New career for a middle aged lady ..truckin?

Swift's closest terminal to you will be Lathrop (just south of Stockton)...decent terminal...where they would send you for academy is a good question...I'm thinking Mira Loma or Phoenix. that would be with their cost package and the requirement to stay with Swift for "X" amount of time to "pay" for the in house schooling. Or you could pay from your own pocket at a certified truck school...which one in the bay area I couldn't say....I would recommend the Swift school.

 

More power to you, ma'am! Best of luck to you also, I might see you out on the road myself someday soon...

 

2zlady,

Welcome aboard. And, best wishes in your new career.

 

While I'm not a female, I will tell you that just a few weeks ago I was in your same shoes.

I too moved from Texas and couldn't find a job. (Sounds like we need to move back to Texas, huh?) I used to tell folks that I was a "naturalized Texan", I wasn't born there, but I got there as soon as I could.

I would HIGHLY recommend that you explore more options that Swift. I'm not saying anything bad about the company, because I don't know anything but what I've read here. But I wouldn't sign on with ANY company's training unless I'm paying for it and have no "commitment to drive for them for X months, etc.

I personally did a lot of research and decided to avoid the "CDL mills" altogether and instead get my training through a local community college.

If you want to know the basis of my decision, just ask. Otherwise I won't bore you with the details. Just rest assured that A LOT of folks here provided great advice and most of those who seemed the most credible recommended a community college.

After doing my own additional research, I feel confident that I made the right decision.

Just make sure that whatever school that you attend provides at least 160 hrs of training and that they are acceptable to the employer that you want to work for, if you know where you want to work.

Best of luck to you!

 

I'm 54. A middleaged broad trucking for coming up on 7 years.
I'm lovin life even with less than good days. Your training will help you advance in this business.

Had a Fedex pilot who was called back after a semi driving furough tell me that flying was easier. Be prepared. Lots of judgement calls.

Bet you're accustomed to regulations. You may adjust easier than others..

PM me if you'd like to know more of my experience. Not unique or examplememantary but I own it and would be happy to share.

 

If CA workforce is paying for your training, they'll help you get you a job. Their program is judged not on how many people they get trained, but how many people they get actual JOBS. Trust me, they want to get you an actual JOB because it impacts their funding for the next funding round.

So, don't feel like you have to go to a company's school to get a job.

In fact, you'll probably have a LOT more options if you use the CA workforce money to train at a non-company school because you won't be tied to just ONE company.

I filled out just a couple of online inquiries and received 15 responses within 48 hours and I haven't even started my school yet (start next Monday) and the folks at the community college haven't even started working on getting me a job yet.

Since you're not going to be out of pocket for your school, ask yourself, would you rather have 10 - 20 options or 1?

After researching for weeks before making my decision, I came to the conclusion that "company paid training" was my last resort.

And if you have workforce training money to use, it should be yours as well.

So, my advice is to use the workforce training money to go to a non-company school, preferably a community college.

Just my opinion.

 

BTW, keep in mind that the CDL mills work with specific companies and get kick backs for placing drivers in those companies.

So, unlike community colleges, the CDL mills have an incentive to train you as quickly as possible using as few resources as possible and to get you placed with one of the companies that they work with as soon as possible so they can get their kick back (I think that they call it a "referral fee" or a "placement fee" to make it sound better. But it's a kick back. ) as soon as possible. They are FOR PROFIT schools after all.

 

Also keep in mind that if you go to a "company school" like Swift you may have a job with them upon graduation, but they "OWN YOU" for the next X number of months.

And if, for some reason you have to leave before that "X number of months" (your choice OR THEIRS), you'll be provided a nice bill for the remaining balance of your school fees, and BTW it's their call as to whether to send you home or not.

And lastly, you'll only be making in the $0.22 - $0.26/mile range (that's how they recoup their training costs), when you could be getting $0.28 - $0.32/mile other places.

It might not sound like much, only a few pennies, but when you multiply that by say 100,000 miles, then $0.04/mile starts looking like "real money".