Swift Road Test? What to expect.

*Sigh*.... this advice is borne from complete ignorance.... I keep hearing people say this crap as though we are back in the 70s. We are not.

You WILL NOT get on with ANY company that has an insurance policy with a new cdl. Insurance WILL NOT insure you!!

"But surely you don't know what you're talking about spectacle!" I hear you say,
I'm from a family of owner operators. My cousin on my dad's side has his own authority, and my dad was an O/O hauling flatbed leased onto a company when I went through swift academy to get my cdl.

Had I been able to afford to go to community college for 2 months to get my cdl, NEITHER of them would have been able to put me on their insurance!

Oh, I could have "driven for them"... but we're I to hit anything or have the slightest mishap, they would have had to take the fall for it or their insurance would be cancelled immediately and the claim denied for an uninsured driver driving the vehicle.

This isn't the 70s. There is no gruff but kindly older truck driver thats going to take you under his wing and show you the ropes. The insurance companies have made it to where a new driver has precious few options, and all of the LEGAL ones involve mega carriers or self insured MCs.

 

Your exactly right and there is nothing wrong with starting at the bottom get your experience keep a good record and before you know it you will be able to work for a good company. I started at the bottom 6 years ago and I do quiet well now. Good luck don't hit anything.

 

Only @TripleSix can talk in third person.

 

I did the Swift Academy deal in Richmond....tried for orientation but due to a sick child with blood cancer I had to bail.

I'm coming back now a year later to try again as while I was there I certainly observed issues like any other large organization, but all this crybaby stuff about how all mega carriers are terrible is BS....and swift being one of the best at being straight with their new hires. Swift treated me very very fairly...gave me a school with no cash upfront.....paid for my hotel.....and now are giving me a newer truck to go make a living with off their marketing and infrastructure, dispatch, payroll, fuel card etc.

ya woah is me....in being treated so unfairly by a company that's taking a huge chance on me.....I could wreck or total their equipment....get them sued.. cost them a customer....damage their reputation etc.

I'll just say thank you and be on my way.

I have had FAR more problems with mom & pops transportation outfits refusing to pay me my last check or demanding drivers violate HOS and weight rules to keep there job.
My entire time at Swift was centered around developing a strong, responsible driver that the company can count on and trust not to create liability, dishonesty or stir up hate.

Yet I can count on running into one of you hateful angry "swift owes me" at every terminal or truck stop

ignore the nice terminal or hot clean showers. .

I also repossessed autos part time while working full time as a police officer prior to career change after my son got sick.. and so I was reading a post by a CRE employee that reminisces about his time as a TT recovery driver for CRE....AGAIN all I read was "know it alls" calling him a liar because he was successful. Pages of angry little piss ants spewing verbal vomit and anger ..... the only people they should be angry at is theirselves for wasting hours kissing and moaning at the terminal and all the while complaining of no or poor income as they turn down load after load so they can get up on their little crosses. No wonder their broke all the time and never offered long runs....instead of maintenance or doing some cleaning or proactive work on their truck their busy moaning about everything.

I've read this site silently for 3 years and hands down this site is probably one of the most valuable resources a driver can have.

The biggest drawback is either angry little people jealous of those who apply themselves and are successful or angry little people who seem hateful and are quick to tell a new guy off or mock him or her for selecting a mega carrier. God forbid someone ask a question that may have already been asked and answered.

if you so called "senior" drivers detest answer in questions regardless of repeated answers then buzz off.
These forums ARE NOT exclusively your little bully pulpit or old man's hangout....
Trust me us NEWBIES are JUST as sick of hearing about "how it was in the good old days". There's this thing called progress and technology...... embrace it or retire or take that burger flipping job you keep saying you would work before you would call us friends.

Trust me there's way too many threads about horse drawn buggy logistics being perpetuated in here by you grey beards.

Enjoy what time you have left in this career before FMCSA runs you out with medical disquals and soon to be age limits. We can't have you half blind...hemorrhoid ridden, beer bellied, spectacle wearing angry old timers representing us anymore

 

Yea we're all super jealous. We love all your untrained rookies getting in our way and killing people. That's just what I've seen. Technologies great but it won't make you a driver. Sending someone into the mountains with no chain experience is irresponsible. If you guys are so great why do I have to teach your rookies how to chain? Why do I hear truck inspectors bagging on your whole company? Sorry with all your worldly knowledge you couldn't figure out how to pay your own way through school. Sorry those beer gut graybeards taught me how to do this before sending me out. Sorry you're not worth your last check. You belong at swift. Oh and btw the way when this kid gets killed from lack of training I'll make sure to send them a screen shot of your post. My dog has more miles under his belt than you. Go back to working with the donut eaters.

 

When's the last time you learned something new? 1864? You old super trucking grump.

Some people need help learning, some people have to start off at the bottom. Maybe they should listen to you and not even try so they can sit around and claim unemployment while you "stand" at the truck stop with your hunchback from all your glory days of driving 23 hours straight complaining about "those lazy scumbags" who should just get a job.

 

So no one's answered me if swift is such a good company why don't they train their drivers? You guys defend swift and call me old and fat. I said I learned from the old guys not that I am an old guy. There's plenty of companies that will get you started safely. Swift isn't one of them. So good luck to ya. I hope you live long enough to actually get to a company that will train you properly.

 

Swift actually does train their drivers, and believe it or not, one of their main objectives is safety. We get messages about safety on a daily basis. But Swift can only do so much. Ultimately it falls on the driver and the choices they make. And that goes for all companies, from the big mega carriers like Swift right down to the mom and pop outfits. Including whatever company you drive for. Safety is your choice.

To address your question about training for snow chains, the northern terminals that are in the chain required areas do have classes that teach training...for those who wish to take it. Again, it falls on the driver, not Swift so much. It is a highly recommended class, especially for new drivers who haven't experienced winter driving yet, but it is not required.

I, for one, have only used tire chains once in my life. And that was 30 years ago and on my car. I do have chains on my truck, and the only time I've ever used them was to throw them down on the ground under my drives to get traction to pull out of a snowy dock. I don't know how to put the chains on the tires, though I'm sure I could figure it out if I absolutely had to, but I don't intend to. If it gets bad enough that I have to chain up, the truck is parked. Simple as that. Safety first, and no load is worth risking my life or anyone else's life. That is also something that Swift stresses. If we feel that conditions are not safe enough to continue, they want us to park. They don't demand that we continue so we can get that load delivered.

I also find it funny that you outsiders keep telling the rookies to get their time in and move on to a "better" company, like going to another company is going to make them a better driver. Lmao. All you got now is an unsafe reckless former Swift driver working for your company bringing down your csa scores. Oh wait, that's right. Not all Swift drivers are careless, unsafe accidents waiting to happen. In fact, some Swift drivers are experienced drivers from those glorified mom and pop companies.

 

And to the OP. To answer your question about the road test. There are actually two road tests (or at least there was when I started almost six years ago). The first road test is during orientation, after your schooling at their academy or outside school and you have your fresh off the press cdl. You will most likely blow this road test, but don't sweat it. It's only an assessment, to find out where you are at. When I tested, I think I ground nearly every year, but the other newbie testing with me couldn't shift at all and he still passed. It will be up to your mentor to teach you how to shift, drive safely and back up. Whatever he (or she) says, pay attention!!!

After your training period with your mentor and you are ready to test out and upgrade, then you will have another road test. This is the important one, the one you don't want to blow. If you even so much as tag a curb, you fail and either go home or go out with another mentor for a couple of weeks then try again.

There is nothing really special about the road tests themselves. They just take you out on a local route, city driving, highway driving. Left turn, right turn, same stuff you will encounter every single day, then back to the terminal to back into a designated space. After 4 weeks of training, it should be a breeze. (I did say "should be." Some people do still fail. Just be careful of what you are doing, as you should be always.)

 

Spew that hate you angry old bag....for starters you haven't taught me a #### thing except how to identify who I should avoid.
Secondly my terrible lack of experience is in your imagination....I may not have as many miles as you but I value quality over your quantity.
You say "truck inspectors" bag on Swift? really?
First wtf is a "truck inspector" ....DOT....PD...MECHANICS?
Secondly which of Swifts 8000 trucks do they "bag" on.....and more importantly I guarantee they don't talk that #### when they're taking a paycheck from swift.....easy to bash somebody behind their back ain't it.
You sound like one of those angry grey beards I've had to either put OOS or even lock up when I was a police officer and the old jackals decided they knew more than me and wanted to try to hold traffic court right there on the side of the road....guess what....they all lost.
Bottom line....does swift have any troubled drivers? absolutely...any company with as many employees will....you were probably one of em and you mock Swift but at the end of the day that organization is flush with cash....is rightly and regularly considered a success and angry little piss ants like you will go to the grave just like you are now....full of hate, anger and arrogant vile vitriol.

all you have to argue is chains? whatever...I made more than you as a "donut eater" and I'll stomp your pitiful check as a professional driver .....put that in your pipe and smoke it....has been