11/28 Start of Swift School Memphis, TN

So I've had a few people request that I keep them informed about my time at the Swift Academy in Millington (Memphis) TN And yes i know most of you are of the opinion I shouldn't be here. But I have my reasons, so I'm here.

I opted to drive in , and what a good decision that was. As I got to leave early and not have to wait around for the busses back to the motel.

This morning the room was filled to over capacity. Me and one other guy had to sit in chairs off to the side until they started moving some people out. About 20 people got booted right away for not having all their proper documentation. I took someone else's seat up front. Guess what??? I was first for just about everything today

We went over some of the paperwork, and heard their lil speeches for about 2 hrs. Next the nurses came by and took everyones blood pressure. You had 3 attempts to pass under 159/100. I was 111/69 very good. Next I had to go do the drug screen. People piled in this room, and musical chaired their way around until it was their turn. They also test for proteins/sugars, and something else as well as for drugs.

Next I went off to have my vision checked. I think I goofed on my left eye because my contact lens was blurry...but I received a 20/20. Then off to hearing...no probs there either.

Next off it was to work well...this is the infamous weights blah blah blah. I was strapped with a heart monitor, and then checked to see if I could properly lift with a straight back yada yada yada. I passed it on the first try...even qualified for Flatbed You have to do 3 reps of everything, and in some cases progressively. I didn't break out in a sweat, but I did get a lil winded. The first test was floor to midway shelf, then floor to overhead, then mid shelf to overhead. Then make 3 trips out and back carrying 75#'s. Next you had to push this handlebar thingy against the wall for minim of 100#'s of force, then you had to pull a device like it for 140#'s. Last thing was step up on the ND step of a ladder X. After that your heart rate is measured.

Last was the physical. Passed very well too..but told I need to loose weight...i'm 280 I was also told to stop drinking so much green tea because it is a stimulant and in some cases causing irregular heartbeat or heart arrhythmia's.

After all that fun ness it was back to the main room, where we sat and they had a video going about truck safety. They brought in Subway sandwiches, and 12 of us left for Memphis to the Swift terminal after we ate. At the terminal we talked to the processors to get our applications in proper order. They have an in-house TN DMV where you switch out your license. I didn't get mine done today because I already have my CDL permit, but I didn't have a medical card, so after I get mine tomorrow, I'll go back and get that squared away.

On the drive back, we stopped by the range to visit, and then back to the classroom. Once there, they were taking everybody's $150. The room was less than a quarter full...granted some people were still going through their screening.....After that people were just sitting around doing nothing. I asked if we were free to go, and since I drove, I left. About an hour later the bus showed up at the motel with everyone else.

So that's day 1

 

I'm sorry for taking so long to follow up. But I have been very busy. Basically the first week we were in classroom about 12 hrs a day. Mainly getting a few lectures here an there, but mostly self study. One of the guys you try to ask a question of, repeatedly told us to "look in the book" meaning the State of Tennessee CDL guide. Unfortunately it's not a very clear or concise manual. You were given a 12 page worksheet, with lots of questions, that was supposed to be file doubt "by Friday for collection" guess what? They were never collected. Coming in with my CDL permit, I was able to transfer my permit with no problem at the TN DMV. Swift has their own DMV office on the Memphis Terminal grounds. So even though I was set, I still had to go through their book work. One day after i was done taking a test, I was reading a magazine, I got yelled at for it, since i hadn't completed my worksheet. The classroom portion really was disappointing until we got a new instructor in for 3 days. He really seemed to care and went out of his way to answer questions and those who were struggling, as well as keeping things light. There was another guy there who popped into our classes from time to time as well and was a pretty cool guy as well. But still a lot of the time we were playing hurry up and wait. very frustrating. so for the classroom portion of the 3 stages i scored 298 out of 300 a 99% average.

Week 2 we went out to the range. Everyone was split into day shift or night shift. This is where you perfect your pre-trip inspection, and learn basic skills of the truck. We were told a different way to run our logs vs how we learned them in classroom. Again this was a situation of a lot of "self help" or help from your partners if y'all got along. I've heard of a few stories where this wasn't the case. So after pre-trip, you go into learning straight line backing. After that, you learn the offset and driver side parallel backing. Most people got the straight line, but most had issues with the other two.

Basically out of the 180 or so people that started out the previous week, we were down to about 70ish at this point. 42 started in the day shift where I was. So for 40 people, we had 4 instructors and by the end of the week we were down to 2. They went around on golf carts sorta monitoring the whole ordeal, while were in groups of 2 or 3 trying to make sense of what we were doing. Each person was supposed to get 20 mins of practice per hour, and then you have to rotate stations. The weaker people got screwed in this deal.

Luckily I figured it out pretty quickly and was able to get a good handle on backing the trucks. In fact i kinda became a de facto teacher. I know I've helped at least 6 people to pass their backing. The instructors would pull me out of a group and pair me up with someone else to help them "get it" It was kinda crazy to me.....esp since i never thought of myself in a teacher role.

This is what I actually came to school to learn "the backing" My scores for the range. Pre-trip I got 85 out of 90, i forgot to check the signals and the windshield wipers. i don't know what else. For the 3 backing tests, you got scored by getting points for making mistakes. The most you were allowed to get for all 3 tests combined was 12. Get 13, you failed. I got 3. 2 points were docked because I infringed on the box during my offset. I don't know what the other point was for. They only give you your scores, not where you did good or bad.

So week 3, was the beginning of road training. I'm on week 3 now, and 3 days into it. I'm in a group with 3 other people. One is a lady who I helped to pass the backing. Another is a guy who tied scores with me on the classroom tests. The lady isn't the strongest when it comes to things of trucks, and the other guy.....eh...not a bad person...but he just doesn't have this truck thing down. His driving scares me. he can't stay straight in the lane, and shifting is horrible. Our instructor is a really cool guy...but he has to constantly be on this guy. the lady has never driven a clutch, so she has been having a hard time of getting the concept of things, but today she has really improved.

The other smart guy has his stuff down pretty good and the instructor has given us the most driving time so far. He said we will be testing out on Monday for the last and final test, which is the Road test. The other 2 would get more driving time on Monday when there doesn't have to be 9 hrs of time split between 4 people. So I got the hang of things the way they want it done. Just biding my time till Monday.

Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions, I'll be happy to answer what I can. Probably most of you are wondering if this is worth $3,900 I'm spending. In all honesty, no it's not. I haven't received $3,900 in training. 90% of the training is either self taught, or with others in class with you who figures out the stuff before everyone does. Seeing as I've been so much help to everyone else around me, I could probably be an instructor here myself. Well not a road instructor, as I still have years of experience to gain. I'll be honest there is a lot of disorganization here. I don't know if that's real or staged. Because also too, you are in a 3 week screening process. It's been stressful for a lot of people. About the strongest comment I can make regarding this is to stay away from drugs and alcohol before you go to a training program. These people aren't playing. I saw about 10 people get bounced out for those issues. This is after the primary drug test on the 1st day. Everybody was tested again, the following Saturday since there was claim that someone tried to cheat the test. But the rumor going around was some people were told on after observed indulging. Don't even mess around. If your caught, and fail a test, that follows you for a long time and you have hard time getting a trucking job elsewhere.

OK folks I'll report back as soon as I can.