New career for a middle aged lady ..truckin?

I don't see why you'd have a problem, except for the Swift part. I'd recommend you look at trucking companies within a comfortable drive from your home, find out which of those hire just graduated students from cdl school, and which school they prefer. Then talk to current working drivers and find out work details from them.

This industry is best entered by finding an employer you want to work for and then getting the training they desire. Most students don't recognize that signing up for CDL school essentially locks you into the trucking companies that hire from that school plus whatever companies you find on your own. Trucking company insurance companies set policy and some trucking companies only accept students from certain schools.

Finding a trucking company you can do well at is the single most important factor in staying in the industry and staying off of the downward spiral caused by working at lousy companies, getting into problems, getting fired/leaving, and having to work at a worse company. Rinse and repeat.

You'll probably work at the first company for a year. Learn what factors are important for working well in the industry and then pick a more suitable company where you can stay for many years.

Swift seems to hire as many students as will apply, treat them as disposable work units, and replace them with the nest crop of students. There are, however, some reports from Swift drivers that this long-term reputation of Swift is exaggerated.


For the love of God, your only chance of making a good choice is BEFORE you hire on. After that you must work inside the company culture or leave. The single most common post by newbies is "I've signed up with XYZ trucking and leave on Monday. Anyone know about XYZ Trucking.

It's very easy, and predictable that hiring on with a trucking company that expects you to get mad and quit will seal your fate. Like shoes, a good fit is more important than everyone's opinion of those shoes. So don't do anything until you feel you have learned enough to make a wise decision.

Backing the trailer is not as hard as it is sometimes made out to be. It requires learning and practice, practice, practice. Shifting the gears is much easier than most imagine. And, you will do it so many times every day that even the slowest learner will learn it well enough in a few days.

In my experience women learn the skills faster if they aren't highly nervous or don't go into panic under stress. Most women students internally know they don't know everything they need to know so they are open to learning. SOME women's disadvantage is their lesser experience with machinery. As long as you listen to instructors and don't melt into a puddle under pressure you absolutely can work well in the industry. I'm not assuming all women do anything, in case someone wants to pretend I've insulted anyone. The primary skill for this job is ability to work alone ALOT. It's easy to be safe on the road, in and out of the truck. Just get the idea of spending all of your time on open roads out of your head. You'll be in rush hour traffic all over the country.

 

Welcome aboard. Thank you for choosing America Trucking Freight Lines. Don't bother to look under your seat, therte's nothing there but dust bunnies and old cig butts. The movie today (and every day) is Industrial America's Best Parking Lots And Assorted Idiots and is visible in 3d through your windshield. You will laugh, you will cry and you will Slap Yo Mama.

But at least you will not have to struggle to put on your little red Shark Napkin while hitting the ocean at 600mph from 10,000 feet.

It's a BLAST!!!!

 

I'd rather be a flight attendant then drive a truck!

 

Just remember that the FOR PROFIT school/company "recruiters" get paid on how many people they get into school, not how many people they talk with. So, they're going to tell you what you want to hear in order to get you to commit.

As for being able to get a job after training, there are jobs available, plenty of them. As I think I said, I made just a couple of online inquires and received over 15 different responses from different companies within 48 hrs. Those contacting me were asking me to submit applications to their companies for further evaluation.

If you have a clean criminal background and driving record, and go to a reputable school, then you should have no problem finding a decent starter job OTR.

You're probably not going to find a local job right out of school as most of the smaller companies require at least a year of experience due to their insurance, etc.

Oh and BTW, as you talk with schools, don't get snowed by the whole "PDTI accredited/certified thing". It's almost meaningless and is more about marketing than ensuring the quality of training.

Again, please do yourself a favor and go to a company or for profit school as a last resort only! Company and for profit schools are more concerned with getting you in and out and placed with the company that pays them the most with the least amount of expense on their part in training you.

Most, if not all, community colleges are far more selective in the selection of their instructors and more concerned about ensuring that they provide good quality training. The reputation of the entire college, not just the driving school, is on the line with them.

 

I think you will do fine. I am also 54 and going to Swift in San Antonio soon for school. I like Swift because I can get into it cheaply. I have been out of work two years and don't have any money, so even going to Swift will cost me money for food, license, medical, etc.. It will be hard for me to come up with that, so that is the main reason I choose Swift.

I also am going to them with an open mind. Not listening to the #####ers and moaners, because I have found that you find that in any business. It depends on what you will be happy with. After not having a job for more than two years, I will be happy with 20k a year and shoveling ##### all day if needed. Who says Americans are too lazy to take those ##### jobs. Maybe some are, but not me...

 

Have you looked into a Workforce Investment Act (WIA) grant?

If you lost your last job and have been unable to find a new one for two years you'd probably be considered a "Dislocated worker" (very specific term that you should use when going to your local state job center to ask about a WIA grant.).

You really should look into WIA before settling for going to a Swift school and locking yourself in to that company for at least a year.