Comments By FliteRisk

How does a school only have one driving range trainer available at a time for students. How are you supposed to learn your moves. This is crazy.

FliteRisk-

Good Luck on your journey. Kind of sucks they wouldn't take you from West Virginia. Is there a feud between the two states?

I don't know. It's crazy though. Columbus is 5.5 hours away vs. Richmond at 2.5 miles away.

Good Afternoon all. I just checked into my hotel room in Columbus Ohio. I wanted to go to Richmond VA. but they didn't take students from West Virginia. The drive here was nice. About 5.5 hours. I loved driving through the mountains. I would just like to send a prayer to a young man who looked to have lost his life in a motorcycle accident that happened a few cars ahead of me. You never know what lies ahead on the road. Made me think a lot about what I am about to get into. I will continue to give you guus updates on my day to day. First stop, Wal-Mart!!

Ah, the pleasures of dealing with the DMV!

When I went through that, I did the same thing as you. I tested out early on everything. My permit didn't show the endorsements, but my hard copy had everything on it like it was supposed to.

Same here. My HazMat won't show until I get the TSA check, and my final CDL I believe. Tanker shows, but says no cargo.

My tankers says no cargo as well. I was surprised that the doubles/triples wouldn’t show. But now that I think about it, it makes sense. Why would you want a rookie playing with dubs and trips when they don’t even know how to drive a regular tractor- trailer.

Ah, the pleasures of dealing with the DMV!

When I went through that, I did the same thing as you. I tested out early on everything. My permit didn't show the endorsements, but my hard copy had everything on it like it was supposed to.

Good to know. I just need to get my hazmat now. WV just changed the license series numbers and the TSA site is not recognizing the permit number. The DMV to me to call TSA because it should work.

I just passed my triples/Doubles test. Now the DMV is saying it can't be added to my CDL Permit in West Virginia. They are saying it will only be added after I get my actual CDL. Was this a true statement. The guy that was processing didn't seem to know what he was doing and had to call like three different people. He was also looking at some sort of cheat sheet when trying to get it set up.

I read my states official guide but I don’t think I would have passed without the high road. The high road helped me retain all the info. I studied for about 3 days. I took my CDL test and and some extra endorsements the same day. The folks at the DMV told me I would be there for a long time. I was finished in about 30mins. I was the talk of the DMV. They said they never had someone finish so fast and pass. I’m actually going to get my doubles/triples endorsement today. My state test was slightly different than the high road. No fault of the high road though.

Good Afternoon. I was just informed that as of 10/1/18 the new cost is $6000.00 instead of the $3900.00. Everything I read still says 3900. But the paperwork from the recruiter says 6000. How much does Prime cost as of today.

Thinking about starting with Swift.

Welcome to the forum FliteRisk...very good choice, but not the only one you should consider. As follows...

As indicated by several of my good friends on the forum, I am indeed a Swift driver; have been running on one of their Dedicated Fleets delivering dry and perishable groceries to NorthEast Regional Walmart stores and Sams Clubs for well over 5 years now. For me this gig fits like a glove; I work with an awesome driver support team and planners. My relationships with them are intrinsic to overall success. Contrary to what you may have read on the Internet or heard, although Swift is a huge company with many, many moving parts, I basically interact with 2 primary Driver Leaders (DL), 2 planners, several weekend and night DL's and our Terminal Manager. At no time have I ever felt like just another "set of cheeks" in the First Seat. Nope... So...I could easily give you an extended commercial on Swift, pimping how wonderful they are. Yes they offer really good schooling, training, solid support for rookie drivers and almost infinite amount of driving options. Not my style to "sell" anyone on the merits of driving for them. Plus, honestly; one size does not fit all. Instead I will suggest that your success is based primarily on you, and NOT the company you are driving for. For the most part, the same basic principles apply and will deliver positive results no matter the name displayed on the door of your truck. If you are a safe and efficient driver, you will be successful at Swift, Prime, CFI, Schneider, West Side, Werner, CRST, CR England, Knight...etc., etc.

I always recommend to Newbies to exercise all of the available options and look beyond a single choice. Review the contents of the Truck Driver's Career Guide to get a feel for the types of OTR driving jobs available. Steer clear of local, tanker, and anything associate with a "Dollar" type of store. Dry van, reefer, and flatbed are your 3 best considerations as a rookie driver. Think about where you want to run be it regional, dedicated to a single customer (like I am) or coast to coast. And how you want to run; be it solo or team.

Spend some time looking through these links:

Paid CDL Training Programs

Trucking Company Reviews

You can use this link to apply once you have settled on your top 3-4 candidates:

Apply For Paid CDL Training

Once you have thought this through further, reviewed the links we have sent, I'd be happy to expand on Swift's Company School (Academy), their road-training called Mentoring and upgrade to First Seat Driver.

Good luck!

I have decided on swift and most likely be in the next class on October 8th. I would really like to get more of your insight on swift. You ever run Walmart’s in Martinsburg WV?

FliteRisk (nice tag by the way!!!), I spent the last 17 years of my previous life in supervisory roles. All of the baggage that goes with being 'the boss' goes away the minute you get into the career. The nice thing about driving is that, as you've already figured out from your research and other commenters here, you are responsible for yourself, your load, your equipment, and the spacial bubble around your rig. Period.

There is no drama, unless you choose to create it. And if you are sharp, which it sounds like you are (you're here seeking knowledge, after all) you will avoid creating drama. Your dispatchers and driver manager types will love you for it. Most of your coworkers will appreciate that you aren't living the reality TV lifestyle, and your blood pressure and overall satisfaction will benefit as well. Ive been doing this for a bit more than five years now, and love it. I went from OTR regional to day-cab local work. Jumped back into the sleeper for OTR regional again, as I missed it.

Good luck to you, and keep us posted on your progress.

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement.