Question for some of you experienced guys

Just answering your question. I am going with Swift. The same day I talked to my recruiter, he sent me the link to fill out the application. I submitted the application that night and heard back from him the next day. He then sent me the link to do an online CDL course (just a couple videos and quizzes to get you ready to get your class A permit) same day. As soon as I finished those I emailed him, and talked to him same day. He then gave me the phone number of the place I would go to take my DOT physical. That was today. My recruiter has been great so far, I have never had to wait long to get information from him. Hope this helps, and good luck.

 

That 1 year you can't verify may hurt you. Lots of experienced drivers will get sent home. Some of these companies will even train you and then when it's time to get rolling. They will say opps we can't hire you because of that. But you owe us for the school. So you better make sure its ok with a companies safety department if you are going to a company sponsored school. Even if you go to a community college or driving school. You have a cdl, but who is going to hire you. Might want to see about getting that fixed before you move forward. If it has been in the last 10 years.

 

2 weeks?If swift takes that long just imagine what it's like waiting for lds.Cross them off your list.To hear back should only take a couple days.What process was that recruiter talking about?You filled out an application when the office ppl at CRST left for the day.You'll hear back from them in the morning.So be ready for questions.CRST is a team company which I assume you already knew that.

 

I started with Swift 5 years ago. I only did it because they were the largest private trucking company at the time. I knew nothing about trucking. I probably know even less now. What I do know, though, is that if you want experience, you'll get it. Work for them or any other larger company and you will learn about all the ways your dispatchers, safety people, driver manager, terminal manager, fleet manager...heck, even the service manager...will go out of their way to screw you. Out of miles, out of pay, out of luck. Do this garbage and keep telling yourself that you are getting experience. Do it for 2 years. At the end of those two years, go apply for a local company that does otr flatbed. The two years of experience is for the insurance companies. Keep your nose clean. Don't hit bridges in chicago, fire hydrants in New Jersey, or little Asian trucks out in Arizona and you'll be fine.

I only did dry van for Swift, but decided to go flatbed with a smaller company because I was tired of not being sore in the shoulders and getting cramps when I am working my load. Flatbedding isn't that hard to learn, but if you have a brain that is active, they don't tell you about the dreams you might have where the load you were subconciously worried about shows up in your dreams and you wake up crying because you think you lost your load on a whole family in their car. Or you tipped over off a cliff. Yeah. They should let first-timers know about the dreams they might have.

Other than the above mentioned stuff, there is a lot of information to be found on youtube and elsewhere in this forum.

Good Luck!

(p.s. If you don't have dreams about losing your load, you are a much better person than I am.)

 

By the way, as a Marine Corps veteran, I am speaking from experience. You need to understand Swift. They are this really, really huge company...kind of like a many, many headed hydra. Ya know, like that Medusa chick. Anyway, all the snakes have blinders on. Where are you located? There are active recruiters in your region. You could call your nearest Swift terminal and ask to speak to the terminal manager. The recruiters are there to get warm-ish bodies into seats, and if they don't do their job, you sure won't be able to do yours. When I went to a 3rd party CDL mill in St Louis (MTC-holla!) I met the recruiter for my region who worked out of Ohio. You contact them and stay on them and they will get your rear in a seat. I went to school and had to wait 10 days to get with a mentor and another 10 days after training to get into a truck. It might take time, but I will be worth it for all they are going to do to you. Bring extra K-Y and something to bite down on...it's going to be a bumpy couple of years.

 

YEAP! Sounds bout right. lol

 

Sorry, I guess I'm feeling somewhat...loose lipped...tonight since I have no 4g service and have to rely on some school's internet connection. No porn, no facebook=no fun.

Anyway, I also wanted to add that if I was going to go with a company for the flatbedding, it would be someone like TMC (for the black and chrome...no money but you look good going down the road...also, they force you to keep your truck clean 100% of time or you are fired). Prime, Swift, Melton, CRST Malone...they tarp EVERYTHING. I don't know if it's just company policy, but everything I see going down the road is tarped. Keep that in mind.

Whew, whoever put that quarter in me got their money's worth.

Good luck out there!

 

"No porn, no facebook=no fun." Makes perfect sense.

 

Since you are a 16 year Army Vet are you GI bill eligible? Some schools like Sage, accept GI Bill payments, you go to the course, your GI bill pays, plus you get a monthly spending allowance. When you complete it, you owe nothing, and have job placement. The recruiters will contact you, and make the whole process easier. To get started, register with this site for your benefits. https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits-portal/ebenefits.portal