what I have been missing all this time. How hard is it to get out and run all 48 states? Would I be able to spend some time in different areas instead of taking "home time" if I had a good relationship with the dispatcher? Are there any drivers out there that actually "live" in the truck.
I have a lot of questions, and I know there are people on here that have gone with Swift that could give me some answers. I am also aware that Swift is looked upon by some professional drivers as evil and unscrupulous. I understand that they get a lot of freight because they underbid other carriers, and I know that they do not pay the big cpm that other carriers do. I see it like this, I need to get my CDL and they are willing to help me do that. If I can give them 13 months I will have paid off my tuition and gained the experience that I need to work for a better carrier. To me that sounds like a pretty good deal, am I wrong?