I have finally started school with Swift

Today was day 1 of an 18 day training program, which we will do in 17 days due to the July 4th holiday.
We started with 14 students that actually arrived in class, and 9 more that were no shows. By the end of day one we lost 1 student to an invalid license. He said that when he got his CDIP they punched his old license and gave it back to him. Of course that license being punched by the DMV made it invalid, and he was Swiftly sent home.

Most of the day was filled with paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork! They want to make sure that you understand that you will owe them $3900 for training. Apparently you can go home before Day 5 and not owe any money. From day 5 through day 11 they charge a prorated amount, and after day 11 you owe the full tuition.

We also completed Swift's Work Well assessment, and completed our DOT physicals. Two students need to return to the doctors on Day 2 and try to pass the DOT physical.

The information supplied by recruiters was completely incorrect! Even though I specifically asked the recruiter if I should get my air brakes, doubles / triples, or combination endorsements and she said "No you will be trained properly to pass those tests in school", this is incorrect! Now I will take the combination and air brakes tests at the DMV in Clarkston WA on Tuesday after class.

I would like to post about this class till the end, so stay tuned.....

Yes, Please keep everyone informed as to your' progress. I am curious as to how they treat their trainee's. Good luck and stay safe!

Ford what did work well assesment consist of

Well they started out with our resting Blood Pressure and heart rate.
Next we had to carry a milk crate containing 75 lbs of weight down the hall about 15 feet and set it back down. This was done for a total of three repetitions, and at the end your heart rate was recorded.

Next we stepped up to the second step of a ladder three times, and recorded the heart rate.

Next we had to lift a milk crate with 65 pounds from a shelf at 3' and set it on a shelf at 5', three times and record heart rate.

Lift a milk crate with 75 pounds from the floor and set it on a shelf at three feet 3 times.

Lastly we had to do a pull / push test with a measuring device.

Now all of these procedures were for the male students, I would think the female students have some different weights but I was not present when they tested so I am not sure.

All of the tests pushed me to the limit as I am not a weight lifter, or even in peak physical condition. In the end we all passed just fine, but it wasn't a cake walk!

Thanks Ford I am waiting for an orientation date in Syracuse and wondered what work well was. I shouldn't have any problem

Good luck

OK now ya got me wondering since i am sposed to be going to get my permit then calling swift back to sched schooling LOL ..

Question on the one that got booted for the invalid license... Isn't the punching of the actual DL a normal practice for DMVs when they give you your permit ??? I think I had read somewhere also that a paper/temp DL doesn't count either but as far as I know DMV give you a Temp paper permit could ya clarify this one a tad by any chance? (keep in mind I am thinking of how OR and CA work as far as DMV..)

I can't imagine a recruiter told ya that you wouldn't need the Air Brakes and Combo... I can imagine not needing the Doubles endorsment though. I know that the recruiter I talked to (Cindy) had said to get Air Brakes and Combonation but no need to worry about Haz or Dbls... sounds like ya discovered a recruiter that needs to get smacked upside the head !!!

So this student was from WA, and they do punch your license when you get a new one. At first you get a temporary, paper license and they mail you a permanent copy in a few days. Again this is what I know from Washington.
So the bounced student either physically lost a current license and still had an old one laying around. Or, as they said, they went to DMV and took the tests for a permit. After passing the tests, they paid for a permit and were sent on their way with a punched license???

Swift does require that you have a permanent / non paper license to attend school.

Yeah this was just one of the many things I was told that have turned out to be incorrect. I will say that I did get shuffled from one recruiter to another, but they should all have the same details. Here at the school they laughed when I told them what my recruiter said!

Waiting for an orientation date for Syracuse here too.

I'll find out in a few days just how OR does it since will most likely be doing my Med tomorrow and then will do the Knowledge tests for permit on Wednesday... I do know that when I switched from CA to OR they punched my CA and let me keep it and had a paper temp till go the OR lic. I am just wondering how it works out to keep a good non punched DL once have CDIP.. CA would take the DL and ya would have a paper temp until taking the Skills test to get the actual CDL... Guess I'll find out how it will work out in a few days LOL...

Good luck on the schooling and keep us all posted.. its always fun to read the day to day happenings while someone is in schooling...

MTL I am hoping to get a date in July, I will probably be in August. I got hooked up with a recruiter from Memphis instead of from New york and she only gets a couple of dates a month. Keep me posted on when you are going to go.