Profile For VooDoo777

Sorry, read the response about the physical after I posted.

Is the physical test different for reefer?

The agility tests usually have you lift a 100 pound tarp.

Ask Old School or Turtle on the General discussions section about the physicalities. Im not surw as i do reefer. i have met many many FB women, even tiny ones.

You are over thinking. I'm a fellow overthinking person.

I had the ball rolling last year to go to Swift. .. Now here I am restarting. Oh well.

Sometimes you might think that sitting on the fence, thinking it over, etc. keeps bad things from happening.

It doesn't, lol.

Who do you see yourself driving for?

Congratulations Terri 👏👏

So I just passed my CDL A permit with tankers, passenger, and double/triples. However, the double/triples could not be added even though they allowed me to test for it but if I get my CDL with in 3 months I will get that. Also, going to get HazMat but going to wait for that but should not be a problem with my Paramedic/Firefighter experience. Have my medical card (1 year but hey) and drivers records. I goto orientation on the 25th and class begins in October. I am finally getting excited about something after 10 years.

This was one of my questions (sort of) a while back as well.

Now don't y'all laugh at my copy paste skills :) Thank you Errol V for the video suggestion.

Rainy D. Experienced Driver Posts: 2812

The obstacles you need to conqueror:

1). Fear and defeat attitude. You CAN do this. I did, and so can you.

Unholychaos Rookie Solo Driver Posts: 142

Just remember the end goal, whatever that may be for you. You can do this! I believe in you, rainy believes in you, others who read your post but don't comment believe in you! Deep down, you believe in you too.

Lynn H. Preparing For School Posts: 30

You're not alone with your nerves and long list of to-do's before you can get going.

Rainy D. Experienced Driver Posts: 2812

Be sure to tie up all those loose ends. That way when you get on the road you dontbhave the distractions of home.

Kat Rookie Solo Driver Posts: 305

You can do this!! When I first started, I just had to take one day at a time and not worry about what the next week or month would bring.

This thread has been such a big help to me. I'm going to print it out with some of my favorite parts highlighted. And I'm going to keep it in my truck until I finish training.

***And yes I will have a porta potty/camping toilet as soon as I can.

What is the $1080 out of pocket?

The Swift in Phoenix fees I have noted are $3900 school $500 housing $150 seating fee. I'm not sure if the seating fee is separate from the $3900 but the $150 is due the first day.

The Swift contract finances your Academy training. You can pay it off in 13 months and walk away. If you do stick around for the next 13 months (26 months total) Swift will pay you back all the tuition (as in free school!)

Here's an additional feature of Swift's repayment system. The tuition is $3,400. In 13 months you will have paid off the tuition, but your out-of-pocket is only $1,080. If you take the class and immediately bail out for another company, you owe the whole $3400. (I'm skipping the details of how this works, but these are the numbers.)

I went to the Swift Academy. I recommend it for the thorough​ness of training and the dedication of, well most, of the instructors. But why would you plan to go to the company school and plan to skip out? Why not just go to Roadmaster?

Aww thank you everybody. I guess I'd better hit the High Road books again so I can knock this permit out.

I'm not so worried about moving out of town as I am tying up loose ends before I go. Pretty overwhelming. Now I have to wait about another month for school because of things not lining up.

How do you deal with the DOT? Or better yet, what did obstacles did you overcome to get your CDL.

The more I get myself ready for school the more potential "issues" I come across.

For instance I'm concerned about: Safety as a woman. Learning to drive a big ole truck...and back it. Not hating my trainer or having them hate me. Crazy drivers. Moving out of state. Getting miles.

But the biggest to me is the DOT. It seems like they can make things escalate drastically.

Maybe it is just my nerves that's making that the scapegoat.

I want to be brief but my mind is all over the place.

Help?

How is starting a test with negative 10 points good? Either way I'm following 👍

Well, the first day of school is in the books! I think I may like it better than I'd expected. Only 3 of us out of 19 had our permits, they said this will give us an extra week of drive time over everyone else. About 8 people came in late, I can't see that after paying all that money. They told us that if we're there, and on time every day that we'll start our final test with a negative 10 points. A very good reason to be there and on time. The only thing I think will be hard to get used to is the shifting. They say to raise RPMs to downshift and let them fall to upshift. That seems backwards to me, but if that's the way of it, I shall do it! They stressed that we'd have 200 hours of truck time at the end and that trucking companies really like that. Supposedly most schools don't get that much wheel time. I surely don't know, but have no frame of reference, so like everything else, I'll go with what the instructor says.

This is a great diary 👍 When do you think you'll be able to go home and get your CDL?

5-16-17 Day 16: Beautiful weather today. This morning, as usual, I helped some of the newer people with their pre-trips. Then I got to uncouple and re-couple a trailer. After that I relaxed. I called my home state DMV and found out they have my test results from Missouri in their system already. All I need to do is go to any DMV office in the state to pay for my licence. The rest of the day I relaxed, helped some people, and relaxed. I did a trip plan and tomorrow, I'm supposed to go drive it. It's about a two hour round trip. I'm excited about that. Other than that, I'm just counting down the days of this final week of school. That's about all for now.

Good luck to him, Diana.

Congratulations!

I called the coordinator in Phoenix directly:

You can leave your car at hotel during training.

You can leave your car at the terminal during your OTR training.

I'm happy I called. Now I gotta do some flash cards so I can get this permit.

Thank you for all of your responses. You all are the only people who know that I'm getting my cdl.

The Swift terminal lot in Phoenix is actually pretty secure. I leave mine at the terminal in Jurupa Valley.

Did you mean unless I'm going regional? Because wouldn't you btw home to use your car then?

I plan to start with swift and be OTR. It makes sense for me to at least keep my car until I pass driver training.

It's actually a good question. In what other job is "where do I park?" a hard question to answer?

Drive in movie theater?

Seriously if it's a beater, sell it and use the cash for start up equipment and expenses while at the Academy.

Depending on your short term plans it usually isn't worth the cost.

If you are going regional right off, (unlikely with Swift) you're not even going to see it for the next 2 to 3 months.

I asked them to review them and let me know. I feel this will save me time and money and Swift also. Sure enough, Swift said no on this. It was good to find out ahead of time so I can deal with it before I arrive at Corsicana.

What did they say no on?

I should just get on the greyhound since it will be hot as hell and I drive a beater.

Thank you both for replying. I feel like I'm trying to make it complicated 😄

I am setting up to go to a school in Phoenix but I live in Las vegas. So my question is to those who have done sponsored training out of state.

What do you do with your cars back home. Or if you drove out to the school do you leave it in the hotel parking lot?

I'll contact the school directly (not the recruiter) but I needed your take on things. Thanks!

Did you ever find another option for school?

A year verifiable employment. I have been on the road with my husband for a year.