Question:
I spoke to a trucking school and Swift driver training program in my area and the info that I got was at the trucking school it is a four month program (probably easy to learn everything) or Swift is a 3 week program but if you don't learn everything then you have to pay them back for your school (Yikes!). I'm just wondering has anyone been to Swift driver training? I have read some posts from people who have been to other company training programs and it sounded like 2 out of 5 people actually pass. --> I don't know how hard can it be I have a 131 i.q. I'm not a moron but how hard exactly is this? Any info you guys could leave me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Lori in Arizona

Answer:
I've got a cousin that went through the Swift program, and he learned just about enough to get through the state test. As far as "on the job" skills go, it was learn as you go. It is an EXTREMELY basic course, and you probably won't get a chance at any practical experience other than dry vans.
Check out HDS in Tucson - they do 4 or 8 week programs (8 week is eligible for Federal financial aid), and do driver leasing to Swift (through DSW) and some other carriers too. May be worth the drive for 3 nights a week. Their website is hdsdrivers.com

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I don't know how Swift runs their schools, but I bet it's not a lot different than any of the other training companies.
As said, (based soley on what I have hear, being as I have no personal experience with any of them,) They get you through the test, the rest is OTJ experience.
No its not hard. If you can learn at all, you can learn trucking. As far as operating the truck, it takes a lot of practice, especially in backing. The learners permits are all book. Go to the DMV and ask for the CDL manual. Everything you need for the permit is in there. Read it over and you can tell right away if you can learn it or not.
The real question then becomes, Can you get through the first 6 months of trucking? That is the real test!
«"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."»

Answer:
To a certain extent a schools length does not automatically dictate it being a good school or bad school. A 6 month program can be every bit as much of a Mill as a 2 week program.
What anyone looking at driving schools of any type need to find out is:
How much actual behind the wheel time on the open road (combonation city, 2 lane highway, and 4+ lane highway) will I get. This is paramount. The more time you spend driving that truck the better off you are going to be when you start your career.
How much range time do I get for backing practice is another big question to ask. Once again it boils down to hands on practice being the key to passing your skills tests.
If you have not done so yet go to Truckschoolsusa.com and read through the info there on what to look for in a driver training program. While this site is heavily slanted toward PTDI certified schools you do not neccesarrily need to attend a PTDI course to get good quality instruction. The info provided here is still valid in helping you or anyone else seek out a quality program.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
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LORI
I recently graduated from a CDL training school. I looked at the program wit Swift, but if they train you they want you to sign a two year contract with them. Me, I did not want to be tied to a company that long if things did not work out. What I have faced trying to get training is that you have maybe four to five companies that will train you and ask you to run with them for one year( I don't know where swift gets two years from). I decided to get financed through the school for my training and then pay back the loan. Since I am coming to companies with my CDL. Now I have a choice of 10 to 15 companies. Where before I had a choice of about five. So I have narrowed it down to companies that take on newbies and have an tuition reimbursement program. They are TMC, Mcelroy, and Trans Am. Trans Am does not have tuition reimbursement, but they start their newbies at .30 CPM which I have seen to be good starting for an Newbie

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I went to one of Swift's schools a few months ago. Mine was at a community college in Utah. It was a 3 week course with Saturday and Sunday off. Before you go to the school the recruiter tells you to go to your state DMV and get a CDL book and study, double and triples, Hazmat, General knowledge, air brakes, combinations. That's because you take your CDL test before you actually start school. If you live out of state they'll give you a bus ticket to get to Salt Lake City. Once you get down there on your first full day in the morning you and all the people in the class meet at the Swift terminal then as a group we went to take the physical I passed it, so after that you take your written CDL test at the Utah DMV. If you should happen to fail the written CDL test you can take it as many times as you want.want. Somebody in our group didn't study and he kept failing the test he gave up and went back to the motel studied through the night and went back Saturday and passed the test. So I passed my physical and written cdl test. The community college is in Ogden. The class started on Monday. The first 5 days is classroom work on log books, map reading, safety, and general stuff. After we passed all the written tests they gave us, we went to the range. This lasts for 9 days, on the 10th day the instructors give you the Utah CDL road test. Half of your day on the range is spent learning how to back the truck up straight in between orange snowcones, and doing paralell parking and backing into a dock using orange snowcones. The other half of the day you learn how to drive a truck. There was always 3 students and the instructor in the truck. We would drive for 45 minutes then we would change over do our log books and watch the other guy drive, and when all of us had driven for 45 minutes we would be back at the range. We'd do our post trip inspections and we'd go back to our motel. That's how day 6 through 12 was of the school. On day 12 we took the backing test, parallel parking test, and docking test, and that was the end of backing. On day 13 and 14 of the school it was all driving. We stayed out all day in the truck and we each drove for 2 hours 15 minutes each. After day 14 the school is done. On day 15 a Friday we took our road test. If you passed the road test you went Swift's orientation the next Monday at their terminal, if you failed the road test and they give you two tries, you were out of luck and you wasted 3 weeks and they won't re-test you. So when we all first arrived that Thursday in Salt Lake City on Day 0 to take our physicals there were 8 of us. One person failed his physical and was sent home. One person dropped out of class because she didn't like driving a truck. One person failed his CDL road test two times on day 15 and was told that was it. Out of 8 people 5 graduated. I guess the advantages of going to a company sponsored school is up front you only have to pay about $140 up front for the physical and cdl test,and you have a job if you pass the road test. The disadvantages is you get only 9 days of actual driving and that is about 10 hours in the drivers seat.

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That was a very detailed and informative post about Swift's Utah driving school. Good job.
I just want to make one comment about something you said in your post. You said you got about 10 hours of actual behind the wheel, so I assume you drove probably 400 miles or so. Not the greatest, but for what it is worth 10 hours of actual behind the wheel seems to be on the high side of average from what I have seen investigating different schools and talking to grads from various schools over the years. There are many schools where you will be lucky to drive 3 hours and 100 miles.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
_________________


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mockba thank you so much for all the detailed information. That was everything I wanted to know. I think I'm going to go to Swift tomorrow to talk with them. Thanks again.

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I still get surprised when I read a post about schools only having "x" amount of hour of driving. I mean it's suppose to be a driving school not a classroom ! I am glad that the school that I went to was a driving school. All of the students had more than 1100 miles each under their belt, driving in the city, highway, interstates highways, country roads etc. Just our driving test was 23 miles long. Out of the 9 weeks in training we probably spend 2 weeks in class, the rest of the time was in the trucks. We drove trucks with 8, 9 10, super 10's, 13 spds. Then backing, 8 hours a day for about a total of 7-8 days. I guess I am lucky to have a good school close to home.

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www.Rea.com and look for ISBN 0-87891-109-X Commercial Driver Licensc Exam. I bought mine in a book store for $17.95 This is like the Cliff Notes of the CDL Exam.

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FREE online CDL practice tests....
www.cristcdl.com -->
Past Posts about Crist CDL practice tests.(click here)

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Try pumpkindrivers.com, its schneider national, not sure but I think they want 1 year commitment and after its all said and done I believe you will end up with a 90 day training period, after orientation, class, jump start, T.E ,etc etc...Hope it helps Jim

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In regards to you other post about you *problem* might I suggest you get a definitive answer in writing on whether Swift will hire you or not.
I'd hate to see you go through all this trouble to get turned down.

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If anyone is thinking about going to truck drivers school one of the things i was worried about before i went to school was i had never driven a manual transmission before. I soon found out though on day 9 through 14 of my 15 day school that knowing how to drive a 4 wheeler manual transmission only messed you up. On a truck you have to double clutch and it's a lot different than on a car.