Question on joining Swift

defending recruiters ? that's a first seen on here

 

I know but I have to say my Swift recruiter was straight up with me and everything she told me turned out true.

 

Trust me they will call. You could have no arms and legs and they will call. Not to talk bad about swift but they will basically hire anyone. Thats one of their biggest problems. That also goes for office, shop, and well the whole company.

 

I have to disagree with you on this. When I started with Swift those many years ago, I was in a class of 42. Within 4 days we were down to 26 students. When we tested out there were only 16 that went to DPS. I know several of the instructors at their Texas school, the story is still the same today. Many are called, fewer are chosen.

 

I dont mean this in a disrespectful way but that was then this is now. For instance their were 2 people that I can think of off the top of my head in my class that couldnt do the backs at the school but yet somehow passed and got dps to give them a cdl. Now a days it just seams like as long as you pass a drug test and background check your good. Just from what I have seen. Yeah got to admit you have seen some swift drivers and been like how in the @*!# did thet get a cdl let a alone a job.

 

If DPS is passing them, then it would seem that the fault lies with DPS.

 

i've seen other none swift driver who couldn't back either. so dont think its a swift issue. beleive me,,, it taked more than just 3 weeks to be good at backing. everyone knows that the school just teaches you enough to pass the dmv test. the real training begins with your trainer. i had about a 2 yr gap unemployment. showed them my 2 yr enumployment stubs and the last 10 yr driving history. and no problems. so i think you should call.

 

Regarding how quickly the recruiter will call, they try to respond to every application within a day. That's the goal. However, recruiter workload will vary. As you can see from the responses on this thread some have received calls in minutes, others in days. I was called within a day as I recall.

Regarding the numbers and discussion about who is hired, after talking with the recruiter from Phoenix I went to my local terminal to check things out for myself and talked with several drivers as well as the on site recruiter. The local recruiter explained the numbers as follows:

- About half the people that apply are invited to orientation
- About half the people that start orientation finish and are offered a job (42 started my orientation and 18 finished)
- About half the people that start training successfully finish and go solo

Recruiters are paid a commission when you deliver your first solo load. While they want bodies in orientation, they don't want to clog the system with anyone they suspect will have difficulties getting through the process. Recruiters will review your application to see if it will pass muster once you get to orientation. It was surprising to me the number of people that washed out of orientation for lack of preparation, ie. they didn't bring all required paperwork or were less than honest on their applications. A few washed out the first day either by not passing the drug test (or walking out before the test) or not passing the drive test. Some washed out because they couldn't speak English well enough to follow instructions.

Seems that every time I'm at home terminal I see someone from my class, some doing quite well on dedicated or local gigs.

 

Those numbers sound right. People love trucking until they go 3 weeks without seeing their families.