Schneider Vs Swift Who Has Patience With Newbies

I am recent cdl graduate. Had two prehire. Schneider and swift. Trying to decide which one will be best fit, one that will offer me time and space to learn as much before being assigned a truck. I am down to selecting between schneider and swift. I need some advice. I met both recruiter at my school. Schneider is 18 days training while swift is 4-6 weeks. Considering my shifting kinda sucks, not that good. I need more training/more confidence, somebody that will have patient with newbies. My school cdl training was about 6 weeks, it was manual truck. So from what I read in this forum, schneider is one of best training they offer. my only consern with schneider feels short, not enough time, dont want to kicked out send home after 3 days. Seems like swift training is longer, which I like because i will have more time to practise, plus they have minimus like 200hrs of driving before they assign truck.

Thanks Adam

They are both training companies. Honestly I went through swift and I enjoyed it. Got my cdl through them and have been solo for almost 2 months now. I lucked out and got a good trainer but I can't say it will be the same for you. The tough thing about breaking into this industry is the minimum training. Once they think you sort of got it, you are on your own. Regardless, either company will get you going. If you want a lot more training I would recommend prime, but I am not sure about how there training is if you didn't get a cdl with them. I am sure some prime drivers will chime in soon. Good luck! Also stevens seems to have a more thorough training because they make sure you drive all areas of the country before you are released.

I cannot speak from trucking experience, instead only from all the reading I have done and some common sense. Being nervous is very expected, but make sure you are taking a few minutes to sit back and think about why you are nervous and whether that reason(s) really deserves all the credit you are giving it.

Shifting is something that you will see people who have been on the road solo for months still say they are shaky on. It is a great example of something that can get someone nervous but shouldn't keep you from wanting to get out there and jump into your solo career. Even if you had shifting down perfect in school, you would probably struggle with it for at least a few days starting out simply because you were switching trucks. Even going between the same model/year, things can be a bit different and even just mileage difference can mean a transmission has a different feel.

Backing is another big one that seems to make folks nervous. Being in the real world, knowing that if you mess up it can cost $$$. It is another that doesn't deserve the credit it gets because you don't have to be perfect. You can take it slow and be safe with it. It is okay to get out of your truck every 5 feet to check. It is okay to take an hour. It is okay to have to fully reset both the truck and your mind.

Be nervous, but always in a smart way. When nervousness keeps you always thinking and paying close attention, that is good. When nervousness gets in the way though, making you think too much about how nervous you are and not enough about doing your job safely, then you need to step back and reset yourself. Again, not from trucking, but from other parts of my life, one thing I have found really helpful in dealing with nervousness and self doubt when they get to be too much, is having a few people I look up to that I can call. Just the act of talking it out for a few minutes has never failed in helping me calm down and gain perspective.

Don't let your feelings of being a bit shaky on shifting decide where you work. Quite a few of the veterans here in the past have said that you should plan on sticking with your first company for at least 1 year. Since you already had schooling and all you are talking about now is your training period with a difference of a few weeks time at most, compared to at least a year of your new career, look at the stuff that will really matter for making your decision. Shifting is muscle memory and you will learn it no matter which company you choose. It makes sense to be nervous about shifting, but letting that nervousness be what decides where you end up going to work should not make sense.

For either company, your road training will be with an instructor. One on one. You can't get better than that to work on whatever are your shortcomings. You already have your CDL-A, that's the big hurdle. And pretty much one of those companies will be lucky enough to have you drive for them. The rest is just desserts. 😉

BTW I roll with Swift. The 4-6 weeks is simply time for you to get 50 hours driving time in. And you get paid hourly when you're behind the wheel. I'm sure Schneider is similar.

Another Swifty here, it seems like you already know what you'd like to have help with. That's half the battle, you'll be fine with either company. (I think Errol meant 200 hours of road work, not 50.)

Yeah. 50 hours you drive and your mentor sits shotgun all the time. Once he's sure you're ok, you switch to team driving for that 400 hours. It's been a while for me.

I too am a Swift driver. I can honestly say that Swift does a fairly good job of supporting their rookie drivers. Within the Dedicated Account where I work, the experienced drivers look out for and help the newer folks.

They implemented a training program for new drivers on the account that helps establish clear expectations and procedural understanding for Walmart store deliveries. It seems to be working, less accidents and a lower attrition rate.

Schneider is also a very good company. Either way you can't go wrong.