Thinking of starting my trucking career at Swift (Richmond, VA)

I'd definitely try to go private at all cost. Roel and Abilene are both decent companies to get ya foot in the door.

 

You can go to Swift, then quit after graduation. This happens every day and they will send a bill in the mail. @Flattie C just did this very thing and can explain it to you. She started with Abilene Monday.

 

Abilene will reimburse. And they're right out of Richmond.

Thing with swift school is the extreme ease of failing out and still owing the money. All because you didn't get nearly enough training during this school. I would advise another school choice if you've anything more than some doubts about your driving ability.

Whatever you do though, never mention that you're just going to get the license and then not work for swift after. They will find a way to get rid of you. Act like a super excited wannabe swiftie right up until you don't show up for orientation.

 

Don't start overthinking this. Get your cdl the easiest way, then hit the road and don't look back.

Analysis paralysis or paralysis by analysis is the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or "perfect" solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, while on the way to a better solution.

 

Wow, Friday has a good post on Swift School.

Having worked a Swift, his description is exactly what I would of expected from Swift. I never went to Swift driving School. Actually driving for Swift, you will meet few drivers that have been through Swift's school. Most of Swift's drivers when to driving schools outside of Swift. Reading Friday's post you can see why. That School is just a money making scheme for them. Something I have always suspected.

 

There's plenty of Swift bashing on this forum and elsewhere (the real world). I was already a member of this forum as I was making my reentry into trucking when I decided to go with Swift about three years ago. I went to visit four companies near where I lived. Swift was the only one that invited me to tour the facility, check out the equipment, talk with drivers in the lounge, and talk with the on site recruiter. Others were unwelcoming, one to the point of running me off the property.

I put in two years at Swift. That was my plan. The last year I was a trainer. With the increases in pay scale, any OTR driver that is willing to run and gun should easily make more than $40K first year, more if you get to Platinum level.

Have a Plan. Work the Plan.

I parlayed my experience at Swift to get my current gig, running flatbed to the oil patch. Get ALL your endorsements, including Hazmat. Swift reimburses you for that. When you move up to your next job those endorsements pay off.

 

I went through Swift training, it was fast paced and they crammed a lot of info into you in two weeks, just classroom and backing training. The third week was on-road driving training to get your CDL. I learned the most from my mentor out on the road about trucking life though. Swift treated me well, I never waited long for a load when I had the hours, they even paid me bobtailing 500 miles for a reposition where they had loads. Only went to NYC once at a paper mill, which wasn't bad, and when I went to Chicago, it was at a railroad hub for intermodal trailers.

 

If you want to be out, then I'd seriously consider sending yourself through school. Shipper's Choice in Chester will put you through school and finance you regardless of credit. I put my course on a credit card and they took $1000 off for doing that. You get a couple month out of school before you have to start paying on it, and almost every company that came to recruit either paid tuition reimbursement, or paid high enough that it didn't matter they didn't. In any case you'll probably make more than you would at Swift from what I hear.