THE RECRUITER

1) First of all, anyone that has been in the military knows how a recruiter can stretch the truth at times in order to make a lifestyle or job attractive (the used car salesman approach). But since we're not starry eyed teenagers anymore I didn't expect that from a company recruiter. Not only was the truth stretched some but very important information was left out that I needed. Because, face it, for a lot of us, choosing to be a Truck Driver is a very difficult lifestyle and job occupational choice. In that situation all information is necessary in order to make the right decisions. Only one thing that I was told by the recruiter turned out to be completely true, and that was the up front cost of the school. Now the cost after the school is another matter. I was told that besides paying the entire cost up front there were two other options for paying back the school tuition. On day one of the school I was presented with a contract from Swift only giving me one option and it didn't represent either of the two options previously discussed with the recruiter. I don't appreciate being conned and certainly don't appreciate being lied to. Maybe the recruiter was new and just didn't know what she was talking about. In that case, she shouldn't have been out there by herself representing a major trucking company. Because she is the first and only contact of this company that I've had so far I have worried ever since I started that the entire company was going to be like this.

2) I was told that the school was 3 weeks long, so I planned everything based on that. Actually, the school is 'How-ever-Long-It-Takes,' meaning that you'll be there until you pass all three phases of the CDL Test. To my horror, there were people there who had been there 2-3 months and still hadn't passed all the tests. In fact, most everyone ahead of me was having to return to the DMV 2-3 times. I saw NO ONE leave after 3 weeks. There was one lady that had been there (get this) for eleven (11) months before they kicked her out. Granted, her problem was that she was never going to be a driver but the training had obvious flaws. I won't give the name of the school because the instructors were great guys and experienced drivers. I just think that their training methods needed improvement. I am not trying to be overly critical here, it's just that to make an occupational decision to go to a school and not make any money for several weeks during an already difficult time is a stressful situation. I learned a lot of good and valuable information and skills, but it could have been done in less time (in my opinion). Of course, driving a truck obviously doesn't click automatically with a lot of people as I witnessed. But, I should have been informed of this up front.

3) I was informed that a bus back home would be provided every weekend.  In reality this was not an option.

4) Hotel costs were more that I was originally told.

5) I was not informed that I needed the CDL Permit, requiring the written tests, before I went. The HR department told me a week before I started school. My advice would be to double check everything told by the recruiter with the HR department and any truck drivers that you can talk to.

THE SCHOOL

Boy, you really should check out the school that the company is using beforehand. I just assumed that a large trucking company would use only top notch schools. Instead, it wound up being a small town Community College with an under-funded CDL program. Like I said, I think the instructors were a bunch of swell guys but they didn't provide organized training. And maybe, this is the way the the trucking industry is, I don't know yet. The first week of school was all classroom work. A manual the size of a phone book that you had to get through. I guess I was a little surprised at the volume of information necessary for the job. (Amen, Mark, everyone underestimates this job!)  Everyday consisted of the instructor going over the workbook, a lot of reading and watching numerous videos. I learned a lot and by the end of the week I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what the job entailed. The instructor was an old truck driver and had plenty of interesting stories, which I am sure most of them do. One day even included some lame forklift training and certification. I say lame because playing with a pallet jack doesn't exactly make you a qualified Forklift Operator.

Another day included CTR - Certified Refrigerated Transporter Certification. From a non-mechanics view, the Air Brakes were probably the hardest to understand. In fact, they had an entire working Air Brake System mounted on the wall showing all components. Sometimes it would scare the heck out of us when it made the usual noises that it makes on the truck. The second week we started reporting to the 'Skills Lot' everyday. This lot was an old grocery store parking lot with cones placed in various positions for learning the basic skills of maneuvering a truck. I imagine that when I am an old Truck Driver I'll still remember my first experience of driving a Semi. The Instructor explained the course and when it came my turn he said "Go for it, Mark". Since I'd never driven one before and only studied the various transmissions, braking systems etc in the manual, and he wasn't getting into the truck with me, I was a little more than stunned! It took me 30 minutes to do a lousy job of doing an Alley Dock. I climbed out of that truck 45 minutes later feeling like I'd been in a boxing match and lost. (You should have been walked through this procedure first, with the instructor right outside the door.)  I couldn't control that truck to save my life! However, after a about a week I think I got fairly good at it.

Backing up finally 'clicked' with me but down-shifting was still a problem. In fact, down-shifting was the last thing that I mastered because there is so much to think about compared to a regular vehicle and some of it just didn't make sense to me. I was having some serious doubts that week as to whether I'd made a terrible decision. They had a simulator but I found it to be of little help except to practice shifting. The third week (second week of driving) it all just started to fall into place with me and I was able to do the Pre-Trip and Basic Skills without much of a problem. I started to feel more confident that I could actually drive one of these big things. By the end of the week, according to my original understanding with the recruiter this should have been the end of the class. I had no desire and certainly couldn't afford to be one of those people who kept showing up every week with no scheduled end in sight.

The third week started off with a great improvement. My instructor informed me that if I could polish my basic skills and down-shifting then I'd be scheduled for the DMV test that Friday. I gave it all I had and felt pretty confident about taking the tests by Friday.

Friday: 'Shock Day' and the Beginning of 'Test Hell'.

I showed up at the DMV Friday morning ready to get my license and leave town. Five minutes into my Pre-Trip Inspection Test I realized that what I had been trained to do wasn't going to be good enough, it wasn't. I failed, major! I took the Skills Test and did very well with only having 4 points deducted. But, I had to come back to take the Pre-Trip again. The Inspector seemed to derive his self-esteem from the power he had over the tester. I wasn't given credit for things that I did and was raked over the coals for the things that I was not aware was part of the test. I was plain shocked when I left and mad as hell. On Mondays we always met in the classroom where the head instructor puts out any information etc that he has. After spending a weekend dwelling on Friday, I was plenty upset by Monday. Then my driving instructor asked me if there was anything that I wanted to share with the class about my test so we might all learn from it. My first thought was 'You just asked the wrong person the wrong question'. I said that I performed the tests exactly as trained and it wasn't near good enough. There was a moment of silence as the instructors were taken back by my remark. I continued to explain what I meant and expressing tactfully that I was disappointed in my training. They had an open Testing time at the DMV that morning so I was taken straight to it. I passed the Pre-Trip but was completely un-comfortable with it and the attitude from the Inspector. I then took the driving test. Everything that I didn't do and everything that I didn't mention was a point off. He also seemed to believe that I wasn't checking traffic, which I was. I got to a corner with a crosswalk and no stop sign or light where I needed to make a right turn. I had stopped at that corner before to check traffic, pedestrians and downshift and the instructor said that was ok to do that. I did the same thing during the test and was automatically failed.

After much discussion between me and the head instructor and the instructors with the inspector, it was determined that there was a conflict of opinion between them and that I had done exactly as trained. I received an apology from the school before I left. But, at that point I had failed twice because of the school and was stuck there longer than I should have been. Tuesday morning they took me back to the DMV. By this time I had lost a considerable amount of confidence, was a nervous wreck and had a strong desire to do some bodily damage to SOMEBODY!! I took the Driving Test again and had no problems at all. To make sure that the Inspector wasn't going to miss anything that I did I vocally let him know of EVERYTHING that I did. Three times he informed me that I didn't need to say everything that I was doing. But I continued doing so because he had obviously not given me credit for things I did in the previous tests and I was bound and determined to put an end to that. I PASSED and got to finally go home!

My advice after this experience would be to recommend that you check out the school first. Make no assumptions even though a major trucking company is sending you. You are the one that is investing a lot of time and expense and that job is dependent on you passing the DMV tests. I also assumed since the Instructors appeared to be in close touch with the DMV Inspector that everything they were teaching was based on what the DMV expected. That's the impression they put out. That was far from true and it wasn't until I made a big stink over my situation that they finally planned a meeting with the Inspector to see what he was expecting from the students. Duh! We couldn't have thought of this earlier? I guess basically I wouldn't recommend a CDL course given by a Community College. (I must interrupt... Community colleges shouldn't automatically be ruled out... they are often the best schools.  Your best defense is to ask the right questions of the school.  See this list.)  Because, it obviously was a 'Redheaded Step-Child' course and was not a priority of the college itself. Not to sound TOO critical of the training, I did learn a lot, learned new skills and enjoyed learning to drive a truck. I think that when I get to the point where I am driving solo I'll start to really enjoy it. Next week I go to Indoctrination. I'll let you know how that turns out.

November 19, 2001

I spent two days of Indoctrination at Swift in Sparks, NV. The first day was all videos from various department heads covering Swift Policies and Benefits, some I'd already seen at School. The second day consisted mainly of filling out numerous forms and discussing with HR what to expect next. A couple of misinformed items which were not covered correctly by the Swift brochure or the recruiter:

1) The second part of the 4+4 Program is only available for trainees who already know who they want to team up with, which has to be someone in the same level of training as yourself. The program is advertised as 4 weeks with a Trainer and 4 weeks with another Trainee. Due to lack of information I interpreted this to mean that they would set you up with another Trainee when the time came.

2) The 6 week program isn't actually based on 6 weeks. The training period lasts until you complete 23,500 driving miles which could actually be more or less time. I am now waiting to be called by HR of when I will hook up with my Trainer, which is supposed to be by the end of the week. I am looking forward to it but at the same time a little apprehensive as to whether there is anything else that hasn't been fully explained ahead of time. I am looking forward to it and hoping that I'll enjoy this drastic change in an occupation and lifestyle. I'll let you know how the training works out.

November 21, 2001

After waiting a week to hear from Swift, I called them to see when I would be going out. Especially since I was told it would be 5-7 days from Indoctrination. I was informed that it would probably be another week. This has all taken much longer than I originally was told that it would. They haven't earned any points in my book yet.

December 27, 2001

"IF IT AIN'T SNOWING', I AIN'T GOIN'!" became my training motto (jokingly) along with "IF IT AIN'T RAINING', I AIN'T TRAINING'!" I finally got hooked up with a trainer after waiting a couple of weeks. We went straight north and for two weeks saw nothing but rain and snow. Even put on chains on my second night on the road. I am riding with a Swift Owner/Operator and he has a brand new Columbia Freightliner. A real nice change from the old trucks at school. But, due to the weather and the 'Drill Sergeant' trainer that I was assigned to, it took awhile for me to stop being stressed when behind the wheel. Looking back on it I am glad to have gotten the bad weather and rush hour traffic out of the way instead of having to experience these things for the first time later when I am driving alone. However, at the time it was stressful as hell! On my second night I drove through mountain passes through Washington and Montana, at night with snow covered roads and pulling 24,000 pounds in the trailer. Regardless, this is one job where the manuals don't help you a bit. You only learn by getting behind the wheel. The last couple of days on the road my trainer started coming down with something and did a lot of coughing and sneezing, I just knew I'd get it. I did! After 3 1/2 weeks we stopped for Christmas and I had a full case of the flu by the time I got home. In fact, he went back on the road right after Christmas but I couldn't move off the couch, so I am not sure when I'll restart my training.

I can't say that I've enjoyed the adventure so far for a couple of reasons. One thing that I didn't consider up front was the reality of being cooped up with a total stranger 24/7 during this six week training. I think that I am pretty tolerant of people. But, my trainer (as luck would have it) was my exact opposite in every way. I won't get into it but he had some pretty bad living habits. Plus, since a trainer gets paid for all miles, he had the truck running all the time, or close to it. Our stops were rare and short. There were days when I thought I'd starve to death and times when I thought my bladder was going to bust because this guy controlled my life 24 hours a day. I had many thoughts of how easy my Navy Boot camp seemed to me now and how prison must be a lot like this. Whenever he had something to tell me he sounded more like Sergeant Carter and obviously someone with an ego complex. I averaged 1-2 showers each week and one meal each day. Boy did I learn to make the best of the time I had when my feet hit the ground. It's a 24/7 x 6wks commitment. You have to keep that in mind constantly to remain sane. Ok, enough of that.

Page 2>>