Swift Is Good

Hey readers,
I just finished the academy at Corp. headquarters in PHX yesterday.
I came home last night with a Class A CDL and a good farmers tan LOL !!!!
The recruiter told me what to expect before going down and I found everything exceeded what I read in the forums on this and several others
The instructors are super patient group of people to be able to put up with folks from all walks of life.
My class started out with 42 students and in the first 2 days we were down to 36. Mostly U/A fails.During the rest of the first week 8 more either had criminal history or medical/phsyc. problems. Of the many documents that you fill out and sign you had better lay every thing out on the table because the excuse of (I forgot about that) is a one way road off the campus.
In the 7 days of 0630 to 1630 hrs of classroom time the commercial drivers license manual hand book is gone thru cover to cover with home work every evening. That's where the hotel swimming pool/patio was converted to a study hall LOL.While in class you get many coffee and smoke breaks unless you ask. We learned not to ask after day two.Lunch runs from 1100to1200hrs and can be taken at the drivers terminal cafeteria called the Jake-Break or many bring something or go down the road to some of the fast food joints.The food at the terminal is fresh made and priced very reasonably.
It was very eye opening hanging out and talking with the men and women drivers and staff with Swift.I myself never heard any real complaints other than those who had tractor problems and were stuck at the hotel with pay for a day or two. One guy lost a couple of his trip packs and was waiting for payroll to figure things out.Swift runs several passenger vans 24/7 between the hotels,airport and bus terminal so if you needed to go any where such as wally world you can always get dropped and picked up after a short wait.The last day of the classroom is spent at the MVD getting the permit.Tuesday of the second week is spent on the range.The first couple of hours are spent in the range classroom which includes range driving rules/safety and skills. By the time you get out on the range the re testers are back from the MVD and the class is broken down to 4 groups, in our case7 students each.Each student is assigned a range instructor by drawing colored poker chips.Each skill station is then rotated daily.The skill stations are what is given on the driving test, straight line backing,serpentine backing,45 angle dock and parallel parking.The instructors walk every one thru the maneuver and then around the entire range road then do each student individually thru each skill in the tractor.If the check ride is satisfactory with the instructor they give the go ahead with practicing up shifting thru 6th gear and back down while driving on the range roads and getting setup for the skill.At any given time there was around 14 1998 model freightliners with 53' trailers setup with CA. tandems running around.While on the range and waiting for your turn to drive one of the instructors would pull a student from each group and have us couple,7step brakecheck,move and uncouple trailers.The range hours run 0500 to1500hrs and it's all outside unless your driving.The range rules are to have both windows down at all times for safety reasons so the A/C only blows slightly cooler than outside air. I only heard the all stop whistle blown once because of another student going the wrong way in a one way.The last day on the range is the skill test for Swift and your practice test for MVD.The hotel pool was well used during this week of 110F afternoons.The last week is the most exciting yet nerve racking because you actually get to leave the range and become a 42660 lbs rolling target with big bold student driver signs pointing us out.(some of the other groups got to haul sailboat fuel).
Our first day on the road started at 0500 The instructor took us about 30 miles out west of PHX by the LukeAFB range on a 17 mile stretch of 2 lane highway practicing up shifting,downshifting and emergency stopping.We cycled thru all four of us several times and then headed back to town.It was my turn to drive again YEAH ! Phoenix suburbs at 1530 in the afternoon and schools out, the kind of schools that have cross walks and yellow buses and soccer moms on cell phones. "Lesson # 227 i am bigger and longer and weigh more than they,there fore I go slow".We did this for 3 more days.On day 4 we started at 0430 and headed out for the shifting road via 2 lane county roads with lots of hills and stop signs at every mile section cross road.We turned left in the dark we turned right in the dark and we did it over and over until the sun started coming up and then headed east back into town. This time when we got into the burbs and its time for school and its another repeat only in another direction.We rotated drivers the remaining day and stayed in the burbs hopping on and off I10 and the 101.
Day 5 was another repeat of day 4 except one student quit and left sometime during the night.
On day 6 MVD skill and road testing began.If we were not drawn to test we got to practice range skills in the a.m. and hit the road again if we wanted. I scored a total of three points on the range exam so i opted for some more road time. It was great. Sunday afternoon in downtown PHX the traffic was light and only three of us in the tractor with a bored instructor.
We all hung out on labor day at the hotel catching up on sleep and whatever.
Tuesday was MVD test day. MVD uses third party examiners on site for the skills test and road test is done out on the road. I was 9 to be tested.Test is complete and the hard copy is in my pocket. Orientation is set up for next week and then out with the mentor.
I will post that phase of training when its over.

 

How much do they pay while riding with the mentor after school, ohh and how many weeks is cdl school. Do they may a driver with a cdl 1yr old with no experience go to the cdl school?

 

cdl school:
3 weeks, $3900 100% paid for after 1 yr, you get paid all of it back during your 2nd yr. you have to go to school if you are new, no cdl. if you have no current driving experience, i think you may have to go to school or at least do a refresher.

riding w/ mentor:
this is 6 weeks, something like 350/wk for the first 3, 500/wk for the last 2. after this cpm kicks in on a sliding scale (based on lenght of haul).

basically, given your situation, i'd count on some kind of school + mentor time at the very least.

they're my choice for school / driving, i'm headed out to their lewiston school on 15 oct.

good luck.

 

They changed it to $450 for the first 4 weeks I think he told me.

 

That's not too bad, better than I thought. So 450/wk for 4 weeks, then 500 for the last two? Man, did they JUST change that? I really thought the recruiter said 350 ... but apparently she's "new".

 

This training pay has been going on for a while now...At least since I was in training and that was back in March...

 

An average of $466.66 per week for 6 weeks? Is this acceptable to all of you? I am going to throw up! I can't wait to hear how much you would make per week after having been there for a year. It must be stellar! This company is nothing more than a driver mill! They are posted as a bad company. Why do people continue to go there? I would like to hear from drivers that have been there more than 10 years. Ok, maybe 5 years. Well 3 then? What a shame on this industry.

drive safe

 

every once in a while someone gets into a situation where they have other financial obligations and average credit and a student loan or independent trucking school is not an option. when this is the case, you go somewhere like swift, act like a man and tough it out for a year. then you move on to doing something that pays better.

450/wk is GOOD compared to the ZERO/wk that you get during school. it should also be worth noting that i had just finished looking at a host of other schools with WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse deals than that. CRE for one, Covenant, central, etc.

compared to what i'm making NOW? 450/wk sucks ... but you gotta do what you gotta do to get into an industry that you think might be just right for you. i'm currently employed and i am MAKING A CHOICE to go to swift's school. again, i've always wanted to drive a truck.

unfortunately, this isn't 20 yrs ago when you got your license ... i think you actually have to demonstrate some skill now. gone are the days where looking like something off of bj/the bear or smokey & the bandit or dukes of hazard was enough to get you a trucking job.

i would expect more from a "veteran" driver. but then again, you're smarter than me. oh ... how i wish i could be as smart as you are. maybe in my dreams, huh?

 

SWIFT is only as bad as you make it. I used them as my training ground then move on to a better paying gig.... But I know a couple guys making a good living wage driving with them on a dedictated account. Good Luck and DRIVE SAFE

 

I ha my cdl for 3 years w/o experience cre and others wanted me to take a refresher course. When I went to Swift they said no problem, if I pass the road test I would be put on a truck with a mentor. This was in '03 I passed the road test and did my 4x4 training (back then 4 weeks with trainer and 4 with another newbie).