Starting Swift Academy in Lewiston Oct 10!!

I've been wanting to do long haul truck driving for something like 8 or 10 years. Now that I'm about to start, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. All my previous reasons for staying stuck in my old pattern of alternating dumb 9-5 jobs with months of being unemployed (sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally) now seem stupid to me. I guess that's another way to say that I'm finally doing what I've wanted to for such a long time, and I'm pretty excited!

After a fair bit of research, mostly on these forums, I decided to go with a driver mill, both because I can't plunk down $4K for a private school, and because I get guaranteed employment if I pass the school and tests. I know that I'll be getting the lowest pay and worst treatment in the industry, but I also know that if I put up and shut up for a year, I'll have a great opportunity to move up - either inside Swift or with someone else. I chose Swift because they seemed to have the most of what I'm looking for at the moment, and my recruiter has been helpful and usually on the ball.

So I have my CDL permit and physical, and I start the Academy in Lewiston next week. I've read a lot about the process from the threads here - thanks to Fewe, Domandred, SteveH85396, schmud0811, rswinnerton, AZS, Kusanagi, Aflak, AZHammer, et al for their threads about their experiences starting out with Swift. And thanks to the more experienced members - Injun, 1nonly, Hamshoe, Oldnewbiegonnabe, 123456, bluebonn, et al - for their calm and sane advice. I'm hoping to give back to this community a little by chiming in with my experiences. And, if the S#!T hits the fan, maybe I can come crying here and get some help. I'll post more as things happen!

 

Awesome; so we'll be in the same class. Assuming neither of us drops or gets kicked out - it seems several people go home after a day or two because of paperwork or drug tests or whatever.

I just checked my mail for the last time today before heading to the academy (I'm driving and visiting friends in PDX on the way) and didn't have my plastic CDL permit yet, so I sure hope the paper temp one is enough. I can have a friend mail it to me in Lewiston once it arrives if necessary.

I'm expecting quality instructors and program. I went through a Laidlaw "driver mill" for school bus driving several years ago and found that it was largely what you make it - the people are all helpful and friendly, and it was a great experience despite some bad apples on both sides. It's taken me awhile, but I've learned to ignore the naysayers and complainers and make the best of any situation. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar!

 

Well, first day is done and things are looking good so far. I arrived at midnight, parked near Swift's facilities, and caught almost 4 hours of sleep before getting up for class. I understand why they run 11 hour days, 6 days a week (HOS and all) but why they do it 5am-4pm instead of something sane like 7am-6pm is beyond me. Anyway, it's all classroom today and tomorrow, and the material is presented as slowly and repetitively as I'd expected, so my only goal is to not fall asleep. Our classroom instructor is the wife of the range manager, and they both seem happy to be where they are, organized and on top of things, and helpful. Our class is large - 13 started and nobody's dropped or been kicked out yet. I was surprised at how many people still needed a physical or had left some paperwork at the hotel - I thought that was all necessary before starting. Maybe different recruiters guide people differently, and they all got stuff done today anyway. I found wifi easily after class and am about to go buy some groceries, cook supper, and find a better place to park for the night. I need to get a little more sleep tonight so I don't have to suffer through the 40 cent cups of bad coffee from the vending machine tomorrow.

LaughingMan, say hi to me sometime. I'm the one with the beard, ponytail, and hat. My name should be obvious.