SWIFT Corsicana, Texas CDL Academy Log
Topic 15600 | Page 4
Errol, you drive flatbeds for Swift? Im thinking of heading to Phoenix for the training.
Errol, you drive flatbeds for Swift? Im thinking of heading to Phoenix for the training.
Errol is not a flatbed driver. He runs dedicated dry-van.
After catching up on much needed sleep today, i will write a final summary/review of Swift academy and road training.
Final review of Swift Academy. I attended Swift's in-house CDL academy on August 1, 2016. The academy I attended was in Lancaster, Texas. The hotel you will stay at is the La Quinta Inn just a couple of miles from Swift. I would give the Lancaster Texas academy 9 out of 10 stars. I thought, as did majority of classmates, that Swift did a fantastic job in teaching us to obtain a CDL. I highly recommend this academy. After finishing the academy I went to orientation in Lancaster, Texas. The orientation was well run and smooth. I was assigned a mentor and hit the road running. With a company as big as Swift it is hard to control the quality of mentors. For example I was paired with an owner operator and missed out on practical nuts and bolts of company driving. But, I can adapt easily enough and adjusted to different procedures for company drivers. There was an alarming number of classmates that had problems with mentors. Before you gasp, please remember this is not unusual. You have two adults who don't know each other living in a small space, friction is bound to happen. You just have to grin and bare it. The one student who had legitimate issues was put on a mentors truck that had racist posters plastered all over the sleeper berth. Obviously this didn't work out and he switched. If you have legitimate issues they will switch you. Overall I think the 200 hours of drive time with the mentor is spot on. I felt comfortable enough to be off mentors truck afterwards.
Overall I would highly recommend Swift from start to finish in obtaining your CDL.
If you want to continue reading, I switched to flatbed and will be sharing my adventures there.
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.
Owner Operator:
An owner-operator is a driver who either owns or leases the truck they are driving. A self-employed driver.
Sleeper Berth:
The portion of the tractor behind the seats which acts as the "living space" for the driver. It generally contains a bed (or bunk beds), cabinets, lights, temperature control knobs, and 12 volt plugs for power.
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I should have said "At the time he left", and I stand corrected. Thank you.