Georgia HOPE Grant Pays for Truck School

For anyone considering going to trucking school, Georgia (and some other states I imagine) will pay for one vocational program at a technical/community college from the lottery funded HOPE Grant as long as you are a resident and it has been 6 months since your last felony. I used it to go to Griffin Technical College (now Southern Crescent). They are longer than private schools, up to 10 weeks, because they start from ground zero and help you pass the written test. I loved it. I went at night/weekends while still working, and I spent so much time backing it made a huge difference when I go out on the road. They even payed for books and the test. It is worth checking out. I never had to worry about paying back a loan form my already small newbie paychecks.

 

I drove for Watkins-Shepard with no training- just orientation because of the school I went to. I stayed for a few months, but they didn't have as much freight and had a hard time getting me home to GA. I then went to work for a non-profit since it was better for the family. When they couldn't pay me, I went out with Swift and had a better experience than most I think. I had to do 6 weeks training, but it paid $500 a week and my O/O trainer was a good guy. My non-profit begged me to come back after 6 months, and promised a better situation. It has been stable, but definitely not everything they promised, so I plan to go back with Swift in August and go from there. I don't miss being gone from the family, but I miss driving, the benefits, and a weekly direct deposit. Long story short: my school experience has given me a leg up and the freedom to do what I needed without being stuck with a school debt obligation to a company. It's the way to go.

 

Swift is a training company, no doubt. I think after training pay was $.32 and got up to $.34 in six months. You can make better money elsewhere, and lots of guys put their six month in and then go. In my experience, Swift had great benefits, good trucks, always had freight- never had to take a broker load- and always got me home. My paychecks went in each week without a hitch. Of course a good DM helps keep you rolling too. I think the main thing that drivers don't like is that they are watched closely in the sense that they watch your logs, watch your truck location and performance, etc. As a training company (i.e., a company that has its own school and hires drivers with no experience) it has to be like that. They have a lot of accidents because they have a lot of newbies and guys that shouldn't be on the road that figure that out while they are with Swift. That is where the reputation comes from. Even though I graduated from a tech school for trucking and drove solo for a few months before Swift, I learned a lot from my trainer and from people at my terminal. When I screwed up on my logs one time (on a run I shouldn't have taken), I got sat down with a log guy at my terminal who showed me one-on-one how to avoid mistakes, and it was a big help. I've been off the road for over two years, and I left on good terms, so I will probably go back with Swift at least for 6-8 months. If I find better pay and same benefits, I will go somewhere else, and if I am treated the same as I was in 2010 I will have no hard feelings.