confused

Well first off, You are in the right place to get all of these questions answered, I would start looking for Swift threads in the forum here, You will find that there are negative thread about just about every company out there, Swift is no different we are all going with these different companies for all sorts of different reasons, I am very sure if you go to some of the other threads your questions will be answered and you have done the right thing by posting this here as well. Good Luck if I can be of any help to you just chime in I will do all I can to send you in the right direction. Be Safe. TD.

 

1. Depending on the school you chose you either can drive yourself (if it's close to home like I do) or if you have to leave the state to go they Greyhound you there, put you up in a motel and provide a shuttle there daily.
2. By the time you're with a mentor you've been in school for at least 4 weeks (160 hours) i hope, and will have your CDL A license. Sure you're still a noob, but you're not brand new to grinding gears. You will be as safe as YOUR driving can be, but you'll be fine. Wouldn't give you the keys if they didn't think you safe.
3. Your terminal is (9 times out of 10) the terminal closest to your house. That way they can deadhead or bobtail you as little as possible from a terminal to your house for home time.
4. Post training home time is all decided by the company you run with. Most fleets give you 1 home day for every week out, so you should be able to get at least 3 days home after training to get your stuff together. A lot of companies give you a truck and a load AS SOON as your training is done. Luckily that load heads to your home terminal so you can pack your stuff in the truck.
5. Most drivers get direct deposit, or their pay put on a "prepaid" credit card, I'd imagine they could mail your check home (wouldn't do that though IMO) You're first check should be your first week of training pay and you'll receive it on your 2nd week.
6. That might happen, like I said, your home terminal is normally closest to your residence. As for Swifts comfort zones, I'm not sure, I'm not a Swifty so I don't want to tell you one way or the other and be wrong.
7. Just put in a request for home time. Long as you have the available time, you should just be able to tell your dispatcher the day (7 or 8 days notice, depends on company) and they will get you a load to your home terminal.
8. Standard school supplies (pens paper calculator yadda yadda) clothes odiously, and money for their tests (DoT physical, permit and license) and cash for money, some schools provide food, i know Roehl provides lunch and dinner and motel has cold breakfast, but again I don't know about Swift.
9. Money, oh man this is very open to YOU and YOUR needs. If you plan to run to a Walmart and pick up a ton of Ramen to eat you don't need as much, if you want to go out every night to McD's you'll need more obviously. As I said before you'll also need money for your physical and licenses. Don't forget, you'll also need money for your on the road training for stuff as well. That trainer isn't going to buy you food, and I won't rely on a first paycheck for eating for a week or more. What if it doesn't come when you expect, you're out of cash and out of luck.

I hope some of this has helped you, I just finished my 1st week at truck driving school (have a thread a few spaces down from this if interested) so I by no means know what the hell I'm doing yet, I just have an idea from lurking here and talking to actual students. Before you commit to one company, apply to 6. I'm dead serious. It's always great to have options open to you, personally Swift isn't for me, and you need to make sure that it is a good fit for you. There are literally thousands of truck companies, and easily dozens that will take a total noob, so make sure you're not limiting your choices or screwed your self over by picking the first one that comes to mind, or that you've looked into. I WAS going to go to Swift till I talked to people, read the threads here and dug into them myself. Week 1 at school, I've put in 7 applications and gotten back 2 prehires. Keep your options open!

Sorry for going on so long hehe, send me a PM or post in my thread (Roadmasters in KCMO) if there's anything else I can help you with or talk you to death over!

-+

 

you are going to have to eat it for the first year out there with some bad company, but get your year in, do not get in an accident and then you will have more options. trucking is not a bad thing, you can make money, but get used to being alone for long times. as a woman, i dont think it is any more different for you than a man. the first year you just gotta swallow it

 

Try this link if you haven't already. http://swift.drivers-central.com/swift-transportation/locations/millington.cfm

Might not be what you're looking for, but it might send you in the right direction. I have an attachment that was sent to me via email from Swift. I'll try to figure out how to PM it to you.!

 

Depending on how far away you live from the terminal, and whether or not they allow it, you will take the truck home with you. I know Swift is into slip seating (drivers share trucks) if you're home more then 2 days you have to empty the truck and leave it at the terminal. The recruiter I talked to said it wasn't like that, but their website says they do, so who knows. If you get to keep your truck then you're car will still be at home where you left it when they greyhound bussed you to orientation. So as you can see you may or may not be able to take it home, this was a BIG reason I won't work at Swift, IMO slip seating is unacceptable. As for how much money you'll need, do you mean for school, or the 4 week training? Chances are at school you can get away with less because you can always go to Walmart or something and bring it back to the motel. It should have a small fridge and microwave. On the road training is a whole nother monster. You won't know till you talk to the trainer, but do they have a fridge? If so will they share space for lunch meat? Do they have a microwave? (I think Swift doesn't allot microwaves) If they do can you use it or are they stingy? If it's a company truck the answer probably will be NO to both, but they may have a large cooler under the bottom bunk with ice to keep it cool you can toss some stuff into. If they have none of that, prepare to eat out at a truck stop or fast food every meal. I really wish I could tell you "hell just bring $200 you'll be fine" but since I'm just about to start my 2nd week of school I don't know myself. This should all be told to you by a recruiter, or at the last minute at your orientation by the Swift staff or the actual trainer you're riding with.
I read on here that if you prepare for nothing you'll be ready for nothing, prepare for anything and you'll be able to handle everything. I plan to bring my debit card with me and one credit card for a total emergency. Hopefully what little I have plus my training pay will get me by without resorting to that emergency fund.