Swift training school any one out here been there.

I will make note of this, thank you.

 

At this stage in my choice of Swift I would say yes, I would do it all over again! I have heard from many people on these boards that went to a CDL school and are not able to get a job with a carrier after they receive their CDL. They are spending a lot of money on school to not have a job in the end.

Compared to the other "training" companies, I would choose Swift over any of them.

 

Today was an awesome day in Lewiston ID. I started out driving the "bridge" route. Basically I drove from the terminal, over the bridge to Clarkston WA, then over the next bridge back to Lewiston, and again into Clarkston. The morning driving was pretty easy because there was not any traffic.

Next I headed out of Lewiston on Highway 12 and got to go through the weigh station for the first time. The Lewiston Highway 12 station is a left exit, and I knew it was coming up so I was prepared to exit. As I approached the scales the DOT officer was standing at the railing smoking a cigarette. Bob, the instructor, said " Well he can't give you a red light because he's outside". Well as my steers hit the scale, the DOT gives me a hand signal from the other side of the railing to stop. I roll down the window and here is our conversation:

DOT: Good morning.
ME: Good morning sir.
DOT: Do you have your logbook this morning.
ME: Yes sir I do.
DOT: Is it current.
ME: Yes it is.
DOT: May I see it please.
ME: Certainly... As I reach into the shelf above me and retrieve my book.
DOT: He walks around the railing and grabs my book. Next he looks at EVERY page in the logbook, dating all the way back to June 29th. There are a couple of pages that I had to void because I messed up. He looked at those really close, and then looked at the next page. After looking through my entire logbook, right up until my last duty change, he says good job and have a nice day!

Bob said that I did a really good job. He said that the DOT will usually find something in a students log to give them a hassle about. I just told him that I am logging everything as I do it, and it is really not that difficult.

So my first experience with DOT could not have gone any better in my opinion. I felt pretty good after this and ended up driving 2.5 hours and 80 miles this morning. Dave started driving in Troy ID, and took us back through Pullman WA and into Clarkston where he continued to drive through the city. Dave drove for 3 hours and 78 miles.

After lunch we headed back out to get more city driving in Clarkston and Lewiston. Nothing too much happened while I drove. I was able to find a couple of more curbs that the trailer could have gotten by if I judged them a little bit better, but all in all I did really good. i drove for 1.5 hours and 26 miles after lunch.

Dave drove for 2 hours and 28 miles this afternoon. Bob decided to try a couple of new turns that he had not done before. The first was pretty tight, but Dave was able to get by without hitting the curb, or any 4 wheelers. The second was on the next block and was a left hand turn. This turn was very tight and required the trailer to go into the turn lane where a 4 wheeler needed to back out of the way. On the other side was a tree where the branches came into Bob's window. Dave did really good and was able to complete the turn without incident, until he got about 200 feet down the road where a Clarkston Police Officer was stopped in his car just shaking his head at us. Apparently they would rather Swift not use that corner any more. Bob knew the officer, so he let it go with the shaking of his head and no other action.

Dave and I both feel that we need more time driving in the city to pass the WA State test, but Bob believes we could pass know. I figure he sees new students every 2 weeks, so he has a good idea of our skills. Over the next couple of days we will get a lot more city driving and build our confidence level for the test.

Below is a link to the GPS tracker for today if anyone is interested. If you click on the Google Earth link at the top, you can actually zoom in and see everything.
http://gpsed.com/track/7306594500431933982

 

Sounds like a great day for both of you...remember like Bob said once..you are driving, so if it looks like you can't or shouldn't...DON'T...and explain to Bob why...something tells me he will respect your judgement on SAFETY, over his desire to teach you something risky for a newbie.

Just words to ponder! Great Job!!! Again.

 

Today we focused on driving in the city. No long trips where we would be going 62mph and setting the cruise control! The morning went very well and we started out with Dave driving and me riding in the back seat. I must say, we have seen a lot of the Lewiston and Clarkston PD. It almost seems like they are following us around town.

Dave had a great morning where he felt much better about the way he was down shifting and making turns. He drove for the first 2.5 hours and logged 42 miles in the city. We switched and I started driving at 8am. I too was able to drive 45 miles and 2.5 hours before lunch. Again I drove strictly in the city making a left, then a right, then a left, then another left etc. etc. etc........ We both had a great morning and took lunch at 10:30.

During lunch Bob learned that Swift will be changing the way that they run the driving academy. Starting with the July 27th class in Lewiston, the students will not be reimbursed for the $3900 tuition cost. In addition the students will also be responsible for the costs of lodging. He did not have all the details, but this is the way they are told it will be for all of the schools. So needless to say the instructors believe that enrollment will drop drastically with this change. I will provide more information on this as I learn it!

Now for the afternoon. Again Dave started driving strictly in the city and he logged another 36 miles and 1.5 hours. There is a lot more traffic in the afternoon, and he had to make a few tight turns were he had to wait for cars to turn so he could use the lane they were in. Bob is taking us into a lot of situations just to show us that it's not a perfect world.

I started driving at 1:30 and logged another 35 miles and 2 hours on line 3. It started out pretty much like the morning with a bunch of turns and a lot of shifting in traffic. Again we took a lot of small residential streets where the turns are a lot tighter than we will see on the state test. So Bob directed me to turn right off of Snake River Avenue onto 11th Avenue, in Lewiston. He said, take a good look and notice that pole. I also saw a cement truck turning on the same road, and he was taking the turn very slow. So I got down to 3rd gear and saw a car coming off the hill on 11th. I waited for the car to turn and started up this VERY steep incline in 1st gear. By the way, the trailer is loaded with 15,000 pounds of concrete barriers. So I start up this hill which is about 600 feet long. As I approach the top of the hill I see an intersection with a 4 way stop. There are no other vehicles in the intersection. I also notice a long line of cars coming up the hill behind me, including a car that is about 4' from my trailer. I assessed the situation and I decided to proceed through the stop sign in first gear. I made sure the intersection was clear, and was prepared to stop, but I thought it would be safer to not stop on the incline and try to get going from a complete stop.
After I cleared the intersection Bob was laughing and said, that's one way to go about it! He said he had never considered rolling through the intersection and everyone else he has taken through there stalled the tractor when they tried to start out in 1st gear. I would have needed to start in LOW, which I did not consider. When I explained that I felt the car behind me was so close that if I rolled back any, I would hit that car. I felt that it was safer to do what i did. He said that he understands my thinking, but what I did was very risky.

So I learned by my mistake. I should have stopped completely for the stop sign and started out in LOW gear on the hill. I feel that I could have started out just fine without rolling, but I would have tried to do it in 1st gear, the truck would have stalled and I would have then started in LOW gear. I am sure that Bob will probably take me back to that hill again, and I will stop at the sign.

So this afternoon was pretty rough for me, but I will put it all behind me and start out fresh on Day 15, Wednesday. Day 15 will have us taking another Pre-trip test, skills test and road test for the school. This is all practice for the state test, and to pass through the schools test.

Here is a link to todays GPS Tracker.
http://gpsed.com/track/7306594500519859067

 

That's an interesting story - your average 4-wheeler probably wouldn't even consider it and was probably thinking "that jerk just ran that stop sign!" I like your take on it though.

 

Welcome to the real world of driving a truck...in my opinion, you made a wise, considered choice. With a load in the trailer, 4 wheeler trying to read the ID # on the DOT bumper, approaching the intersection ready to stop if necessary, then ease through...(as long as the car reading the DOT bumper doesn't have those funny red and blue lights on top anyway).

Glad to hear that you were analyzing situations, as you are driving..multi-tasking just like mama taught you! Great job again today!

 

I am thinking of applying to Swift for orientation. I have the pre-hire letter. What I would like to know is if after the orient. do they have trucks are is there still a 1-2 month wait?

Ford - Thanks for the posts - I am learning a lot from you. Very helpful.

 

Thats a creative way to handle the stop on a hill situation.. I would have done the samething myself well like Otherhalf said as long as the one trying to push ya up the hill don't have any purty christmas lights on the roof LOL...

That rumor you heard about the lodging starting with the July 27th class will be very interesting to find out the validity.. specially if the $$ will just be added to the schooling fee or if will have to have the $$ upfront... I'll find out on the 20th when I call to confirm the start date of the 27th for me could be an interesting adventure I might be going on here in the next couple of weeks....