thinking about swift as starter comapny

You are not paid during your CDL "academy" but you are paid while on your mentor's truck.

Midnight: our O/P may not have the cash to pony up for a Community College class. That was the position I was in..and the local CC didn't offer a class anyway. Swift will take $37.50 from each of your checks until it's paid off...well, it's more complicated than that, but the point is, they will finance it. You will have as many options after completion of your "academy" and road training as you would going through a community college. You will just owe the money to Swift rather than the community college. Actually, opportunities may be even better since Millington is PTDI accredited and many community colleges are not. Insurance companies, you know...

 

I went back to Swift's website and looked up the academy requirements on each locations closing form. Millington applicants have to have their cdl permit before going, but I noticed San Antonio students do not. They get their permit while there? Doesn't state one way or the other for Phoenix or Lewiston. Listed requirements are also (slightly) different also. I would think that the academies would have the same requirements and closing form.

 

This seems to be the start of things that go on forever at Swift, the Academies have different policies and it flows uphill to the terminals. It's a giant conspiracy to keep us off balance from the beginning!

 

Yep

 

It could also be for economic reasons, state requirements, management reasons...
Just shooting in the dark.

The fact of the matter is you can get your permit by simply reading the manual and taking the written tests. Not that difficult if you are fairly good at reading comprehension.

Also, doing it that way in a large company with schools in many different states makes sense. They like to standardize as much as possible, which can sometimes be difficult with things like state government tests unless the states first standardize.


I'd say - don't be so quick to down Swift just because you have to do things a bit differently in different states. Different states have different types of people, different governments, different foods, different cultures, different road systems and signs and rules, different restaurants, different rest stops, different... well, you name it. Each state is unique in at least one way, from every other state.


Just go with the flow.
That is also the best rule for a truckers life, by the way, since no 2 days are ever exactly the same as any other.

 

ocala,

dry

 

I didn't realize I was being "so quick to down Swift." :smt017

 

i understand there injun swift seems better than werner with werner all you do is sit and wait or they give you a load with a certain amount of miles and half way there they want you to meet another driver and let them take it on from the location whie they leave you sitting. i don't know what the miles are with swift but all the sites say the same miles as well as recruiters and recruiters lie trust me. though my trainer was horrible he wanted me to have the truck backed up in 5 seconds he got bent cause it took me 10 mins to back in i just got out and tossed the keys at him and said your the efing genius you back it in 5 seconds then and walked off so i didnt even make it off the parking lot thats why i decided on a community college but i understand your situation though. and you can always request what kind of trainer you want to bad i learned that after but id'e ask for a veterian trainer not no newbie no disrespect to the newbie drivers i think a trainer should have atleast a yr OTR in all weather conditions not three months. and it don't mean you'll get a bad trainer eathier #### happens thats trucking when your with your trainer it's like being married trust me LOL never mind the space in the truck thats another thing