LOL... hmmm I am now starting to think I need to talk to a different recruiter .. did ya notice Windjammer's post.. Cindy was his recruiter to !!!! OH WELL... the recruiter is like swift a temporary means to an end LOL...

I didn't figure it'd be like the ritz (would be nice if it was) .. at least there is a fridge,micro and toaster... Between basic cooking appliances and nearby groceries I can eat like a king on about $100 actually less than that since 250 feeds 3 for a month at home and that is with steaks, Chicken Cordon bleu, stuffed porkshops yada yada yada.. My wife is gonna starve once I head out she'll be back to her 1 dish quicky throw together casseroles and noodles LOL !!!! Is safeway and them in walking distance since the wife won't let me bring my Jeep with me LOL it'll be bus ride for me

If you wanted to try, you could call the recruiter at the Lewiston Terminal. His name is Bill, don't know the last name, but he is a very nice guy. Retired Marine, so he is a straight shooter too. Not sure how much he could help since Cindy already "owns" your application, but it could be worth a shot if you don't hear from Cindy.

208-746-8789 , Just ask for Bill the recruiter.

Sorry to say the only thing within walking distance to the motel is the Flying J. Everything else is in town, probably a couple miles on other side of river. Now, of the 10 students in my class 8 of us are at the motel. Of those 8, I know that at least 5 of us have a vehicle here. So you would probably be able to give someone a couple bucks, or just catch a ride with a fellow student.

I'll see where I get with Cindy on Monday (I can be a very squeeky wheel since I HATE waiting for answers LOL) but I'll keep that number handy as a backup specially if she says it'll be a long ways out to get into a class then never know might have two sources for if someone cancels and they wanna get another body in there LOL.... (Thanks for his name and #)

Hopefully when I get around to getting to head up there someone will have a vehicle with them.. if not there might be a taxi LOL either way I'll figure something out since I definatley wouldn't go to the flyin J for more than mass quantities of coffee or smokes....

Ford-- I understand every experience is different and I am a total newbie to trucking so, that being said, I must disagree with you statement that the recruiters never return calls and/or emails. My recruiter is a gal named Kris Keplar. I applied and less than 24 hours later SHE called me. We got everything but the employment verification thing done that day. She called me a total of four times that day to get everything straightened out. After that, I must have emailed her 50 times asking her questions about the job. she replied to all of them, usually within 30 minutes. She has been great. I just thought i would let ya know there is at least one recruiter who is okay.

And now I have a question for you and all reading this. The only thing really holding me back is that i dont just have 150 bucks to pay for the permits. I work at walmart making 8.05 an hour and dont just have that money to spend. I know its a nesecity and that fine. The problem is, I was told that I wont get paid untill i get out of the classroom. Do you know how long it should be before I recieve my first check? I cant afford to just quit my job, go without pay for a month and expect to have a house and everything in the end. I have bills to pay. Thats the only thing holding me back. I sure would appreciate any help and advice. And Ford, thank you for doing this training diary kind of thing. It is quite helpful. Keep it up!

I think it might be that ya were the lucky one and got a recruiter that is on the ball... I know that the times that I have called it took about 15 minutes to get through the being on hold.. As far as if they actually call back or not I can't honestly comment on that beings that I don't give them the chance since I will keep calling until I get through but that is just a habit that I got into from a previous job...

I was just looking at TX DPS website from the way that I am reading it seems like is quite abit less than 150 for the permit... but if you are counting the DOT Medical then it would be about that amount...

From everything I have read it looks like the first Check ya would get is after you are with a mentor for about a week... so as a rough guess (still figuring this part out for myself as well) probably a month to month and a half assuming you go from school to orintation and then out with a mentor with out much waiting time... but not sure since haven't gotten to that point yet... The best bet would be to wait until you have about 300-400 bucks set aside at the very minimum.. for me I'll actually end up doing like I already do anyway and randomly pick who is getting any money from me LOL...

Good luck in figuring out what you get to do....

Matty -
Nighthawk is pretty close on this - These aren't permits as such but the initial cost is a class sitting check and I believe that was $150.00 - can't remember as it had to be a money order/bank check and not a personal check so I don't have that info readily available in my banking info. I believe that amount is due on day three of the classroom when you are also directed to sign your contract which guarantees you nothing other than you are a part of the academy process. Again, no guarantee of placement with a mentor or a subsequent job with Swift. The other expenses, DOT physical, etc are taken care of, I believe. But that aside, you will need cash while you are in school as meals are on your own with the exception of an ocassional $5.00 token they will give you for lunch. I also feel it's important you have a little vested interest in the process. You'll work a little harder and feel better about it.

The one element which cannot be put aside is that the economy surely has not begun to head in the right direction. The car industry, as one of many, many examples, is one large provider of freight. From coils (sheet metal) to all kinds of vendors/suppliers to the final product.

At one point, I was thinking about going owner/Op. That's not even on the radar screen at this point until there's a whole lot more porisitve movement in the economy as a whole. So whether your investment is a few hundred bucks at the outset as well as reduced income for what could be a year or more, OR you're signing the line for your own truck, this all takes some deep thought. Then, forgetting the general economy, one must look at the company. Where are they fiscally? What's the recent news? What's the status of other recently graduated students?

I owned a business for a number of years. It was a franchise operation in a national company (parent company eventually went down). Quite often I saw this driving thing as being a franchise in Swift. You are a service provider for the company. They guarantee you nothing with respect to miles/pay. That means your bills/expenses are still coming but your checks may be zero. Remembering that once you are on your own (following your stint with the mentor and of course you get into a truck) the student loan payments begin to be withdrawn. Yes, I had "zero" weeks even negative weeks, as well as a couple of good ones. What I am saying here, you need to have some money in the bank as you simply cannot rely on whatever your recruiter is telling you. Even IF they are being 100% truthful with regard to very recent history and what's happening "today", with the way things are in today's world, God knows what's up tomorrow and as far as "economy" goes, at least you can come up with some sort of "educated" guesstimate and base your current decisions on that.

Phew.......'nuf said, but things worth thinking about.



AND....if there are members here who want to read this as negative, then so be it. It's simple advice from just one person, as if you were getting advice from a CPA, banker, doctor, friend or parent. Just information to add to your arsenal.

I agree with you completely! I even said that the recruiter here in Lewiston is a great guy, very honest and very helpful. I just know from experience that the good recruiters are the exception!

I do not know how the academy in Texas is run. This Lewiston academy and the academy in Phoenix are different. Here are some examples. In Lewiston we do not pay the $150 sitting fee, but in Phoenix they do pay a $150 sitting fee.
In Lewiston we needed to arrive with our cdl permit and we needed to pay for ALL of the licensing fees on our own. My license costs are listed below:

$10 general knowlege test.
$10 air brakes and combination test.
$10 to have my issue attached to my license. (No temporary, paper license allowed.
$100 skills testing fee.
After I pass the skills and driving tests, I will pay another $10 to have my final CDL issued.

Now regarding the pay and timing of it. Again I can only tell you what I know from my experience. First of all, I started the recruiting process on May 18. My first class date was June 1st, but this got postponed because the recruiter screwed up a form in my file and I got removed from the class list. My actual school start date was June 29th. When I graduate from the academy with my original class it will be July 17th. This day is simply 18 days of class from the start date, with one day off in there.
Now, when I graduate on July 17th, I will not be able to start the 3 day orientation at my home terminal until July 28th. This is different depending on which terminal you are assigned. So if I complete the orientation on time, even if I get on with a mentor immediately, I will not see my first check till at least August 5th. If I need to wait for a mentor, my first check will be one week after my first day on the mentors truck.

In Lewiston the school did buy lunch on day 1. After day 1, all food is our responsibility. The motel that we are in does supply some waffles and sticky buns for breakfast, but lunch and dinner are on you. We went to the grocery store and picked up some supplies to keep in our room as well as lunch stuff.

You need to have money to survive on when you are in school. I had an adequate amount of money to live before my recruiter postsponed school by a month. Now I am living on pb&j and macaroni and cheese just so I can have a few dollars for an emergency.

Bill; I have been reading the different responses to this post of yours, and actually I am confused on why you are talking to a recruiter from Memphis. Several here are talking to recruiters who are not even close to the nearest terminal from where they live...you guys with Memphis, and some Oregon students talking with Phoenix. Maybe just the initial phone contact number you all started with got you to that recruit center. How their system works I really don't know if they even know how it is supposed to work...LOL...

I picked up a student who was out of the Syracuse terminal a few years ago, his Mentor quit and dropped him at the Lathop, CA (south of Sacramento to help spot the location) he was very polite and easy going and not being aggressive or demanding with the Drivers Services girls at the Lathrop terminal. I was upstairs just doing my "bothering the girls" thing and overheard his situation (I can be very nosey sometimes). So I started talking to him, and decided to offer my Mentor services, (actually I just liked his attitude) everybody jumped on the plan, and I had picked up the best student ever on my truck. He had some real problems with the Syracuse terminal and their Driver Services. Hopefully that has changed..my point here is that Syracuse (actually the whole I-95 seaboard, northern zone) is the slowest Swift has. When you get going do your best to get a dedicated (Target is best) account to run with, or transfer down to the terminal in Columbus, OH..Sears dedicated there is the best.

As for recruiters..I would call the Syracuse terminal and talk to the recruiter there..I can't see where that would hurt, if they tell you you are stuck with Memphis, so be it...but it can't hurt to try..you might get a good answer to your situation..but be honest about the whole thing and offer the explanation why you are calling and asking.

Good luck to you!

__________________



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

Hey there nighthawk; You have gotten yourself into the busiest recruiter location Swift has..Phoenix..living in Salem of course Troutdale is the closest, but there is another terminal that is the home terminal of the Western Region recruiting (northern area anyway) Sumner...and I happen to know the head guy there...good guy too!

Tim Hutson..you can get the Sumner Terminal number by calling the Phoenix terminal main number 800-800-2200, and asking the operator for the Sumner number, call Sumner and ask for Tim, tell him your situation and see if he can ramp things up for you. It doesn't hurt to ask!

I am headed north tonight with a load to Kent, WA...if you want, would be nice to put a face with the post, if you have questions we could have a cup of coffee on my way thru Salem. I will take my ten at Roseburg Love's, then continue on Sunday noonish. There is plenty of parking at the Salem K-Mart...you know the one with the Adult book store and charles Schwabb tire facility...what a way to describe a location...and the airport is across the street. but I will check this thread Sat night/Sun morn before I leave to check on your response if any.

__________________



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

Here is what my experience was. I filled out my online application and waited 48 hours to call and follow up on my application. My initial phone call to the recruiting hotline was forwarded to my local recruiter in Sumner WA. I talked to this guy and he said that he would review my application and call back by the end of the day.

The next day I got a call from Cindy Bouch in Phoenix. She stated that my recruiter had been transferred to a new department and now she would be my recruiter.

In talking to other students in class, the only recruiter that was from a terminal was the recruiter here in Lewiston. All Oregon, Washington and Montana students dealt with someone in Phoenix. My guess is that Swift is saving money by using the recruiters in Phoenix and doing away with all the recruiters where they do not have a training academy.

Just an observation!