Comments By nomad girl

I'm currently running team. I'm solar powered so I drive during the day. My mentor/co-driver drives nights, but he does a split shift where he drives a few hours, go to sleeper berth, then drive a few more hours before my shift starts. We both average about 8 hours of drive time each per day so that we don't exhaust our 70 hours.

Out of my group of ten, the girl who was held back a week for not passing her permit test ended up not passing her pre-inspection test (missing anything on the ALE test is an automatic fail).

Three guys quit before their training was completed (one got tired of waiting for a second trainer, another didn't get along with any of his trainers, and don't know about the third one).

Didn't hear from one guy, think he got kicked off or quit because he didn't seem serious about being a truck driver (slept during orientation, confrontational with other classmates, never followed instructions and doing whatever he wanted, like disrupting class.)

Two guys got their own rigs after they upgraded and are currently company drivers.

Two guys had a similar arrangement to mine - they were hired by an owner operator.

After taking the classroom training in Memphis for four days, out of 22 students, 10 of us made it to the next step.

Two days later, we were on the Greyhound bus to Salt Lake City. The next morning, we were driven to the DMV to take our permit tests. One of my classmates didn't pass hers so she had to attend the classroom until that group took their permit tests the following week.

After that, we had five days to learn how to drive a rig. Day 1 and 2 was for backing, Day 3 was driving on Rookie Road, Day 4 was City Driving, an Day 5 was Mountain Driving along with going over our pre-trips and backing practice. In total, we spent between 2-3 hours of behind the wheel training.

No school on Sunday so we studied.

The first day of exams, we did our pre-inspection and three backing. The second day, we had our road test. Anyone who failed three times were kicked out. My friends and I went out and celebrated for passing.

The next day, we were driven to the DMV to get our CDL-A. After receiving it, we went to orientation.

Orientation was three days. We watched videos, received books, training forms, etc. On the third day, we were assigned mentors. Those who didn't had to wait a day or two after to get theirs.

I left with my mentor the next morning. By three weeks, we had done 10,000 miles. I completed my 200 driving hours and 40 backs in five weeks. We went back to the Salt Lake terminal where I did the paper and driving tests. I passed both and was upgraded.

Since I wanted to extend my training, my mentor hired me on his truck as a second seat.

Below is an image link to my student loan repayment to the school. Since I'm no longer with Swift, I have to pay them back $4400 vs. working as a company driver for two years.

http://nomadgirldiary.tumblr.com/post/100599069099

Oh yeah. Nobody got sent home when I was there. People got with their mentors right after orientation. A lot of them had to wait at the hotel until they got assigned theirs - my friends all got mentors before the week ended and we all upgraded around the same time.

Only one person was sent home, but that was because he requested to go home for a family emergency. After two weeks, they sent him a bus ticket (at his request) to the nearest yard to be assigned a mentor.

If they are sending people home, then they're probably short on mentors.

Central was bought out by Swift, so it's pretty much Swift. They want you to pass, that's why they give you all the answers.

Don't worry about the references. They don't have to be work references and they don't call them to see if you're a psyho or whatever you think they do with those contact info. Lol

I don't really think anyone will pay you to sit in a classroom.

Since you're leaving IT, I'm going to assume you have enoug money to pay for trucking school and actually get some legitimate training. Swift training (actual behind the wheel) is about $4500 for less than three hours. After that, you get three tests and they hand you your CDL. Only go this route if you have no money and can't get hired at Prime, which makes you go behind the wheel with a mentor for 4 months before they hand you a CDL. Once you get your CDL, you're expected to be a professional. Plus, lots of truck companies will reimburse you for trucking school + give you a sign on bonus.

I would have gone with Prime also. Too bad my work history is spotty. They actually train.

No. They will not pay you while you're in school. Once you've passed your pre-inspection, backing (3 total), and road test, they'll pay you $50/day for orientation + any day you're at the yard waiting for a mentor and $9.50/hr (behind the wheel, on-duty driving) when you're with your mentor on the road.

You should be fine. There are two ex-felons in my class. Just past your drug test and be truthful on your application.