Second opinion after speaking w/recuiter

Hi guys....first of all, finding this forum to be very helpful, and I enjoy some of the quips that some of you have in replying or chatting back and forth, too.

I'll give you all the skinny now. I finally decided to start my driving career with Swift. Went out and passed the General knowledge, Air brakes, and Cominations tests, and purchased my CDL instruction permit. I then proceeded to get in contact with Swift. A recruiter set me up with taking their online CDL preparation tests, or whatever they consider this, and passed those as well. Took my DOT physical and got my card....done at a Swift-approved facility, mind you.

So, I am going through the checklist that they provided for attending the Lewiston, Idaho academy. Looks as though I have everything covered....coming up here is where I need your advice.

My last job (temporary one) ended in January. I contacted my old boss about starting work on the farm again....he agreed, but said I would have to wait until April to start. A week before April, I decided to switch gears and start on my dream of driving semi-tractors, which I've been dreaming of for the last 6 years. I'll stop filling in the blanks and get to my point now.

One of the items on the "bring to school" checklist was, if you've been unemployed for the last 60 days or more, bring two notarized letters stating why. Obviously, I fall in that territory, so I immediately asked my recruiter if I would need to bring something like that with me. To my surprise, she told me No. I still didn't feel comfortable with hearing this, so I asked her if she could put that in writing with her name signed on it......she says, "don't worry about it." Okay.....so I am supposed to start on the 30th of this month, have made absolutely every effort to ensure I have no snags when I get there, and I am supposed to go off this recruiter's "word" that it won't be an issue?

I have a family member that can verify this gap in my employment the last few months and is willing to do this for me, if that is even an acceptable form to Swift. It will be extremely uncomfortable to force my boss to go somewhere and sign a notarized letter with me.

Sorry, I am much too long-winded for my own good sometimes. Haven't even introduced myself on here yet. Super excited and a little bit nervous about jumping in to this....and the ball has been rolling extremely fast so far. I would appreciate any advice you may offer.

 

Okay, and thank you, Cooper. I have seen threads about recruiters lying, but I felt this was a different situation than that. I'll take your advice and do it though......guess it will end up costing another $40 or more....but I like to be prepared for anything.

One more question on the same topic.....by two letters, do they probably mean two copies of the same notarized letter? Sorry....I made phone calls to the actually academy today, trying to go around my recruiter for their take....but did not receive a call back from the person in the academy's recruiting department.

 

A nice man from the academy, Steve, returned my phone calls today, finally. He confirmed basically what Moosetek13 thought, which is Two letters from two different people. While they aren't necessary for Academy training....they will be for orientation. This makes me think they haven't even bothered calling my references and past employers as of yet.

I have a few reasons for choosing Swift, sir. People can bat at me all they wish on my decision, but I will tell you anyways. I've heard the Lewiston school is a good place to learn, nice environment, located within two hours of where I currently live, and the company seems to take pride in their outfit as well as safety.....I want to start from the bottom and build a reputation for myself.