Graduated Swift WACO, GA Academy. What to Expect. What to not/do.

Hello all. After 19 days of training, I passed my CDL pre-Trip, in-cab/brake test, maneuvers and road skills on my first try. I want to start of by thanking everyone here that I spoke to in preparation for the training academy. The advice I've read and have been given played an important role in my success.

Introduction

*Disclaimer* This information is accurate as of November 30th 2016. Academy policy does change from time to time. Do not accept this information from me as fact. Use it as a guide.

I want to outline some things for anyone interested in joining a Swift academy. I'm going to elaborate on what to expect, what you should do and what you should not do. I've seen a lot of students get sent home for not following rules, not having documentation and failing to do their part.

When you arrive at the hotel, you will be checked into a room with another student where possible. You do not have a choice with your room. You will not be placed with the opposite sex. You are not allowed to have anyone else in your room unless they are specifically assigned to your room.

There are cameras everywhere at this hotel. You will be recorded, video and audio. The tapes WILL be reviewed in the event there is ANY incident or Swift and/or hotel policy violation. There are no exceptions to this. The insides of your room are not monitored. I highly HIGHLY recommend you do not violate policy outside of the hotel when you do your shopping, go home for a holiday or weekend, etc.

Do not under any circumstance fraternize with the opposite sex in a way that could even be perceived as unprofessional. You will be sent home. You are not at the academy for a relationship, you are not at the hotel for sex. Even if you think you can get away with it 50 miles away with another student, don't do it. This is seriously unprofessional.

You are monitored at all times within all Swift controlled areas. This includes classrooms, outside the schools, at the range with CCTV, inside the vehicles, at the break areas, etc. You will be monitored with both audio and video. You will also have all interactions with instructors monitored with body cams which record audio and video.

This is NOT in an attempt to scare you. These recordings are in place to protect everyone, including students from other students. The entire time I was there, I wasn't even bothered by it. I was there to get my CDL, not break the rules or worry about "safe spaces"

Which brings us to the next topic. Act professional. Do not violate Swift policy. Do not sleep in class or in the truck. Do not smoke cigarettes when and where you aren't supposed to. Do not bring your phone onto the range. Do not be an #######. Do not record other people with your phones. Do not tell other people what to do. This is not your home. This is a potential place for employment. You are here to get a job.

Most of the people you meet will be gone by the time you're ready to test. Typically it is for violating policies. Some of it is documentation requirements. Some of it is from quitting the program all together. I started in a class of 14? or 16 students. At test time, only 8 remained. 2 of us passed our first time. The other 6 failed their first time. The previous week's testers had 16/17 fails. Which brings us to our next topic, studying.

The majority of people fail their tests from not studying or taking their truck time seriously. The remaining few have problems with nerves. If you have 19 days from the time you arrive, to the time you test and you fail a pre-trip, you really need to re-evaluate why you're there. There are no excuses for something that takes a few hours an evening to memorize in its entirety. The moment you stop practicing and say to yourself or anyone else "I've got this, I don't need to do it anymore", you've failed. You get three opportunities to pass the test.

When you're at the academy, you will have several people in your class and the previous classes to intermingle with while you're at the range or at the hotel. Take a moment and observe the people around you. Observe who the winners and losers are. You want to be a winner right? Associate with the winners. The color of your skin, your gender, your background has absolutely ZERO bearing on your ability to succeed. Do not let biased behavior prevent your success. I studied with every single person who even talked about practicing.

When you're there, you need to become apart of this short lived group of individuals. You need to take the lead position and work together as a team. Think of your fellow students as your children. Your job is to raise them up, not tear them down. You will become a better person and a better driver by learning your strengths and weaknesses and their strengths and weaknesses. It allows you all to work on each other. Some of these folks have never had someone tell them they can do anything. Become a leader. Lead everyone, including yourself to success.

Training

Day 1
Basic introduction to the academy. Paperwork, drug tests, physicals if you need them. You will have a test strip drug test and an analysis done on your urine. Please do not do drugs. Do not do drugs before you come here. Do not try to fake the urinalysis with synthetic urine. Do not try to use hand warmers to warm your fake urine. Do not try to take cleansers before you come here. The chemical markers of cleansers will be detected in your urinalysis. You will fail. You will go home. You will be screwed. DO NOT TO DRUGS.

After everyone is finished. You go back, eat lunch, discuss more things, go back to the hotel. On your first day, lunch is provided for you for this day only. You are not provided breakfast, lunch or dinner by Swift. The hotel provides breakfast every single morning. This leads to the next side note which is very important.

Bring money to live on. You are not paid while at the academy. If someone told you different, they lied to you. You can do your laundry at the hotel laundry room or you can walk across the street to the laundromat. Swift does NOT provide transportation to Wal-Mart or Dollar General while you're in the academy. There has been some confusion about this with some of the students. If you want a ride someplace, hitch one from a stranger, your fellow classmates who brought their vehicle, call an Uber/Taxi or walk.

Day 2
More paperwork. Classroom time

Day 3
Straight Backing. Straight Back evaluations. If you fail your evaluation, you have one more day to fix it. If you fail the second time, you go home. You get 15 minute rotations in the vehicle. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure you get your 15 minutes in the truck. It is not the instructors responsibility unless you have a student who refuses to leave the truck, even after you have informed them their 15 minutes is up.

Day 4
2nd Straight backing evaluations. If you passed on day 3, you move onto pre-trip instructions.

Day 5
Tallapoosa Range time. You learn offset maneuvers.

Day 6
Classroom time. Life on the road, map reading, trip planning. Discussions.

Day 7
Day off

Week 2
Maneuvers

Week 2 Weekend (One day)
Testing on trip planning and map reading.

Week 3
Driving. You get 1 hour rotations. With the average class size, it will be 3-4 people per truck. Driving days will be focused on shifting, turning, integrating smoothly in traffic, general driving conditions, night time driving. I highly recommend the day before you do night driving, you immediately start shifting your sleep schedule to be capable of doing 10+ hours starting from 1-3 am.

Week 4
Testing for you and your classmates

What to do after you pass:
Go to DDS and get your paper license. Contact your HR immediately. Get scheduled for Swift orientation. Go to work.

What to do if you fail:
You have the tools given to you to succeed in this world. There are no excuses. You should not have failed to begin with. IF you do fail, work harder and pass the second test.

Closing
Everything you need to pass this test is available to you. You are responsible for your future. The tools are here. The only person preventing you from succeeding is yourself. Do not blame the instructors, other students or even the rain for your failures. Blame yourself.

This program is definitely amazing. I am proud to have attended this academy. Swift trains you in the most restrictive settings imaginable. They're much stricter than DDS requirements. If you can do it at the academy, the DDS test is child's play at best.

Work hard everyone!

 

Thank you very much