Swift In Swift Out!

Mamak reader In CDL School Posts: 1 4 hours, 48 minutes ago Hi I don’t usually do this and I’m really a private person but I have to reach out to anywho will listen. I need help! I recently graduated from trucking school in Theodore Alabama. It was rough to say the least due to Covid and old trucks not working properly. I struggled my way through school and passed my pre trip on the first go. I passed straight back and 45 no problem got to the 90’ and failed it 3 times. Fourth time was the charm! I passed and a week later went to my orientation with Swift in Atlanta Ga. Then I waited 4 days got sent home because they couldn’t find me a female mentor. A week later I’m on a flight to Michigan to meet my mentor. I was so desperate to work and put everything I just learned to work I accepted a mentor that smoked. I am not a smoker. And boy did I pay for it . I lasted a week in a half and I ended up with a smokers cough and feeling so unwell. Also this mentor was yelling at me and everything I did was wrong. So I jumped ship on that one . It took Swift another week to find me another mentor and she didn’t smoke and was very laid back. Everything was fine the first day but the second day I got hung up on a poll at a kohl’s dock and the mentor got so embarrassed that she just stopped talking to me stopped helping me and by the third day I was heading back to Alabama . 25 days since my graduation and nothing to show for it other then ptsd . Swift doesn’t even call and make it right. I’ve been home for 6 days now and I’ve reached out to my school, my swift recruiter and even started applying to other smaller companies. Maybe I thought start out with a smaller truck 🤷‍♀️. Let me add that I even told Swift I would take a male mentor. But I realize that most men don’t want women on their trucks for many different reasons . I get it. Thanks . Any advice will be appreciated.

Are you willing to do team driving? Maybe you could pursue getting a female partner for a team.

Mamak reader In CDL School Posts: 1 4 hours, 48 minutes ago Hi I don’t usually do this and I’m really a private person but I have to reach out to anywho will listen. I need help! I recently graduated from trucking school in Theodore Alabama. It was rough to say the least due to Covid and old trucks not working properly. I struggled my way through school and passed my pre trip on the first go. I passed straight back and 45 no problem got to the 90’ and failed it 3 times. Fourth time was the charm! I passed and a week later went to my orientation with Swift in Atlanta Ga. Then I waited 4 days got sent home because they couldn’t find me a female mentor. A week later I’m on a flight to Michigan to meet my mentor. I was so desperate to work and put everything I just learned to work I accepted a mentor that smoked. I am not a smoker. And boy did I pay for it . I lasted a week in a half and I ended up with a smokers cough and feeling so unwell. Also this mentor was yelling at me and everything I did was wrong. So I jumped ship on that one . It took Swift another week to find me another mentor and she didn’t smoke and was very laid back. Everything was fine the first day but the second day I got hung up on a poll at a kohl’s dock and the mentor got so embarrassed that she just stopped talking to me stopped helping me and by the third day I was heading back to Alabama . 25 days since my graduation and nothing to show for it other then ptsd . Swift doesn’t even call and make it right. I’ve been home for 6 days now and I’ve reached out to my school, my swift recruiter and even started applying to other smaller companies. Maybe I thought start out with a smaller truck 🤷‍♀️. Let me add that I even told Swift I would take a male mentor. But I realize that most men don’t want women on their trucks for many different reasons . I get it. Thanks . Any advice will be appreciated.

There are quite a few resources on this site pertaining to refining your skills as a truck driver. Swift put forth a lot of resources to bring you in for orientation and putting you on trucks with two different trainers. For them to send you home is an indication that feedback from the trainers is that you just weren't performing at a high enough level to continue moving forward. Trucking companies lose money from expending those resources without gaining a safe, reliable driver in return. I am mentioning this so that you understand that Swift didn't send you home because they wanted you to fail. Quite the opposite. Swift invested in you hoping that you would succeed.

So, where do you go from here? First, forget about Swift. You were sent home and there is no chance that they will send you out with a third trainer. Your recruiter had nothing to do with anything that happened after you arrived at orientation. Second, you want to find out what Swift is reporting about you to other companies when they inquire about your employment with Swift. Request a copy of your DAC from HireRight at HireRight.com. From there, it's a matter of filling put as many applications as possible with every company that hires recent CDL grads out of Alabama. Most companies are now going to turn you down because you have a blemish on your DAC report, being that you were let go from a company before completing training. There is probably a small handful of companies willing to bring you on, but you will need to be willing to hear a whole lot of "No"s and a bunch more saying to get more experience. If you hear "No" or "Get more experience," just move on to the next company. This website has a feature where you can apply to several companies with one application.

I am sure experienced drivers here will have some helpful insight on things to consider.

~Kerry

Sounds like you went through a private school, and swift picked you up from there.

Swift had an investment in you, however not nearly as much if you had gone through their schooling. I’vecread through your post a few times. Sounds like you became frustrated and was trying to push the process along a bit. It is not easy being a non smoker and being in that close of proxiemty to a smoker. As a trainer one would hope they would have attempted to make it a tolerable situation for both of you, but it doesn’t sound like that happened.

I’m trying to figure out how the second incident even occurred. A trainer with a brand new trainee should not have allowed you to get hung up on a pole.

I’m not trying to bash trainers, but I’ve seen way too many that are doing it for the wrong reasons. I guess with my background I have a different perspective. I was a driver trainer for law enforcement for 25 years.

Swift apparently decided to cut you loose. Your school may or may not help you with placement assistance. Apply through the app here and get your app out quickly and too as many companies as possible. As said many companies will say no, but you just need that one to say yes.

You have put yourself in fighting a uphill battle, but not unrecoverable. Be patient and open minded, and don’t rush the process. I would ask the question of anyone wanting to hire you what is the wait time for a female trainer. Personally I have never liked the idea of putting females and males in a truck together in a training enviroment. Too many horror stories to count, but may be something you have to do.

Keep us up to date how it goes. Best wishes for you!!

Thank you Moderator for the advice I have put a lot of applications out there and made several phone calls so here’s to hope🤞🙏. As for the question on the second mentor allowing me to get hung up on the poll here’s the explanation…. She just didn’t help me. She sat there watching me struggle didn’t say anything didn’t get up or out of that truck. And then wanted to be all crazy and embarrassed because that’s her dedicated route. She was well aware of my last mentor and knew she had to start from scratch with me. Anyways the past is the past . I will endure. Thank you all for the advice and honesty.

Sounds like you went through a private school, and swift picked you up from there.

Swift had an investment in you, however not nearly as much if you had gone through their schooling. I’vecread through your post a few times. Sounds like you became frustrated and was trying to push the process along a bit. It is not easy being a non smoker and being in that close of proxiemty to a smoker. As a trainer one would hope they would have attempted to make it a tolerable situation for both of you, but it doesn’t sound like that happened.

I’m trying to figure out how the second incident even occurred. A trainer with a brand new trainee should not have allowed you to get hung up on a pole.

I’m not trying to bash trainers, but I’ve seen way too many that are doing it for the wrong reasons. I guess with my background I have a different perspective. I was a driver trainer for law enforcement for 25 years.

Swift apparently decided to cut you loose. Your school may or may not help you with placement assistance. Apply through the app here and get your app out quickly and too as many companies as possible. As said many companies will say no, but you just need that one to say yes.

You have put yourself in fighting a uphill battle, but not unrecoverable. Be patient and open minded, and don’t rush the process. I would ask the question of anyone wanting to hire you what is the wait time for a female trainer. Personally I have never liked the idea of putting females and males in a truck together in a training enviroment. Too many horror stories to count, but may be something you have to do.

Keep us up to date how it goes. Best wishes for you!!

Have you tried Schneider? I live in Pensacola and started there. Although I operated out of the Lebanon, TN Operations Center, I rarely went there.

All of the staff at Lebanon OC and Schneider, were great for me. Also, I was able to park at a trailer repair shop, near I-10 exit 4, for vacation time.

Apply everywhere.

Thank you Moderator for the advice I have put a lot of applications out there and made several phone calls so here’s to hope🤞🙏. As for the question on the second mentor allowing me to get hung up on the poll here’s the explanation…. She just didn’t help me. She sat there watching me struggle didn’t say anything didn’t get up or out of that truck. And then wanted to be all crazy and embarrassed because that’s her dedicated route. She was well aware of my last mentor and knew she had to start from scratch with me. Anyways the past is the past . I will endure. Thank you all for the advice and honesty.

Sounds like you went through a private school, and swift picked you up from there.

Swift had an investment in you, however not nearly as much if you had gone through their schooling. I’vecread through your post a few times. Sounds like you became frustrated and was trying to push the process along a bit. It is not easy being a non smoker and being in that close of proxiemty to a smoker. As a trainer one would hope they would have attempted to make it a tolerable situation for both of you, but it doesn’t sound like that happened.

I’m trying to figure out how the second incident even occurred. A trainer with a brand new trainee should not have allowed you to get hung up on a pole.

I’m not trying to bash trainers, but I’ve seen way too many that are doing it for the wrong reasons. I guess with my background I have a different perspective. I was a driver trainer for law enforcement for 25 years.

Swift apparently decided to cut you loose. Your school may or may not help you with placement assistance. Apply through the app here and get your app out quickly and too as many companies as possible. As said many companies will say no, but you just need that one to say yes.

You have put yourself in fighting a uphill battle, but not unrecoverable. Be patient and open minded, and don’t rush the process. I would ask the question of anyone wanting to hire you what is the wait time for a female trainer. Personally I have never liked the idea of putting females and males in a truck together in a training enviroment. Too many horror stories to count, but may be something you have to do.

Keep us up to date how it goes. Best wishes for you!!

This is something that I have learned:

If a trainer isn't saying anything during a moment when a trainee is struggling (and this applies to training in any field), one possible explanation is that the trainer had tried explaining things to you but felt like you just weren't listening. I am not trying to blame you. I do think it would be beneficial to you, and whoever may be your next trainer at a company, to be introspective and honest with yourself about how receptive you were to correction.

It's natural to want to feel like you did your absolute best. But, if you are going to succeed at anything new that you have to learn for the first time, it requires humility and a willingness to accept mistakes made.

From my personal experience, it is hard to admit when I wasn't very teachable. Only you and your trainer know if this were true for you or not. I encourage you to really take the time to think over how training went with both trainers and ask yourself if there were ways that you could have been more receptive to coaching from your trainers. Doing this will set you up for better success with your next trainer.

When I have trained people in various aspects of warehousing processes, the ones who succeeded the best were those who were coachable, were willing to admit not following direction at times, and learned from mistakes. The details of what is being taught may vary, but anything new being learned is best accomplished when possessing these traits.

You can learn to drive a tractor trailer successfully and have a nice career doing it because there is not some special talent needed. Just be coachable, willing to learn from mistakes, and humble.

I look forward to reading your success story.

~Kerry

Thank you Moderator for the advice I have put a lot of applications out there and made several phone calls so here’s to hope🤞🙏. As for the question on the second mentor allowing me to get hung up on the poll here’s the explanation…. She just didn’t help me. She sat there watching me struggle didn’t say anything didn’t get up or out of that truck. And then wanted to be all crazy and embarrassed because that’s her dedicated route. She was well aware of my last mentor and knew she had to start from scratch with me. Anyways the past is the past . I will endure. Thank you all for the advice and honesty.

Sounds like you went through a private school, and swift picked you up from there.

Swift had an investment in you, however not nearly as much if you had gone through their schooling. I’vecread through your post a few times. Sounds like you became frustrated and was trying to push the process along a bit. It is not easy being a non smoker and being in that close of proxiemty to a smoker. As a trainer one would hope they would have attempted to make it a tolerable situation for both of you, but it doesn’t sound like that happened.

I’m trying to figure out how the second incident even occurred. A trainer with a brand new trainee should not have allowed you to get hung up on a pole.

I’m not trying to bash trainers, but I’ve seen way too many that are doing it for the wrong reasons. I guess with my background I have a different perspective. I was a driver trainer for law enforcement for 25 years.

Swift apparently decided to cut you loose. Your school may or may not help you with placement assistance. Apply through the app here and get your app out quickly and too as many companies as possible. As said many companies will say no, but you just need that one to say yes.

You have put yourself in fighting a uphill battle, but not unrecoverable. Be patient and open minded, and don’t rush the process. I would ask the question of anyone wanting to hire you what is the wait time for a female trainer. Personally I have never liked the idea of putting females and males in a truck together in a training enviroment. Too many horror stories to count, but may be something you have to do.

Keep us up to date how it goes. Best wishes for you!!

Hay, MamaK ~

PJ gave you some great advice!!! I've got 'another' company you could reach out to, here in Ohio . . . as I've mentioned to Kerry, also. I've sent a few guys from our forum there; and two still ARE happily employed and successfully driving. They're 'kinda' a second chance company, but they may work with you, and perhaps buy OUT what you owe Swift:

Dutch Maid Logistics

Also, THIS: Apply For Paid CDL Training

Apply For Truck Driving Jobs

Everything's worth a shot, ma'am !!

~ Anne ~

MamaK,

I have had some contact with Dutch Maid Logistics and they have given me the impression that they are a decent company. You can certainly do worse than Dutch Maid Logistics.

~Kerry

Steve L put in a recommendation for Schneider. I will second his comment. Schneider is a great company with great training. Any time I’ve had any problem, they bent over backwards to help me. Every trainer, instructor, driver manager I’ve encountered there has been more than kind and helpful.