Swift School Diary (Memphis) Starting 11/2

DAY 17

BAM! Nailed it! Went to get that CDL today. Gonna have the weekend off and orientation starts Tuesday! I will probably give another update tomorrow on what I thought about the academy. For now, I'll celebrate :)

DAY 17

BAM! Nailed it! Went to get that CDL today. Gonna have the weekend off and orientation starts Tuesday! I will probably give another update tomorrow on what I thought about the academy. For now, I'll celebrate :)

Now is when the real fun begins! Congratulations and best of luck!

Congrats, AdkMatt! Now on to orientation and your mentor runs.

Start a new topic to update us on your road training.

FINAL UPDATE

Ok, so I got my CDL yesterday, and I finally graduated from the academy, so I'm going to take a few minutes to give my impressions on the program as a whole for those of you who are considering applying for it.

So overall, I had an enjoyable time here. I never felt that I was ever under too much pressure, and I passed the majority of my evaluations the first time around.

Classroom time was nicely paced and they did a good job of instructing you on (probably) most of the things that they shouldn't trust your mentor to teach you. The tests were never too challenging, and you never felt that you were going too long without a break.

As for the skills range, this is where I have the most criticisms. By the time we made it to the range, we still had about 40 people left in the class. For those first few days, you only have 1 instructor with your class. The way they 'teach' here is that they give you a demonstration of a skill and then it is up to you to have the natural aptitude to pick up the skill on your own before it is time to evaluate on it. Very seldom would I see an instructor go up to someone who who was having a hard time to give them some pointers. The only time I would see instructors really trying to help students was just before they re-evaluate on a skill they failed the previous day. In the case of most of my classmates, the help came too little, too late. I'm not saying this is the instructor's fault. Swift certainly has the capacity to put more instructors on that range or reduce the class sizes so struggling students can get the extra help they need. The range can have upwards of 80 students on it at one time with only 3 instructor. It doesn't take a rocket scientist.

Road Training, however, was an entirely different experience. Here's the only spot where I'll mention a name, but my road instructor, Doug was, without a doubt, the best part of the entire program for me. As we learned shifting, cornering, up though the final day, he was completely engaged with us through every hour of those long days. He'd give us plenty of praise when he noticed us doing well at something that we were having trouble with, and he was always able to laugh it off if we happened to make a silly mistake. And when we had our breaks, he was always just fun to have around and talk to. He was genuinely confident in our abilities going to the DMV to test for our CDL.

However, our mediocre experience at the backing range would be our group's downfall. On testing day at the DMV, 5 of us went to go test. I was the only one to pass that day. 3 of them failed on their 90 degree back, and 1 failed because of an unsafe act during his road test. I almost failed the 90, gaining 9 points (12 is the max). On the range for my evaluation, I took 0 points. I feel pretty good about my classmates chances though. They get 2 more chances at the test, but It'll be a few more weeks without a paycheck for them.

So that's pretty much how it all went down. Would I recommend the program who is 100% new to the idea of trucking? I'm not sure. Quite frankly, I would recommend that you look into the idea of attending one of the many private Truck Driving Schools that does job placement afterward. You may spend more time there, but, realistically, your chances may be better. As for myself, I've been on this forum reading and using the High Road Training Program for nearly year and have been playing around with a simulator for several months. So if you're like me in this regard, Swift can get you there and can do so quickly.

So that's pretty much all I have to say about that. If anyone has any questions, I'll check back at this topic once in awhile and answer those as best I can.

But for now, orientation for me will start in a week, and I'll be starting a new topic to blog about the mentorship experience through December.

Thanks for the well wishes everybody!

AdkMatt's thoughts are similar to what I experienced at the Memphis school. I attended directly over the holidays last year, so at one point there where about ten students for the entire range! But that was a special situation.

Swift certainly has the capacity to put more instructors on that range or reduce the class sizes

If Doug was doing road training, I have a feeling they can't get enough instructors. There's a big sign at the terminal truck entrance advertising Instructor openings. (One instructor mentioned in class there's a certain pay cut to teach, but after a few years OTR trucking, I bet a 9-5/M-F doesn't seem so bad for some.

As for class size, I believe many companies are going with the "Gold Mine theory": you load several shovelfuls of dirt into the sluice box to get just a few grains of gold. The rest just wash out.

Best of luck on your road training, Matt! I'm looking forward to read about your experiences.

Congrats on your CDL!!! I'm in Florida and seriously thinking about Swift school. I could do the local college but I'm thinking if I'm gonna be with the same company for a year anyways, why not save my cash and just go through Swifts academy? I really want to go OTR and out west, and it seems they have the lanes I'm looking for, maybe not the equipment but that's ok. Looks like ill be attending the Memphis location too. I may rent a car to get there, I just don't wanna ride bus that far, as I would also never Team drive, hehe:) Enjoyed following your diaries here and Good Luck out on the road DRIVER!!

FINAL UPDATE

Ok, so I got my CDL yesterday, and I finally graduated from the academy, so I'm going to take a few minutes to give my impressions on the program as a whole for those of you who are considering applying for it.

So overall, I had an enjoyable time here. I never felt that I was ever under too much pressure, and I passed the majority of my evaluations the first time around.

Classroom time was nicely paced and they did a good job of instructing you on (probably) most of the things that they shouldn't trust your mentor to teach you. The tests were never too challenging, and you never felt that you were going too long without a break.

As for the skills range, this is where I have the most criticisms. By the time we made it to the range, we still had about 40 people left in the class. For those first few days, you only have 1 instructor with your class. The way they 'teach' here is that they give you a demonstration of a skill and then it is up to you to have the natural aptitude to pick up the skill on your own before it is time to evaluate on it. Very seldom would I see an instructor go up to someone who who was having a hard time to give them some pointers. The only time I would see instructors really trying to help students was just before they re-evaluate on a skill they failed the previous day. In the case of most of my classmates, the help came too little, too late. I'm not saying this is the instructor's fault. Swift certainly has the capacity to put more instructors on that range or reduce the class sizes so struggling students can get the extra help they need. The range can have upwards of 80 students on it at one time with only 3 instructor. It doesn't take a rocket scientist.

Road Training, however, was an entirely different experience. Here's the only spot where I'll mention a name, but my road instructor, Doug was, without a doubt, the best part of the entire program for me. As we learned shifting, cornering, up though the final day, he was completely engaged with us through every hour of those long days. He'd give us plenty of praise when he noticed us doing well at something that we were having trouble with, and he was always able to laugh it off if we happened to make a silly mistake. And when we had our breaks, he was always just fun to have around and talk to. He was genuinely confident in our abilities going to the DMV to test for our CDL.

However, our mediocre experience at the backing range would be our group's downfall. On testing day at the DMV, 5 of us went to go test. I was the only one to pass that day. 3 of them failed on their 90 degree back, and 1 failed because of an unsafe act during his road test. I almost failed the 90, gaining 9 points (12 is the max). On the range for my evaluation, I took 0 points. I feel pretty good about my classmates chances though. They get 2 more chances at the test, but It'll be a few more weeks without a paycheck for them.

So that's pretty much how it all went down. Would I recommend the program who is 100% new to the idea of trucking? I'm not sure. Quite frankly, I would recommend that you look into the idea of attending one of the many private Truck Driving Schools that does job placement afterward. You may spend more time there, but, realistically, your chances may be better. As for myself, I've been on this forum reading and using the High Road Training Program for nearly year and have been playing around with a simulator for several months. So if you're like me in this regard, Swift can get you there and can do so quickly.

So that's pretty much all I have to say about that. If anyone has any questions, I'll check back at this topic once in awhile and answer those as best I can.

But for now, orientation for me will start in a week, and I'll be starting a new topic to blog about the mentorship experience through December.

Thanks for the well wishes everybody!

Great log of the 17 days! Thanks for this!

DAY 1

So today was was all about that fun paperwork, oh joy. Apparently our class is a bit larger than usual. We had 45 or so students. I say "had" because 5 or 6 have already been sent home. It seems they all had the same problem, so be aware, if you get your physical done before coming, make sure on your card: 1. The section that says "Intrastate Only" is marked "no"; and 2. The section that says "CDL" is marked "yes".

But otherwise, it was a day full of nothing in particular, long periods of talking to classmates fragmented by document signing, going over policies and coursework, and a brief drug test. Swift buys lunch at their cafeteria for the first day, which is nice, but it only taught me that the Burger King across the street from the terminal might be the only place to get a good meal nearby.

As for the people, the classroom instructors are very nice and really do make you feel good about being there. The drivers around there are pretty friendly too. I'm happy it'll be my home terminal.

The only assignment we received was to read a few chapters and do some review question, but this isn't due for nearly 2 weeks, so I'm happy with that. The real classroom begins tomorrow and we get our first range time on day 3, but that's all for today!

Im getting ready to apply and start my new career. Im considering swift for my company. Im just curious do they do a hair test or a urinalysis? Im clean just not for a year that the other people want. Thank you