Beginning the Long Awaited CDL Process

Thanks Katey. I leaned a bunch.

I should post something.

 

Once a company starts spending money on you, they don't forget about you.

OK. Time to write a post.

 

There's Always Something.

Hello Everyone.

I got up early this morning and headed to the Swift Terminal for day 1 of orientation. After checking in with the recruiter, I took my place in the lobby with the other candidates waiting for 8 am to arrive. It's funny how all the anxiety one could possibly suffer just washes away as soon as you're called to the orientation classroom.

We checked in were assigned our seating as our paperwork was already there waiting for us to begin scribbling away. A sign at the front of the room was alerting us to be prepared to leave with a mentor on Thursday (Oh Yeah..).

After a brief welcome and introduction by the orientation supervisor, we began critiquing our paper work, checking for errors under the watchful eye of the lady from 'Compliance'. She gave us her introductory speech, contact phone and fax numbers, and the general do's and don'ts about the documentation that we all needed to address. The population of those attending orientation I'll put at around 25 (I did a speedy count).

Afterward, we filed out to complete our physicals. This is a slow process when you're talking about more than 2 dozen people. As a matter of fact, it took so long, half of us returned to the orientation room for lunch (courtesy of Swift).

My impression of Swift's orientation to this point is pretty good. They're reasonably organized and have a protocol that ensures they leave no stone unturned.

After chow time, I head back to the line for physicals hoping to be next or something to that effect. I passed the drug test, my vitals (heart rate, BP) are fine. I get moved to another testing area to do vision and hearing tests. No problem with the eyeballs, but hearing is a challenge for me. Yes folks, I do wear hearing aids, and the whisper test is difficult for me. I can hear the whisper just fine, but to discern what is being said can be a major obstacle. It all depends on the tonal quality of the voice. Some people I can hear perfect, other people not so well.

Prior to going to Swift's orientation, I went to an audiologist who tweaked my hearing aids and boosted the gain. She tested me and documented that I exceed the minimum required by the DOT. This information, from my understanding, can supersede the whisper test. There's a place for it on the DOT long form.

Well, apparently Swift has decided that those numbers don't mean much and would prefer to qualify me by the whisper test only. So they take me to a very quiet room and administer their test. Left ear passes, right ear doesn't.

Then to add more complications to the mix, my documentation for my CPAP use needs to be brought up current (I just recently moved to GA).

Swift says that everything is good to go, but they want me to re-visit the audiologist and have the right hearing aid adjusted so I can pass the whisper test. Regarding the CPAP, Swift needs a doctor's signature on one of their documents and I'm good there (that's a minor issue). My placement is being "temporarily deferred" until I resolve these two issues.

Because I'm in a holding pattern, there was no point in continuing with the orientation. I returned to the orientation room and collected my things. Interestingly enough, the class seemed to lose a few others as well. At least I know that after putting in some additional effort, I can return and pick up where I left off.


Moral to the story: Make sure the ducks are in a row, or you could end up with unwanted delays.

So tomorrow morning I'll begin my quest to resolve the two pending issues that are delaying my training. Because of the holidays, Swift's next orientation date will be Jan 4....................... Bummer.

But hey, looks like I'll be home for Christmas.

Thanks for reading.

-Wedge

 

Nothing beats Christmas with the family. I just have to make sure I get my homework done tomorrow though.