I got my class A cdl on my own about 2 weeks ago, Is Swift academy shorter?

Why on earth did it take you five months? What happened?

 

lots of things. delays, mentor problems, christmas. minimum wage too.

 

Can't blame swift for Christmas. Also considering what those delays and mentor problems were you can't fairly up and tell another possible trainee not to go to swift. If I were still a person looking into which company to join as my first company I would pepper you with questions, because that doesn't satisfy the advice not to go to a certain company. What were the delays and mentor problems? Also minimum wage? That depends on what your states starting wage is. The new policy opens up the door to make more money and that depends 85-90% on you and your choices day in and day out and maybe 10% on your mentor. People need more details to be fair.

 

Since when do minimum wage and state starting wages factor in driver pay ?

 

You do not need to go to Swift academy. My advice to do what RickG said go into straight truck with an expedite company or find a company that work with you. Now regarding Swift. All Swift expects on the road test is four things: How to pre trip, drive without hitting a curb, maintain control of the truck, and not getting into any accidents while in the road test. Also, depending on location, Swift may ask for you to back at 45' or 90' alley dock into a spot to prove you have an idea on how to back. Swift has changed a whole lot and those who gone through recent orienations will agree. They use to have no fail road test. That changed in March of 2011.

 

Swift has flooded all the employment websites . That shows how high their turnover is and how desperate they are .

 

I think it factors into your training pay when out with your mentor.

 

It's a new thing with swift that when a student is out with their mentor they are paid a certain amount for being on duty not drivng and a dollar more for on duty driving. It encourages the student to drive and opens the door for higher pay instead of the "canned" amount they were paid on a weekly basis. If done right they can make a lot more than previous students made starting out. Also, if done poorly and the student is taken advantage of by a person who just wants higher pay checks for training and makes them log off duty it could hurt them. It's also there to help the mentor, a student doesn't want to drive, constantly feigning sickness, etc, instead of being paid the same a week it hurts those trying to get over on a good trainer who is actually training the correct way.