Swift Truck Driving Academy

Very good post chipnchair. I was supposed to go to Swift in May but I put it off because of college. With this economy, I feel I am better off starting later as the economy will better by then and I will already have my permit or license.

Howling Mad murdock,

Please keep the updates rolling in and let us know how the testing went (ie instructor took off x amount of points for this). What many people do not realize is that

KH

 

gl king ... I am sure you already know this but, a lot of companies are not hiring drivers and those that are pick drivers from their program. Be careful of any training school that offers employment opportunities to other companies ... it is just not there!

Currently 90% of new hires for Swift come from their training academy.

 

This is true as far as I know.

 

Absolutely not. I'm glad they weed them out, but I dunno... I'm a bit baffled by the stupidity of people sometimes.

My favorite quote:
Terry Goodkind - Wizard's First Rule - "People are stupid."

 

I noticed that someone mentioned sliding tandems and 5th wheels.
I just wanted to add a quick comment on this.
It is very rare that you will really need to move your 5th wheel to balance a load. If it is set in the middle of the drives, with a loaded trailer you should be around 11,800 on you steers. Once you scale it out a few times and keep getting a number near there, you know it is right. Do not move unless absolutely necessary, and mark your center location if you do.
I pulled a reffer for a few years, and it was not often that I had to move it once it was right. Maybe once a year.

Adjusting your Tandems on the other had you will do allot. Different states have codes for how far back they can be. Cali being the strictest. Normally it is pretty easy to do though, and once you are use to your truck you can tell by how it rides if it is right. You will have some bouncing if it is not lol.
Just remember, move toward the weight.
I got to where I could get it within one hole every time, without a scale. Helpful when you have no place to check before you hit a scale house, and sometimes you will get a pre-loaded trailer that is sealed, so you really cannot see the load.

In this case i use to like to pull the tandem pin. Slide tandems all the way back.
Then back up slowly, watching the tilt of the trailer. With them all the way back, the weight will be on your drives. As the weight moves back you will see the nose of the trailer rise. Also as the tandems get more weight on them you will feel resistance. This will slack off also past this point.
It will pause for about a foot of slide, then it will start to go up faster. The pause is the balance point. At that point you are close to balanced. Pin it up and go to a scale (cat or other). With practice this is really helpful.

Guys that are on the road now, try this out some time. It can make your job easer. Normally once you get it down you only have to move one hole to balance the load out, and it will save you time on the scales and reweighs.

 

I was trained on a 10 speed and went to Conway orientation for employment, and was cut for my downshifting. They have a Kenworth with a 13 speed. 1-4 low range 5-8 high then 5 w/OverDrive, 6 w/OD, 7 w/OD and, 8 w/OD. It got me flusterd, plus I was the first to go. I traveled 32 hours on a bus, and got sent home after 3 days cause I choked on my downshifting. I am trying to find out if Swift has that sort of gear pattern. I am not a mechanic, I just want to drive. Does Swift have anything similiar to Conway/CFI trans? Oh yeah, the granny gear must be the 13th??? They told us 1st thing that there would be cuts, so me and another guy who also trained on a 10 speed got the boot. It be cool if you could elaborate on the trannys... 10 speed I know but what is the gear pattern for the 9?

 

Nothing like that. I'll call the LL gear first, these are the shift patterns.

Eaton 9 is a pattern left to right

R 2 4

1 3 5
-----
(flip splitter to high)
-----
R 6 8

- 7 9

The 10's

R 2 4

1 3 5
-----
(flip splitter to high)
-----
R 7 9

6 8 10

 

Sorry to hear about your dismiss from CFI.

For the 9 it is: low range lo, 1, 2, 3, 4, Hi range: 5, 6, 7, 8

For the 10: low range 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, hi range: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

KH