Hello everyone, first off... I have been reading most of everything on this site for about 3 months now.
I've been married 11yrs and have 1 son in High school. I have been thinking about leaving my retail job of 8yrs at a Home Depot store to drive. I do not have a class 'A' lic but have located a school here in Riverside County to attend.
I run the delivery program for my store and we have a driver that delivers the product to the customer for us on his leased flat bed from his company.
I just had my best driver quit to go to work at CFI or CFL :? He was my other source of OTR info.
In the beginning of my research my wife and I went to a Swift job fair and spoke to a recruiter. I ended up filling out an application and signed it. ops: The recruiter has called me twice now. He has asked if I'm ready to start at a school yet.
My question... Am I now obligated to Swift or can I still go and apply with other companies.
I'm thinking Watkins & Shepard with their 10day training..... In fact the wife and I drove out to Santa Fe Springs this afternoon with the hopes of speaking with someone in the office or a driver. The only person I found was a kid guarding the gate.

Thanks,

 

You are under no obligation to work for Swift by just filling out an application. Its just a job offering, you can still look around at other companies. Are you going to put yourself threw school or are you looking for a company to pay for it?

 

Thanks Driveline.... I don't have to worry about that one now.

 

Research several companies dewers. You're not obligated to the first recruiter. Best of luck!! Drive safe everyone.

 

You're not obligated until you show up and sign schooling/hiring paperwork at the terminal.

Best of luck!

 

Stay home until your kid's out of school. He needs you the most now. BOL

 

First off dewercs2, Welcome to the board!!

Assuming that you have a strong, healthy relationship with your son, I would agree with Sealord!!

In any event, I would strongly advise that you pay for your own training, as long as your finances will allow you to.

Check with your local community college district. Many of them have training programs that are far superior to "Diploma Mills" or company sponsored training, often at a much lower cost.

Many companies offer tuition reimbursement, which will help defer the cost of training.

There are some company sponsored training programs that will qualify you to obtain a CDL, but not qualify you to go to work for another company until you have at least 6 months of driving under your belt. Their "free training" is not so free as it may seem at first; that "free training" usually requires you to indenture yourself for a certain amount of time, while driving for sub-standard wages.

For some people, that is the only way that they can get their chips on the table; the trade-off is that the companies know that their new drivers are indentured servants, and will not hesitate to treat them as such.

As far as companies to work for are concerned, I think that CFI is one of the best choices you can make. When I began driving, they required six months experience to sign on with them, so I went to work for a different company. I don't drive for them, nor do I recruit for them. I did find their drivers to be a cut above other companies out there, and a couple of times, they were of great help to me in dealing with some difficult situations.

Please let us know how your search is progressing!!

BOL2U!!

BTW, You can do a whole lot better than Swift. Have not heard much good about CRST!! or USA Trucks; Run like Hell from CR England

 

Or do like I did; I flew on a big Southwest Airlines jet the hell away from them!! 8)

 

A decision that was "Just Plane Smart"!! 8)

 

Use old buddy, you got that right!! They tried pushing their lease operator deal on me, I walked outta orientation class, called Southwest and confirmed my reservation, was on that big jet the next morning! That was in the days when I was young and stupid, fresh outta truck driving school and before I discovered CAD. 8)