Swift Training Academy Contract?

All I need is a CDL and that is my major downfall.

Ryan, that statement right there says that you have not listened to a word we are saying. It is frustrating to try and help someone who has tunnel vision like you do. You have narrowed your focus on your own perceived problem, and the only solution you want to see. We are trying to tell you that it won't work, but you are still convinced it is the only way you can go.

Your major downfall is your willful lack of resolve to get this done the right way. Most everything I have ever accomplished in life came with much difficulty, perseverance, and resolve. That is usually the way that people make progress in anything worthwhile they attempt. I have been a very successful truck driver, but man I had a terrible time trying to get my start to this career. It seemed like every turn I took I got knocked down. I began to think it was going to just be an unfulfilled dream. I persevered, and I overcame the obstacles one discouragingly difficult step at a time. When you have a mountain to climb, you can't let your focus be on the whole giant thing that rises up before you. If you do, you will lose courage and never make the progress that it takes to get to the top. All you have to do is focus on getting yourself up those first ten feet or so. Once you've got that done you can focus on the next ten feet. With each successful ascent of the smaller portion that you are focusing on, you are getting closer and closer to your goal, the summit! If you want this career, then you will have to focus on the proper steps to making it happen, and stop trying to figure out how to bypass what everyone else has had to do to make it happen for them.

It really boils down to two or maybe three simple scenarios...

1) Commit to a Company-Sponsored Training Program

2) Take the necessary steps to save some money so that you can go to a private school.

3) Look into the WIOA program to get your school funded.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but this is not that hard to figure out. If you can't afford something, then you have to figure out how to make it happen. The problem with what you have decided is that the solution you've come up with is not going to work. Don't let the tyranny of the urgent keep you from using some good sound logic and taking the right steps to get to where you want to be. You may have some hard choices before you, but doing something right is always better than taking a short cut that just puts your goal that much further out from your reach.

Thank you to everybody who has contributed to my initial question, and who have helped clarify what I saw on Swift's website.

Ryan, that statement right there says that you have not listened to a word we are saying. It is frustrating to try and help someone who has tunnel vision like you do. You have narrowed your focus on your own perceived problem, and the only solution you want to see. We are trying to tell you that it won't work, but you are still convinced it is the only way you can go.

Your major downfall is your willful lack of resolve to get this done the right way.

First of all, I started this thread asking a question to clarify what I had read on Swift's website. I then got attacked and made to feel bad for asking such a question, which is why I elaborated. Being told the problem is with "the driver" and being asked why not just go to roadmasters instead of bailing on a company. I explained myself and answered any questions people had for me and that is all. No tunnel vision.

No one attacked you. Geesh. Everyone has simply explained what your best options are. This right here sums it up perfectly:

It really boils down to two or maybe three simple scenarios...

1) Commit to a Company-Sponsored Training Program

2) Take the necessary steps to save some money so that you can go to a private school.

3) Look into the WIOA program to get your school funded.

Swift is not going to give you that training certificate after completing their course and then allow you to make payments to them while you go work for another company. I think that's the part you're not getting.

All I need is a CDL and that is my major downfall.

You're almost certainly going to need your CDL and a certificate of completion that shows you've completed a legitimate 160 hour CDL course. Most major companies will not hire someone without that certificate, and Swift isn't going to give it to you until you pay them back completely. So what everyone is trying to say is if you don't have the money to pay Swift up front and Werner won't put you to work without that certificate then how are you going to pay Swift back in order to get the certificate?

Ask Werner if they'll hire you without a certificate of completion from a legitimate 160 hour course. I don't think they will. It is possible to get your CDL without going to school at all, though it's pretty rare these days. If you were to do that I don't think they would hire you. The CDL alone is not normally enough to get hired by any of the major companies.

Ryan feels victimised:

First of all, I started this thread asking a question to clarify what I had read on Swift's website. I then got attacked and made to feel bad for asking such a question, which is why I elaborated.

I told you we're not going to judge you. That still holds. However, if you get what you think are "negative" answers, remember what Old School said:

You have narrowed your focus on your own perceived problem, and the only solution you want to see.

If you insist on on going a different route, you are ignoring maybe one hundred years of experience trying to point you in a better direction.

Ryan...I stated in my initial reply that I was not a big fan of what you are doing, as confirmed by Errol, OldSchool, Brett and others. I am sorry to say if you think we were attacking you, your skin might be a tad too thin for this job. The experienced drivers on this forum, moderators and the founder (Brett), know the formula for success when becoming established in this business...although many have succeeded deviating from the path of less resistance, those success stories are few and far between.

Although I sincerely wish you luck, my advice is when an experienced group of unbiased drivers offer their experience and knowledge, especially to a pre-school driver, it's best to take it all in and perhaps apply it to your thought process. Your plan has risk and points of potential failure, cover your bases before proceeding.

I have called and asked a few of the major companies in the past asking about accredited schools and of they would accept them and so on.Schneider and prime were some of them and a few more I forgot who I had called. I was in California at the time (currently in Texas) and I was trying to go to Dootson trucking school, that let's you learn at your own pace and claims that people can get their CDL in less than a week sometimes. I was concerned about that because a week with just a couple hours a day doesn't add up to 160 hours. All the companies I had called told me they don't care how I get my CDL or how long my training was and that as long as I had a CDL they were fine, because they were going to train me their way anyways.

I have not asked Werner this question yet, but I really don't think they would care based on the other companies responses. I will ask today though to make sure.

I apologize for seeming sensitive, I am just frustrated with my whole situation. Just when I think I'm getting somewhere something always stops me.

Ryan...you are persistent. A trait that will serve you well.

Please be aware the answers you are getting from companies you have spoken to have likely come from recruiters, possibly inexperienced ones. They do not always know the depth or brevity of your inquiry, it's always the corporate safety department's procedures and policies that will block your employment. This is all about insurance, and the underwriter's taking you on as risk, a new driver. Without the 160 hour certificate, most companies will take a pass on an entry level driver. Not making this up...we have seen it happen repeatedly.

You are having trouble because the best way to get this done is something you would prefer to avoid. Shortcuts in this business are all but impossible to accomplish. Isn't this exactly what we have been telling you to expect...? The path to success although fairly easy to understand, is not short.

So...here is my advice, you can take it or leave it; go to one of the Swift schools and go through their mentoring process requiring you to drive 50 hours fully supervised, 150 hours in a team fashion. You will be paid an hourly rate for doing this. Test out...be prepared to pay what you owe them in full and your certificate is valid. Simple...the whole process, school and training will be done in 10 weeks...a minute in the big picture of life and your career.

One more piece of advice, search on Flatie Swift, upper left hand corner of this page, in the search bar. Flatie graduated from one of the Swift Academies over a year ago, mentored the required 200 hours with Swift, tested out and proceeded to hire-on with Abilene. She paid-off her school debt before she went to Abilene, which validated her certificate. Again, although I do not like that as an approach...but if you insist, the way Flatie got it done is the only way you have a prayer of success here.

My fiance is currently a driver for Werner. He has been a driver for 4 years been with a few different companies and we just really like Werner so far, we have had no complaints. His recruiter and the main people up in Omaha have approved everything for us to team already, and for us to train as husband and wife. He is also on one of their best dedicated accounts, that keeps us passing through our home town quite often. We would like to stay with this company. They have offered him incentives to stay with them as a team operator as well. Not many other companies will let him train me without him working for them for a set amount of time, and this dedicated account already fits our needs perfectly. All I need is a CDL and that is my major downfall.

Werner has a tuition reimbursement program, and I think that they might also sponsor students.

I might be wrong but I think Werner owns, or has a financial stake in Roadmasters. The recruiter for Roadmasters that I have spoken with, on many occasions, always pushes Werner as their top company that hires from them. I am not sure if she covers your area, but Molly Malone, is an awesome woman, who should be able to help you out with any questions.

I know of at least 1 student that went to Careers Worldwide CDL school in Keenesburg CO when I was there and he was going on to werner. Whether they sponsored him or not I don't know but give them a call. Like the others said here, the school made it very clear that no one receives their certificate until the schooling is paid in full.