Swift academy or not ?

Now that video is downright funny. Brought back memories of when I was a trainer at Swift. Cringe worthy.

I'd give the engineer that designed that holding area an "F". What idiot puts blind side slots with light poles and car parking in the way of exiting traffic?

 

Aso soon as I heard forward facing cameras I hung up...

 

All this talk about out of pocket is stupid. You're paying for it through Swift in the form of low pay for a year or two and you can't deduct the tuition from your taxes. Take the school through a community college. You might qualify for grant money and you can deduct the tuition from your taxes and use the higher education credits. Above all, you're free to work for anyone. A lot of companies will pay you back for tuition too. 62mph would absolutely suck!

 

With 100% turnover, most people pay for the Swift School out of pocket anyway. The first year they deduct the $3,900 from your paycheck each week until the 13 month. Most leave Swift by the 8th month. You see, even with the the $3,900 schooling cost hanging over a guys head, most cannot stay with Swift to see that paid off. Most will leave Swift and pay the $3,900 out of pocket.

Thats a true to life video. That crap can bee seen every day at every Swift terminal. No doubt those are Swift training graduates.

 

My gawd that was hilarious!! Had I known how long (and good) that was going to be I'd have slammed a bag of Orville Redenbacher's in the microwave.

Well, that does not seem to bode well for their Swift Academy although it has been quite a few years since I backed up a tandem and I may not fair any better at first. Still for $3900 and to get the CDL, it may be as good an option as any.

 

Whatever name they put on their CDL schools it's all the same. POOR. They call it Academy's now so people that have no idea on how the system works will think it must be good. Why not, they call the driver trainer mentors to fool the others. Then to top it off the say you only pay this much and we'll pay the rest. Sure, they get it all back then some more when they pay you the lowest there is. Like I said before companies like this make more money if you fail then if you make it. The cards are stacked against you before you even start.

 

I want the license more than anything. I expect most of my 'training' to come from driving for an almost living.

 

Swift Academy is very similar to most "CDL Mills", their focus is entirely on training you just enough to get your CDL. They tell you the real training begins when you get hired by a company and get in the trainer's truck. Therefore the trainers in the company are really the key to helping you succeed.

When I was a trainer for Swift the average graduate from Swift Academy or other CDL mills had a TOTAL of 10 hours behind the wheel. A good trainee, willing and able to work, could double their experience the first day.

Top notch driver schools are pricy, but will prepare you much better than that. The bottom line is that your REAL learning will begin the day you go solo.

 

10 hours behind a wheel is almost nothing and I would venture to say 9 of that is probably moving forward. Stevie Wonder can drive a truck forward.

Sage assured me I would get a minimum of 11 – 4 hour sessions behind a wheel. So that’s great, but like you said, that would be the equivalent of 1 week on the road. I’m not sure if that is worth paying Sage an extra $2,000.

 

Heck I only had about 30 minutes time behind the wheel of a tractor trailer before I took my road test and I got a 92.

After I got my license I bought a couple trucks and I sure learned a lot in my first ten hours of driving around.