Question:
AFTER DOING A 5 MONTH STUDY ON 3 DRIVERS WHO COMPLETED CDL A SCHOOL, AND MADE THE
BAD MISTAKE IN SIGNING ON FOR BOOT CAMP WITH SWIFT. IT SEEMS BAD EQUIPMENT, AND TONGUE
AND CHEEK OFFICE PERSONAL HEADLINE THE LIST. EACH DRIVER REPORTS WITH ME WEEKLY FOR
DEBRIEFING, AND THOUGHTS OF THE INDUSTRY. EACH DRIVER IS JUST TRYING TO LAST 6 MONTHS
WITH SWIFT, BUT DON'T SEE IT WORTHWHILE. THE LONGTIME RUMOR OF EXPERIENCE DRIVERS
WEARING KNEE PADS AT SWIFT AND KISSING UP TO WORTHLESS DISPATCHERS.
ALL U NEWBIES DO YOUR RESEARCH, LEARN ALL U CAN. AND THERE ARE A LOT BETTER
COMPANIES THAN SWIFT THAT WILL START U OUT AND RESPECT U BETTER.
GOOD LUCK.DONNY SCHNEIDER TOLD ME THAT.

Answer:
For all U newbies, I've also gotten word of A BOOTCAMP being ran at USA TRUCK. U guys stay positive
and focused. AND WATCH OUT FOR THESE BIG CONGLOMERATES.DONNY SCHNEIDER TOLD ME THAT.

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At least he admits it,or is this just a tongue-in-cheek post by some troll I may or may not know?Disclaimer:Pick too ugly to post at this time,LOL.

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It's a Telepath taping into his thoughts............My 2cents
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I hate to (kind'a) side with the troll, but EVERY training outfit involves some bootcamp. That's how you learn to drive and do the job -- quickly and under a lot of pressure, just like the real world when you get out on your own. Trucking is tough. Bootcamp thins the herd. That's how it works. Even a top company that takes a rare newbie under it's wing, is going to put them through the meat grinder to see if they can take it.
RNB -- you're comparing companies that are virtuall interchangeable when you add-up the pros and cons and average them out. The differences in your "survey" are the result of individual experiences, not a general trend. Swift is the convenient punching bag because it is the biggest target. But the other training carriers you mention are no "better" -- just MUCH smaller, and therefore turning out fewer disastified trainees.
I'm not recommending Swift. I'd go with Werner before Swift, myself. But Swift is a very successful player in ground transportation, and part of their job as as an entry level portal is to dump a lot of the trash that comes out of truck school.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

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Todays edition of "fix that post".

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wrong thread, dudehttp://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

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Who the Hell is Greg Smith???DONNY SCHNEIDER TOLD ME THAT.

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That's for you to figure out. Read it again.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

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Some new poser who has come up missing. Most likely just another troll.
I like your comparison to boot camp. Except it's not quite that rough, actually it's pretty much gravy as long as you can show up every day. Some thing not everyone is capable of doing. Evey orientation I've ever gone to I watched a number of people leave. Some just 1 or 2 and Stevens Transport probably 75 percent. There is one major reason I saw in each one, coming up dirty on the pizz test. It's amazing people think smoking pot a week before is OK. The others were usually from not being able to verify some past record. I also have seen quite a few like myself just go home after realizing the company is crap. That happens quite a bit at the bigger places like Swift.
But Swift, Werner, Stevens, Schneider and the other majors are just about the same. They don't offer much except training and a place to start. Almost everyone with common sense plans on leaving them in 6 months or so. There are far better companies to start with and to go to. But the big one's advertise so much they'll always fill up their orientations and always have people leaving.

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U'R exactly right Stuffs, It's slappys like that Greg Smith that slaps the real Industry in the face. But the blame goes around fairly. These people like the Trucking BOZO and these truck sites are no better. Because They
know drivers make the industry go and make the checks for all of the office GEEKS at these COMPANIES like
SWIFT AND WERNER. But as long as BOZO gets they're advertisement $$$ from Places like SWIFT that
continually RAPE drivers of they're TRUE EARNINGS. Call BOZO and Address the issue And THEY'll Change the SUBJECTDONNY SCHNEIDER TOLD ME THAT.

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I just completed the three weeks at Swift's school in Millington, TN. To be honest, they put it all out there for you to absorb, you just have to go in with the mindset of getting it done. The hardest thing for me to do was adjust to getting up at 4am seven days a week, after that it was pretty easy once I got into it. The instructors know what they are talking about, all of them are or were drivers, and I breezed through. I only started getting worried when I found out how many people were coming in and out of there like a revolving door. The class I went in with is gonna graduate about 75 people, how many trainers can Swift possibly have??? When you think that between 100 and 150+ people come in every week I know alot of people are getting left behind. I know that not everyone is gonna stay with Swift but the majority are and thats kind of bothersome.
When I decided to become a trucker it was down to three companies: Swift, Schneider, and CR England. I knew I was gonna do this about a month beforehand, so I started counting trucks. While I was on the interstates at my former job (box truck driver) I took into account how many trucks I saw from those companies everyday. Swift knocked em down easily with Schneider coming in second. So I felt pretty good about the decision I made once I made it. But now as I get ready to go in for orientation the stories are starting to come out. Don't get me wrong, knowing that I have a cdl now is very comforting because there are always jobs, but you start to wonder how many of these companies are living up to what they offer. For instance, if you get the little booklets at the truck stop and look at the Swift ad they offer a $500 sign on bonus, but when I inquired about it at the school, they knew nothing about it.
All I know is, companies should take better care of their drivers. Because if they don't have drivers, they don't have anything. (Thats for that guy who says Swift is looking out for their office staff first.) Those office personell ain't driving no trucks I can assure you of that.
Like I said, I go back for orientation this coming week, I will let you guys know how it goes. Until then stay safe and be blessed and long live the truck driver.

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[b][b]Let me tell you my experience at Swift. I had about 21/2 years OTR before I went to Swift. Problem was I had not driven in awhile. So I agreed to go back through their training program. I did that and within the first week of going OTR with a trainer he could see that I was very capable of doing the job. I was led to believe that I would not have to go out with a "Student" when I came back in from being out with the trainer for two weeks. (of not sleeping mind you because I only do solo) Sure enough they could see that I had some "brains" and wanted me to go out another fricking two weeks with a student. I told them that the trainer could see that I could do the job and that their should be no problem with me by-passing that on top of the fact as I said before that I was mislead slightly about having to go out with a student in the first place. Well they of course said they had no choice. I bid them faretheewell and told them they lost a good,safe,responsible, and intelligent future empoyee! Thats my story with Swift. I even called them back a week or so later and they stated they could not do anything with me. I am saying this that if Swift realizes that you have any management or people skills they want you to train period. Or they will move you out. Isn't that wonderul? J[/b][

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That must have been quite a while back as Swift hasn't done the two students together for over three years.
Yes, I do get asked/begged to train every coupla months, I politely tell them no thank you. It's become almost a running joke between driver services and I.

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Swift is like any mega-carrier, some will like it, most will hate it. I've known a couple of people that were happy with Swift, but they were on dedicated accounts with predicatable home time. I question some of their training though. One time I had to show a newer driver how to do his log book, he didn't seem to have a clue. Another time, a new Swiftie was having difficulty dropping his trailer in a Walmart DC, and had set himself up completely backwards and was blindsiding the hole. He was a nervous wreck and it was a fairly simple back.