Questions for the swift ladies

A prehire means nothing more than those notices you get in the mail saying you may have won 1 million dollars. You are not hired until you get through orientation.

 

No need for a passport. I do not have one.

 

Hey Fancy! I just graduated from Swift's phoenix academy and was curious...why AIT over Swift's actual school?

 

Swift has a dedicated team that does all the Canadian loads. OTR drivers will take it to a yard close to the border, then the dedicated drivers take it from there. So a passport for an OTR driver is a waste.

 

I looked at all that and I honestly found the fact that going through Swift's school guarantees a job with them (as long as something doesn't change between school and orientation, like partying too hard before the drug test...) There are cheaper, easier schools, but for me the biggest thing was the guaranteed employment at the end of it.

Hope it works out for you. While we were doing our OTR training we were sharing the road with AIT and Southwest trucks, along with two other schools. I was scared. Saw one of each get his trailer COMPLETELY up on the curb coming out of the QuikTrip, and on the freeway they were routinely taking up a lane and a half with the trailer swaying back and forth...

You can pay for Swift's schooling completely up front...I believe (I need to check with my paperwork again) you're only locked into payroll deduction if you don't pay it off before you get your first solo check, then you have no option except to go through the first year. Two people in our class were paying for it that way.

Honestly, you're going to need to work for two years to get a good accident free history with a company before you'll notice anything other than a few CPM increase among all the "starter" companies.

Good luck to you! My choice was different, but I was legitimately curious as to why you would have gone to a different school.

Also, you may wish to talk to the swift recruiter at length. Two people in our class (and a few people from EVERY class when I was there) already HAD their CDLs but because they had no OTR experience, Swift told them they had to go through their academy anyway. I don't know if this is a set in stone thing or if it's a case by case basis. Some schools are several months, and some are only three or four days.

 

Ah ok. As long as it's a refresher course. The mentor time is a no brainer, they'll put you in the truck for the 240, I was referring to people who already had their CDLs with no OTR experience having to go through the actual 3 week Swift academy.