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Topic 12227 | Page 3
my initial first reaction and gut feeling is to stay with goin to the school I chose...
KaSandra, are you getting ready to attend an Independent Truck Driving School that you're paying for out of pocket? Because you can certainly save having to spend the money up front by going to a Company-Sponsored Training Program as others have mentioned about Swift and Prime and about a dozen other companies. Either type of training can be an equally good way to get your career started, it's just a matter of picking the type of schooling that fits your situation the best.
I spoke to a recruit and was told swift would pay 3900 for school and would loan 500 for room.. that I would pay 150 per month for 13 months then be paid 150 for each month up to 13 months. The 500 would.be held weekly. Redlands web has higher for a 140 or160 hour. Must have permit drug test dot physical. Money for food. I'm also looking at driver solution. Pam is hiring in my area! Sorry for all the errors but I'm on a kindle and the keyboard covers the line I'm on. Forget editing?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
KaSandra, are you getting ready to attend an Independent Truck Driving School that you're paying for out of pocket? Because you can certainly save having to spend the money up front by going to a Company-Sponsored Training Program as others have mentioned about Swift and Prime and about a dozen other companies. Either type of training can be an equally good way to get your career started, it's just a matter of picking the type of schooling that fits your situation the best.
I have minor children (NOT toddlers-youngest are teens but they still need me) so can't stay away for weeks..Would I have to with Company sponsored?? thats what I've been told??.With a school I feel like I have more options where/what I will drive..This school is local and local companies looking to hire......PLEASE no negative if you respond...I got a lot going on but this is the road I feel I should be on..and I really need to be able to stand on my own two small feet! lol?..I am an optimist/realist...it's a balance I take serious..Thank you..KaSandra
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
KaSandra inquired:
I have minor children (NOT toddlers-youngest are teens but they still need me) so can't stay away for weeks..Would I have to with Company sponsored?? thats what I've been told??.With a school I feel like I have more options where/what I will drive..This school is local and local companies looking to hire......PLEASE no negative if you respond...I got a lot going on but this is the road I feel I should be on..and I really need to be able to stand on my own two small feet! lol?..I am an optimist/realist...it's a balance I take serious..Thank you..KaSandra
Here is the thing...regardless of the school you went to, once you have successfully obtained your CDL most if not all of the carriers willing to hire an entry level driver require road training. In fact you should not accept a job with a company that doesn't have at least a rudimentary training period. Depending on the company this training could be fully supervised or a combination of supervised and then progressing to team driving with the trainer. This period varies from 160-200 hours of driving time for the student, thus translates to 5-6 weeks on the trainer's truck.
Depending on the company you could be away from home the entire time.
As an example: Swift requires a student driver (must have the CDL) to be placed on a trainers (mentor) truck for minimum of 160 hours (might be higher now, 200 Errol would know). Road training is just that, you are over the road , possibly going from east to west numerous times throughout this period. The first 50 hours of this training is fully supervised with your mentor sitting next to you, observing and instructing. Once you surpass the initial 50 hours, you and your mentor agree that you then can proceed to teaming; while you drive they sleep, while they drive you sleep. Once completed, Swift will bring you back to your "home" terminal , test road and yard skills and if all goes well assign you a truck. You're hired!
I trained with Swift and I was away from home the entire 6 weeks. Each company approaches this slightly different, but overall this training is essential to getting a good start on your career.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Over The Road:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
G town is right about 200 hours. One thing that changed is in October of last year they no longer let you upgrade at your home terminal ,
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Murderspolywog wrote:
G town is right about 200 hours. One thing that changed is in October of last year they no longer let you upgrade at your home terminal ,
Thanks for confirming the 200 hours. Where do they upgrade, wherever you "land"? If so that is actually a much better approach.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
G town. I have to let my dm know 2 days be for my student is ready to upgrade, then we pick a terminal based off of loads 2 days in advance. Just so long as it's not there home terminal , they told use the lat they had to many students up grade and then never come back from home time so after up gradeing you get a truck and my understanding is they let you take that to home time with you. Depending on were you up grade to your home you can get a good run in going home.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
I started with Central Refrigerated and then Swift bought out Central so I'm with Swift too. Experience was similar as others have stated: No money up-front; went through 3 weeks of classroom and basic training of how to drive a truck, do inspection, etc; then 4 weeks on the road with a trainer. Owed them 50% the total fee if 1 year completed, 100% if you bailed out, but don't recall any extra money coming back if you stayed in longer than that. But after 3 months I went Owner-Operator, leasing my own truck from the company. Had to commit to several years to do that (the length of the lease) but then the schooling fee was waived completely.
Will Swift set up a new driver in a local driving position, or do they require over the road to get experience? I don't know, but if daily home time is a requirement to care for children, better research that first...
Over The Road:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
G town. I have to let my dm know 2 days be for my student is ready to upgrade, then we pick a terminal based off of loads 2 days in advance. Just so long as it's not there home terminal , they told use the lat they had to many students up grade and then never come back from home time so after up gradeing you get a truck and my understanding is they let you take that to home time with you. Depending on were you up grade to your home you can get a good run in going home.
Thanks, good grief that would have saved me 3 extra days and another trip on the Greydog. Cool.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Don wrote:
Will Swift set up a new driver in a local driving position, or do they require over the road to get experience? I don't know, but if daily home time is a requirement to care for children, better research that first...
Welcome Don. Looking forward to reading your posts and replies.
Depending on the circumstance I think Swift will hire a "newbie" local driver if within a 50 mile drive of a terminal with local work, but only after completing the 200 hour mentoring/training phase. With that said, 50 miles depending on the route could take upwards of an hour. After a 12+ hour day that is the last thing anyone wants to end the day with, or begin the next day with. A real grind. In addition local work can be challenging for a new driver fresh off the mentor's truck. Could be a tough situation.
KaSandra will need to research this further.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Over The Road:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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KaSandra, are you getting ready to attend an Independent Truck Driving School that you're paying for out of pocket? Because you can certainly save having to spend the money up front by going to a Company-Sponsored Training Program as others have mentioned about Swift and Prime and about a dozen other companies. Either type of training can be an equally good way to get your career started, it's just a matter of picking the type of schooling that fits your situation the best.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.