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.

I was talking to a recruiter from Phoenix. He said about about 2 to 4 weeks. I figured around 3rd or last week in July...

I was told they only have dates every two weeks. the 7th is full and the 21st is supposed to be full. They said I might be able to get a date if someone cancels. I wonder if it might help to try and talk to a recruiter from Syracuse. Maybe I'll see you there

Today was a good day with a test on Combination Vehicles and Air Brakes. We all passed those just fine.
Next we did about 4 hours on log books, and took 5 tests on the log books. Seems that everyone passed the tests, but we will review the answers in the morning.

I did not mention this before, but we must get an 80% or better on each exam, or group of exams. Anyone that does not pass an exam will be given an opportunity to take the test again on Sunday.

The hardest part of the day was the fact that we had to do our drug screen at 05:15. Of the 12 students, I waited till about half of them went because I really did not need to go. If you try to pee and get stage fright, you have 3 hours from that time to fill the cup or you will fail!

Of course I felt like I had to pee, so I stepped up to the plate. Tried and tried for about 5 minutes, but just couldn't get a drop. So I stepped aside to let others go ahead, and continued to drink about 2 gallons of water over the next 45 minutes. When all of the others completed the screen, I went in and pee'd like a pro. Best of all it was not dilluted from all the water I drank, so I was good to go!

I was in the bathroom every 30 minutes for the next 4 hours getting rid of those 2 gallons of water.

Now we did lose 2 more students today. One was due to a medical condition, and the second was because of a secret that Swift uncovered when we had to review the details on our applications. Just a word of advice, TELL THE TRUTH! If you tell them everything up front, they will look at the specifics and give may give you a chance because you were honest. If something comes out later, they will send you packing 100% of the time.

After class I drove over the bridge to Clarkston WA and took the Combinations and Airbrakes tests at the DMV. Missed one question on each test, and passed just fine. Paid the $100 for my skills test and I am now good to go!

So, at the end of day two, we have droped two more students. This puts our class at 11 students, down from the 14 that we started with.

The problem is people do not seem to cancel, they just don't show up! I was told the same line from my recruiter on June 1st, then I waited till June 29th when i actually got in. Did I mention there were a bunch of names called out on day 1 that did not show up?

Even once you get into school you will be waiting for Orientation, and then again for a mentor. It looks like I will not get a pay check till the middle of August, and that is if I dont wait more than a week for a mentor.

went to school on my own. already have my ccdl, just waiting for orientation. problem is my recruiter only gets 2 slots at a time. wish they would have hooked me up with a recruiter for the area I am going to have orientation in

Sorry I did not catch the fact that you had your cdl from a school! I bet they use the other orientation slots for Swift Academy graduates.
You may try calling the terminal in Syracuse and try talking to the recruiter there. The local recruiter in Lewiston ID is a very nice guy, and willing to help us in any way he can.

thought about calling syracuse but I am afraid that if I talk with a different recruiter I will end up on the short end of both of them. You would think that if you live in the northeast and are going to go to syracuse for orientation that they would hook you up with a recruiter from there