[OhNoMrBill]

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?

[mike3fan]

Good luck Bro.

[Syncrosonix]

at first, depending on your attitude, it could either suck or be quite okay. do your job and don't complain. the relationship with your dispatcher will be non-existent. it'll be the one with with your driver manager. many driver managers are very lazy and "forgettable" about putting down time for detention, layover, or breakdown pay. you'll find yourself having to fight to get that pay, which it shouldn't be like that.

from what i've been told about the lewiston school is that they aren't afraid to boot anybody that seems incompetent. phoenix's driving academy isn't like that at all. i'm sure that a down syndrome midget could get through without a problem.

the time with your trainer can either be useful or be run like a team. meaning that when you're driving, your trainer will be in the sleeper berth. you'll be without any supervision. the chances of becoming a news article are quite high. i'd suggest changing mentors if you feel you're not receiving the proper training. yeah, he or she may be letting you drive a whole lot. but, you gotta ask yourself, "other than learning to drive, am i learning anything?" if the answer is "no", talk to somebody at your home terminal about getting on with another mentor who's worth a damn.

jim kling is a worthy mentor. he was mine and wasn't a sleeper berth trainer. he's based out of phoenix. he'll go up to sumner to pick you up if you're lucky enough to get him. listen to him, do as he says, and soak in all that information he'll feed ya, and you'll actually have a very high chance of making it through your first year without any incidents.

getting home on time solely depends on the freight in your location, and where it's going. many times, a load or two may not get you directly home, but will send you in that general direction. if a load, or two, or few are being sent to you, and they're not going the direction you need. go ahead and decline them with the reasoning for "home time". that should all be explained to you by your mentor, driver manager, or both. oh yeah, you can also take some off time in different cities. i did that during my first year. spent some off time just outside of toronto, ontario, a few days off in st. louis, minneapolis/st. paul, and fresno.

if you want a better shot at making money, i highly suggest you run the 48 rather than the western part of the united states. if you run the western united states, you'll be making regular stops in fontana/mira loma, ca, phoenix, salt lake chitty, troutdale (one of the worst terminals, by the way), and lathrop, ca.

when you're finally on the road, you'll hear lots of stories about vail pass and how nasty it is. that pass has NOTHING on wolf creek pass in south-central colorado, along US160.

[OhNoMrBill]

Hey Syncro, are you still with Swift, and if so how long have you been there? I have heard that Swift has a "T/S" at every terminal and that is where they fuel up and take all breaks, is this true and if so what are these facilities like?

I have a great attitude, and can get along with anybody. Sometimes to a fault where people try to take advantage of me and my good nature! I know I can handle the job, and I feel confident that I will be a very good driver so I am not worried about being booted from school because of incompetence!

All in all, I am very excited to start my new career in truck driving!

[Syncrosonix]

most of the terminals are comparable to homeless shelters. many drivers in there sitting, waiting on something to come across their qualcomm. the worst terminals, in my opinion are: slc, gary, fontana, lathrop, decatur, lancaster, troutdale, memphis, and greer. the showers at those terminals are GROSS! you'd better bring some rain boots if you step into the showers at those terminals. better yet, just wear condoms on your feet. mira loma is kinda crappy because it's not only used by swift. it's used by schneider, central freight, digby, and jb hunt intermodal. however, the showers in the swift portion of the building aren't too shabby compared to the other terminals' worst offenders. the terminals i haven't mentioned are quite alright in my opinion. sumner is one of my favorites. i love ordering some of that kickass garlic bread and spaghetti from alfy's in puyallup.

yeah, swift mostly uses their terminals as points of refueling. they've limited the amount of truck stops they refuel at. i don't know which ones are no longer on their fueling list, so it's a total toss-up. if you're going by a terminal, i'd suggest refueling there because you may be SOL down the road. sometimes you may not be able to top off due to the weights on your axles, and/or your gross vehicle weight.

i started with swift back in march of 2007. i recently stopped driving for them because i want to seek other employment opportunities. i was with them for a total of 2 years and 3 weeks.

[matcat]

I went to Swift's school in Richmond, VA September of 07, and drove with them until March of 08. The training is actually 3 to 6 weeks, not 2, unless they changed it.

I don't know much about the ID school, but in Richmond it was pretty descent. Your real training will be with the mentor anyway. When you get one, make sure they actually train you, if they use you as a second log book to just run team, tell the safety manager right away your trainer is not doing their job properly and that you want a know component trainer.

How well you learn is up to you, their training is comparable to most CDL mills, some schools better, some worse. The Richmond terminal did not have 3rd party testing, so they had to train us good enough to pass state road and skills test .

[Jumbo]

Syncro,

You were there for over 2 years? Congratulations. So what other advice would you give this young man? You may be the best source for him.

[Phreddo]

I've never actually seen a Swift terminal. I see a JB terminal over by Detroit that looks, occupied. Nah, just kidding. Other than the icky colors, the JB terminal looks fine.

I would say do Schneider over Swift, but I think they have a steeper learning curve and may be less accessible for newbies. But their terminals were pretty decent, except for the mini-terminals, where they would have a vending machine instead of a cafeteria.

Overall, I give a +1 for SNI for the newbie. If they're hiring, that is...

[Jumbo]

Originally Posted by mike3fan

Good luck Bro.

Oh my god. He is a new driver not a newscaster.

[Syncrosonix]

Originally Posted by Jumbo

Syncro,

You were there for over 2 years? Congratulations. So what other advice would you give this young man? You may be the best source for him.

yup, amazing isn't it? how short of a time frame did you think i was with them?