I want to succeed in Trucking as my Industry (graphics & design) has dried up and died. I also, cannot stand the current Corporate culture in America - its so disingenuous - phoney as hell and after 25+ years, I've had it. I got my CDL w/basic 3 endorsements July 2007 (yeah, it's been a while) while I was laid off. I passed both the written & road tests first time out. Wondering about the following... A) How involved is the first road test at Swift Orientation, especially since I told Swift it's been 20+ months since I've driven - what do I need to focus on and should I take a refesher course? B) What is the rate of pay overall for the first year and will Swift keep me in an endless training cycle (like Werner does) or do they actually train you for 6-8 weeks and then give you a truck? I considered going to Watkins & Shepard however, they want me to go thru training again at the cost of $4,000 - they are considered one of the best companies out there training-wise. I just want to know that Swift will provide good training. Any help/input would be GREATLY appreciated. I really want to succeed at this. I love driving a truck and I'm not afraid of rolling up my sleeves for some hard work ahead. Thanking you in advance, ZeeSchogun >8 )
They just have you take a spin around the yard in a bobtail, hook up to a trailer, back in a trailer, and unhook. Pretty easy stuff. At least that is what they had me do in the Gary terminal when I was in their orientation a few years ago. The trainer I got was VERY good. I rode with him only a week because I had a homesickness problem. In general my short experience with Swift was very positive. The trainer's name was CB, ask for him if you do go with Swift. I am pretty sure they will cut you loose if you're a decent driver after six weeks. I can not comment about the pay since I was no there long enough.
The Swift Orientation roadtest is just a short drive around the block. They are just going to make sure that you can shift the gears and watch your trailer. Very easy. Fish for gears and get sent home. I was offroad for a number of years and tried to get back into skateboarding, but none of the skater companies would hire me without recent experience. The bottomfeeder skater companies all wanted me to go to school. Never been to school, so to hell with that. Swift was the only company that would hire me without sending me to school. I had to ride with a trainer for 3 weeks. I will say this: Swifts Flatbed training course is top notch! I was actually surprised. You still have the same idiots in the office over you, but the instructor was good and the majority of the skaters were good flatbed drivers. Shocked the hell out of me! Strong truck (before they castrated them again) and decent equipment...except for the low starting pay ($.28), it was actually a pretty good gig.
Good info to have, thanks! I did great my first time out and have always driven a manual in any of my 4-wheelers my whole life so the switch to double clutching wasn't so bad. I will need to get back into down-shifting coming down a hill when I get up into those higher gears - its been a while. >8 )
