Swift training school any one out here been there.

Hey Nana, is the Volvo quieter than the International, or just Freightliner? I have been seeing a lot of the Internationals showing up around the terminal, but i have not had a chance to see one inside or drive it yet.

 

I hate, hate, hate those Pro Stars. We have 5 of them here at the Atlanta terminal and not one will go more than 2 days without replacing one or both of the tail lights. The electrical system is so whacked out it's very undependable. We keep at least two at a time in the shop bays for days at a time at all times. I got rid of mine and went with a Columbia. Plus I couldn't stand the super single tires they have on them.

 

Hey ford390pwr. I've read through this whole thread and have enjoyed your post. Very informative. I recently graduated from a private school in Ohio and got my cdl. I have applied with Swift and I'm in the process of setting up orientation and training. Faxed all the forms in, just waiting for the OK. Well, at my school, they really put an emphasis on double clutching. They said "when you get out on the road, you can float the gears if you want, but we're not teaching you how to do it". I was wondering if your trainer is ok with floating gears or are you double clutching? Did they have you double clutching when you went through Swifts school? By the way, In Ohio, they allow us to use automatics for the state driving test, can you blieve that? I hope I get with a patient trainer because my down shifting needs some work. I'll keep reading your post as you continue your training. Good luck.

 

Thanks Roadrunner for your comments!
I believe that double clutching is a PTDI requirement because that is what Swift Academy taught us. Our instructor did demonstrate floating, but it was very brief.
The first thing I noticed on day 1 on my mentors truck was that he was floating the gears. I told him that they did not teach that in school and he said that he didn't care if I clutched or floated but for now do what is comfortable.
I want to say that he waited till the end of week 3 to introduce me to floating the gears, and I have been getting better and better at it every day!

Good luck with your orientation, I think you will enjoy working at Swift. If you don't get a good mentor from the start, you can ask for another. My buddy from the academy is now on his 3rd mentor, but they are getting along just great. He is only 1 day behind me for his solo date, so he didn't lose too much time.

 

Still looking for some updates on your adventures. Are you still stuck on I-90 runs?

 

Absolutely correct. If you float with a board certified examiner in the truck... you get a point for every time that you do it and the examiner catches it. It is a state requirement that you know and demonstrate that you can do it. If you have never driven a truck, you should NOT be even thinking about trying to float gears yet, you will bang the #### things right out of the transmission trying to.

Also, with roughly 10 hours of road time over the coarse of a week before you get behind the wheel to be certified... you will have enough on your plate as it is trying to not hit a curb (instant fail), wearing your seat belt (another instant fail), run over someone, hit a car, use your blinker, turn OFF the stupid blinker, keep 2 hands on the wheel when not moving the shifter between gears, shifting at the right intervals, watching your speed, reading and memorizing every sign and bridge height (because they will eventually ask you what the last one said), remembering what blasted gear you are in (this is a big one because I promise you that you will forget numerous times over the course of the week on the road... don't think it will be all that much better by that time).

This is also after you have already completed a 108-point (could be more now, it should be more, regardless, as I so lovingly learned from DOT after hitting the road) pre-trip for the examiner, then performed a blind-side parallel parking maneuver, a reverse serpentine, straight line backing and stopping on a line going both forward and backward, and successfully docked the truck from a 45 degree angle. You also get one week to learn all of this.

I strongly encourage anyone who may be thinking about trying to float and is new to operating a truck to forget about it for now. You don't need to even attempt it until you are able to take that truck out of gear and put it in neutral and slow down to any speed and hit the appropriate gear without missing/grinding. Floating requires your road speed and the transmission to be matched to make it in, and it takes time to learn those things. I've been on the truck with a couple of people who were trying to float after they got out of school and it was downright terrifying going down an exit ramp while they are grinding that sucker and revving the engine to try to get it in gear, meanwhile not even thinking about the brake as we were quickly approaching the cars parked at the end of the ramp. Don't get me wrong, it is good to learn it, but you should typically be very proficient with the clutch before attempting it.

Good luck though, seriously, I love driving and have had a very positive experience with Swift.

 

Hi,
What better to start-fill apliccation form or talk to the company on phone?
What documents must be sent to them later? I am in U.S. only 3 years and need experience of working in 5y.And college I learned in my country, not USA.This may be a problem.

 

Well 6 weeks is just about up! I spend the weekend in Spokane, again, then on Monday I will drive back to Sumner where I will get off the truck and my mentor will pick up a new student.

I was able to run the truck for the last 2 weeks, almost all by myself. My mentor did some driving too, but I was running the Quallcom, and had all contact with shippers and receivers. I did all the fueling, got the truck in for it's 30,000 mile B service, and tried to at least have my hands on everything that happened.

While in Lewiston for the B service on Tuesday, I ran into 3 guys from my Swift Academy class, and they were all testing out to go solo that day. The Lewiston terminal only had one truck, so that guy had to take the other 2 to Troutdale were they hoped to find trucks.

Talking with them, they had some pretty good stories. John was running with a Lease/Operator Mentor, and they ran all 48 states. Well John was telling me about how he was running at night somewhere in Louisiana while his mentor was in the bunk. He saw a box in the road, and thought nothing of it, at least until the box started to move! Well that box turned out to be an alligator, and he said he ended up running it over. He stopped on the shoulder and his mentor asked "what the hell was that?" He said he thought it was a gator, and he wanted to check it out. Fortunately his mentor had enough sense to tell him to keep his butt in the truck, cause that thing will eat you alive! My only question was, why were you going to run over the box in the first place?

Kurt had a great story about how he needed to use an engine override switch for over 4 hours. Apparently his mentor left the terminal even though some light came on in the FL Columbia saying the engine would shutdown. So he told Kurt to just hold this switch for 10 seconds every time that light comes on. Well when his mentor was in the bunk, he had to use that switch for more than 4 hours before the light stopped coming on. My guess is at that point the bulb in the dash had just burned out!

As I have said many times before, my training was very uneventful. I learned a lot from a great mentor, and was happy to get the training that I did. I am sure that i will have questions when I go solo, but my mentor assures me that he is just a phone call away! This by the way is how I have learned several lessons.......

My mentor had a student about 6 months ago who still calls him at least 3 times a week! This guy can't use the Qualcom, and he is always asking stupid questions. Today he called and was freaking out because he filled the fuel tanks before picking up his load at the costco DC. Well, he was 450lbs over at the scale. What did I learn? Get your loaded trailer before you decide to take on 200 gallons of fuel! We have been doing this for every load, especially since we got the Volvo. It may take a few extra minutes to double back to the terminal after you get your load, but it's easier than being 450lbs overweight.

I will be testing at the terminal on Tuesday, and hopefully Sumner will have a truck for me on Wednesday. I really want to go OTR and run all 48, but if they ask me to stay with heavy haul for a while, and they can get me decent miles i might just do it. My only request will be that I could go south to Portland as opposed to East to Spokane every day!

I will try to post a couple of more updates once I test out.

Thank's to everyone that has been following my posts over the last few months. It has been great talking with everyone that has PM'd me, and I have a few new friends because of it. I had fun posting my daily routines, and I hope that these posts will be helpful to people that are looking at starting a new career with Swift. My experience through the entire training phase has been excellent, and I am glad that I chose this route to start my career in trucking.

 

Good luck ford. Thanks for the posts. I start orientation in Syracuse, NY on Tuesday. Let us know what your test on Tuesday consists of. Will you be starting another post telling of your adventures when on your own?

 

I may post a few items, but I don't really want to Blog on these forums. I have been thinking of putting a blogging script on my personal website, i just have not gotten around to it yet!