Profile For Big Dan

Two months ago I began applying with different companies that had a sponsored training program. Whether for good or ill SWIFT transportation was the first company to respond. After discussing this company with my Father-in-Law (a 20 year driving veteran) i decided to take SWIFT up on its offer.

Because I was currently working as a Workers Compensation Insurance Consultant i had to give an abnormally long (2 months) notice. During this time I was able to obtain my Class A CDL permit (with airbrakes and Combination) as well as my DOT Physical, which is required prior to applying for the permit here in Oregon. This two months notice was a blessing and a curse. While it gave me plenty of time to get everything together it also allowed alot of time for second guessng and cold feet for my wife and I. SWIFT only has three training areas and I will be writting my ongoing review/diary from Lewiston Idaho.

When you furst contact SWIFT you will be routed to a "recruiter" who will help guide you through the application and training phase of your employment. Once you have completed your application your "recruiter" will contact you with a few questions. I recomend having a list of questions of your own at the ready. You will then be assigned an online username and password in order to complete their online preliminary training. This online course takes approximately four hours to complete and consists of a series of videos and multiple coice as well as true or false tests that require a score of 80% to pass.

You will also be required to complete a DOT physical at a SWIFT approved clinic. This is paid for out of your own pocket. Please be ready to shell out $90.00 or more. I was very pleased with this as the nearest SWIFT approved clinic was in Portland OR (400+ miles away). As this was not feasible for me my "recruiter" went above and beyond by following through with whatever management she had to in order to establish a new approved clinic in my town.

The last step in the recruitment process was to obtain your class A CDL Permit and schedule your class start dates. Be aware that the CDL Permit costs come out of your own pocket and ran me approximately $50-$60.

Now that I had completed that it was down to a hurry up and wait game. Your recruiter will not schedule your class dates more than a month out and will not get your room and bus ticket until the Thursday prior to yor class start date.

As you will probably have noticed I have been using quotation marks around the word recruiter. This is because I would not consider her a recruiter. I recruited myself and felt i had to be ontop of her to make sure things happened. I would consider her more of a facilitator.

My one piece of advice to anyone considering applying with SWIFT would be patience! Remember tha our recruiter is probably dealing with a coule dozen new people with hundreds of questions a week. Patience and persistence wins the day.

At this time I am riding a bus to Lewiston Idaho and my phone battery is going dead. I start classes tomorrow and will be logging more diaries as things happen. Wish me luck...

Big D...

Good Morning Everyone! (It is 7:52 am, here in the west coast)

I have been perusing this site for a couple of months now and this is the first time I have written. I figure since I made the decision to become a professional Truck Driver and this site has helped me tremendously, I should intruduce myself.

My name is Daniel Campbell and I am a 26 year old U.S. Army Veteran. I first began considering a career in the Truck Driving industry back in 2008 (when I left the army) but I decided against it at that time because I felt I had something good. Well as it turns out I have decided to pursue this career. Anyhow I begun by reading through many of your articles on this site and eventually decided to use SWIFT as my jumpoff.

I have since obtained my Class A CDL Permit (Air Brakes and Combination) as well as my ODOT Physical. I am scheduled to begin my CDL Training with SWIFT on 11/04/13 in Lewiston, ID. I will be calling my Recruiter at SWIFT for my Bus Ticket and last minute information on Thursday.

Some of you may wonder why I decided after all of these years to join the Truck Driving industry. Well I have had some difficulty in readjusting to Civilian life and after reading through all of he articles available here I came to realize that this industry is not a far cry from the military. You see in the military you are trained to perform a job (CDL School) and given orders on a daily basis (Qualcom loads), you are also expected to perform daily equipment inspections and some minor PMCS (Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services). So long as your orders and ongoing directives are accomplished it is not so much of how it is done but that it is.

I have spent the past several years trying to forget my Military Training in force myself back into the role of your everyday civilian (and being entirely too unhappy about it) when I could have been capitalizing on my training and experience by applying myself with the same dedication and drive to an industry with vast similarities to the military. Alot of you might say that my above comparison could fit with almost any position but what other position out side of the military have more rules and regulations lol.

Anyways I look forward to this transition and hope to be a regular here. I will keep you all updated on the happening with the SWIFT Academy in Lewiston, ID. Good luck out there to all of you.

(p.s. to any veterans out there considering a position in the Trucking Industry that might happen to be reading this I will let you know if my assumptions and view on the Trucking Industry as it compares with the Military are right in my next post.)

Big D