HI everyone,

I am supposed to start school wednesday with swift. If you pass there school and then at orientation for one reason or another don't get hired do you still have you cdl and do you pay them back or how does it work.
Also, if anyone has any last minute suggestions I don't know if I can cancel my buss ticket or not but i could try trust me swift is not my first choice. I really want to get into trucking and cant afford the school out of my pocket. However there are several schools near my home in north alabama and if anyone knows of a way to go to a local school if your broke and your credit is less than perfect please let me know ..

 

When you are in class, you sign a contract. That contract binds you to pay the tuition. The advantage to having Tuition is that if you drive for Swift after school, you only have to pay 1/2 of the amount (You pay $37.50 and Swift pays $37.50) until the whole amount is paid off. So, you save quite a bit of money.

Swift is not a bad company to start off in, if I was to go through school again with Swift, I would do it again. I was in school in Lewiston, Idaho and they did a great job getting me going.

As far as the bus goes, well that is not as bad as people make it. The only suggestion I have for you is to document every single thing that you check in as far as luggage. If you have any valuables, try to take it on board the bus, but if you cannot then take extra insurance out.

If you should choose to go to Swift for your schooling, I would recommend going to Lewiston, Idaho as the class sizes are small, and the student to teacher ratio is 2:1 at the most whereas Tennessee is somewhere around 30:1 (don't quote me on that).

I hope this helps!

 

Swift isn't bad to get your foot in the door. If I had to do it over I would do it again. If you are not wanting to go to swift, you might want to check into the unemployment office around your area. From what I read on these boards seems like they have some program that can help you with school. I am not sure if your state is one that will or not. I have never checked into it. But if you search around a little on here I have heard people talking about it. BOL to ya

Also once you get your CDL it is yours. But you will have a loan that you will have to repay to swift and it is 3900.00 if you pay for it yourself, also try to go to a PTDI school if possible. Alot of these companies are wanting you ptdi certified.

 

Thanks Bigbird01

I have heard similar things about the enployment around my area and may check into it monday but I am supposed to be on my way tue. So we will see and from what you are saying if I dont get hired at orientation with swift then I will still have my cdl just have to pay them back in full. Thanks again

 

Yeah if you make it to orientation with swift. Then you are basically already hired. They ween out most of the people during the school. For bad backgrounds, drug tests, etc. As long as you don't go out and get drunk or use drugs or get into any trouble before your orientation after school you won't have any problems.

 

One thing I should mention. My driving test when I was hired on with Swift consisted of a pretrip, driving out to a street, and I was told by the terminal manager that I had passed the test.

 

Swift is PTDI certified, for what it's worth.

 

Last I heard NevadaJim, not all the schools are PTDI certified. At last count there was only 2 of the schools that where. Nashville, Tn and Troutdale, Or are the only ones that I have known of.

Obviously that is subject to change, however, the school I went to was at the Lewiston, Id and they still have not notified me that they are PTDI certified.

 

The San Antonio school is also PTDI.

 

just have to mention it, im sure swift is a good start, I started with Maverick, and the fee for school is 1500.00, and if you work for them for 6 months, you owe nothing. Swift pays 37.50 and you as well, for one yr then the second yr they give you 37.50 back into your check. So you pay for half of it your first yr and give you the other half back for the second yr. So basically have to stay for 2 yrs before you are even. Im over half done with my commitment and its only been three months. Just food for thought.