Swift Academy
Topic 32215 | Page 1
I'm about to start at swift but now have second thought because of the horror story's and been told that other truckers don't like swift drivers and that they r the laughing stock of truckers I'm just wondering if swift academy was a good choice
Old School and others will give you more practical advice on to disregard those concerns but I will share one anecdote from another profession. When I was looking to switch job locations my former boss recommended going to a location with a bad reputation. He said I could make a difference there and stand out. He was right.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
I'm about to start at swift but now have second thought because of the horror story's and been told that other truckers don't like swift drivers and that they r the laughing stock of truckers I'm just wondering if swift academy was a good choice
Read some (ALL) posts, blogs, and articles by G'Town. He did MANY years there. Erroll V., Pianoman, etc... so many!
Girl, stay OFF of TTR. Swift 'used to be' the butt of everyone's jokes, because they ARE the biggest. Heck, they recently acquired Knight!
Read this:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
- CDL Practice Tests
Good luck at the Swift Academy; let us know how it goes.
~ Anne ~
ps: Type "Swift" in the above white bar, and see for yourself!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
I'm about to start at swift but now have second thought because of the horror story's and been told that other truckers don't like swift drivers and that they r the laughing stock of truckers I'm just wondering if swift academy was a good choice
I don't work for Swift nor I'm a driver but they are as big as they are for a reason. As long as you are safe and deliver on time, you'll have a long-successful career. Swift has thousands upon thousands of units, of course accidents and other stuff will come with that. I worked as an Accident Investigator for one of the, if not the largest reefer company in the US and accidents happened every day. Most 'horror' stories you'll hear are from failed drivers and/or people who want to mock and be part of a fad like Swift memes are.
Every company will have great drivers and others not so great, specially in a big company. Be safe out there and good luck.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
I see Swift all the time because they have so many trucks on the roads. Personally, I have never had any problems with a Swift driver or found any reason to disrespect a Swifty. Bonehead Truckers videos like to feature Swifty Swift, but that’s because there are so many Swift trucks and drivers.
Swift has a top notch training program. In trucking you have to put your nose to the grindstone, dont join in w the negative people whining and bashing said company b/c they heard this or that. Listen to the instructors, ask questions, show up for voluntary training sessions(evening etc) Forget about your cell phone while training, waiting for your turn in the truck. Watch absorb. Be a sponge. Yes Swift gets bashed. But you will receive proper training. Best of luck! Keep us posted.!
I'm about to start at swift but now have second thought because of the horror story's and been told that other truckers don't like swift drivers and that they r the laughing stock of truckers I'm just wondering if swift academy was a good choice
Read some (ALL) posts, blogs, and articles by G'Town. He did MANY years there. Erroll V., Pianoman, etc... so many!
Girl, stay OFF of TTR. Swift 'used to be' the butt of everyone's jokes, because they ARE the biggest. Heck, they recently acquired Knight!
Read this:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
- CDL Practice Tests
Good luck at the Swift Academy; let us know how it goes.
~ Anne ~
ps: Type "Swift" in the above white bar, and see for yourself!
Knight actually acquired swift. If you go through swift, you get the benefit of our Top Gun program, access to some Knight Facilities and our training programs.
I've met a lot of great Swift drivers, one of my teachers drove for swift for over 15 years.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
I see Swift all the time because they have so many trucks on the roads. Personally, I have never had any problems with a Swift driver or found any reason to disrespect a Swifty. Bonehead Truckers videos like to feature Swifty Swift, but that’s because there are so many Swift trucks and drivers.
That YouTuber has even stated plainly that he likes poking fun at Swift drivers because there are so many out there. He acknowledges that it's because of the size of the company that there are so many examples of a Swift driver doing something dumb.
Before I got into hauling fuel, I was jockeying trailers at a distribution center for General Motors. Swift was one of our outside carriers so I got to deal with them on a daily basis. You can definitely tell the ones who take the time and effort and who actually take pride in their job and those who don’t. Some would come in and sit and wait for me when I was busy to see where I wanted their trailer, others came in and dropped them in my way and bobtail out when I had a ton of empties I needed picked up. I only ever had a handful of issues with them but it was usually the ones who didn’t care causing the problems. More often than not, it would be a new driver with a trainer coming into the yard to drop and hook. I’d tell them where they needed to drop it and the trainers would get out and guide them in, help them unhook everything, grab and empty and roll out.
We all have to start somewhere and if trucking school isn’t a cost effective option, do your homework and decide on a company to train you. I never liked the idea of sleeping while someone else was driving or the other driver needing a gas mask after a greasy spoon dinner so I never went that route. Do what you’re comfortable with, keep your head down and do your best and you’ll be just fine.
Bobtail:
"Bobtailing" means you are driving a tractor without a trailer attached.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Fools bash Swift because it's easier to pronounce than the competition.
I started with Swift. I had a good experience and I recommend them as a place for cdl training. I was there over a year and made good money. I left because I was looking for local work that they couldn't provide as well as my current employer. If I were to go OTR again, I'd certainly consider them as an option.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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I'm about to start at swift but now have second thought because of the horror story's and been told that other truckers don't like swift drivers and that they r the laughing stock of truckers I'm just wondering if swift academy was a good choice