Thanks Colorado, I have learned to read between the lines when someone has such a negative attitude. I take everything with a grain of salt, and have no regrets with the decision that I made to attend Swift's driving academy. I know this is the right place for me at this point in time, and if Swift and I can work well for each other I would be happy to stay on with them. As for now, I just need to complete the training, get hired, pay off my schooling, and make some money for the both of us.

At the start of day 5 we gained one more student. Someone from the class that just finished State testing needed a little bit more help, so they have joined our class. So we are currently at 10 students.

Day 5 was very similar to day 4. We started out by completing a detailed pre trip off of the test material.

Next we broke off into five groups of 2 students and started rotating through five different stations. Everyone had a truck today, so no more sharing! The stations consisted of offset backing, straight backing, two different docking stations and a pre trip station.

After rotating through these stations at an hour each for seven hours today, we all got many chances to practice backing these trucks up. A big bonus today was that we used the same trucks that we will take all of our tests in for the harder stations. These trucks are newer, Freightliner Columbias, so they handle a lot differently than the driving range trucks which are the older FLD's.

Lots of great practice time behind the wheel today! We have been given July 4th off, mostly because the instructors are salaried and they would have lost the day, so day 6 will be on Sunday. Day 6 will be our last day in the classroom with some Hazmat testing and a Map reading class.

Today was a great day, we started with 10 students and we ended the day with 10 students. One thing to note about the end of day 5 is that we are now responsible for at least a portion of the tuition after today. There is a prorated formula for the tuition cost from now till the end of day 11, and I have listed it below.

Terminated on 0-5th business day of class $0 owed.
Terminated on 6th day of class $1020 owed.
Terminated on 7th day of class $1190 owed.
Terminated on 8th day of class $1360 owed.
Terminated on 9th day of class $1530 owed.
Terminated on 10th day of class $1700 owed.
Terminated on 11th day of class or later $3900 owed.

As a footnote, I am trying to post as much about my experience with Swift's Academy simply because I wish this information had been posted when I was trying to make my decision. I am not trying to convince anyone that Swift is the best choice for them, I simply believe that this information could help others that are trying to decide if Swift is right for them.

My mistake and I thank you for pointing it out. It certainly was directed at Otherhalf NOT you. Please accept my apology Ford. Bottom line, is I don't wish anyone harm (maybe the recruiter and his/her supervisor should lose their jobs though). I simply want to point out facts that happened to me and I know happened to others. As I wrote previously, one must, particualrly ith this company, perform the best homework possible to covere one's own backside.

Thanks again for letting me know of my error. I appreciate it. Hopefully Otherhalf will read this.

Best to you Ford

Otherhalf if I remember correctly worked for swift for 13 years, so his word is pretty much betyter than most. And the fact that he doesnt complain all the time about them makes him a good place of knowledge!

The life of a recruiter is like the life of a duck..except the season is 12 months on recruiters. It is their job to "sell" the product, exagerations, half truths, sometimes outright lies..that is why (just a rough guess) 95% of us here posting, would not make it as a recruiter...CD, Bubba Mark, and the likes...who knows, maybe they are recruiters! ROFLMAO

I can understand your animosity towards Swift, you expected more than you received, what the reasons were are not for us to even try to figure out. Many, many drivers with most all companies today struggled to survive this year, many couldn't afford to stay in a negative income, on top of trying to keep a positive attitude in the new work place. Just like mathematics, multiply a "negative" and a "positive" you end up NEGATIVE.

It isn't just Swift where the presence of mind, along with CYA is critical of survival. Anything you do, in any capacity, with any company, you should always be thinking like you are in a chess game. always try to be one or two moves ahead of the opponent, if you fall behind they win. Same game with any employer, even though you do the right thing, to the best of your ability, there are times it will turn and bite your "tucas"! This is good advice for all of us, especially in an industry where the product we work with, is getting reduced from the shelves. Not so much by our actions, but by simple economics and business practices. Watch the trains off in the distance, they are carrying more truck trailers, than cargo railboxes. Every truck trailer on that train is equivelant to one or more trucks running that load to the other side of the line.

__________________



I'm a Born Again American, conceived in Liberty
My Bible and the Bill of Rights, my creed's equality
I'm a Born Again American, my country 'tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream
From sea to shining sea.
lyrics; Keith Carradine thank you

I thought this was the area to talk about a company you thought was ok. some don't think so. I am waiting for an orientation date with swift in syracuse. I already have my cdl. the only problem I have is that I got hooked up with a recruiter from memphis instead of syracuse. I live in Mass and thought I would get a recruiter for this area. the recruiter from memphis only gets 2 slots for each date. on june 2nd she told me that my background was approved but now I am waiting for a date. been out of work for a while and waiting to start a new career. I suppose I could have a better place to start, but also could have a worse place.

I like the idea of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" .. I'd say to call them every few days since never know when an opening might pop up... myself I am waiting to get a date for the schooling (need refresher to get cdl back ) after putting in my app I called the next day for follow up and they went over the app and said would hear something in 24-48hrs I called back at around 47hr point LOL.. they were still waiting on MVR sooo since I had a current copy I emailed it over and they approved it while on the phone.. I just had to call back after getting my med and permit as luck would have it when I got through Thursday afternoon they were already gone and off until this coming Monday so you can bet I'll be on the phone calling first thing Monday morning to follow up on the email I sent my recruiter Thursday evening letting her know I have my permit LOL...

I call once a week and she tells me that she has my name and will call when she gets a date. somebody suggested that i call the recruiter in syracuse but i am afraid of getting on the bad side of both of them. i don't now if you can change the recruiter they gave your app to. you would think that if you were goping to a certain location that you would get the recruiter for that site. i had another person tell me that he was waiting for a date in syracuse and he had a recruiter from phoenix. he lives in utica, that's not far from syracuse.

As a thought the next time you talk to the one you have been talking to ya might ask if it would make a difference if you were to check with one of the others .... (never hurts ta ask)

Hey Nighthawk, who is the recruiter you are talking to? I can tell you from my own experience that these recruiters never return calls, or emails. Your best bet is to keep calling till they answer the phone.

Also, make sure you keep copies of every document, and every email you get. They will come in handy when you get to school and the paperwork is incomplete because the recruiter screwed up.