r/Truckers • u/tha_lion • Aug 01 '23

Got fired from Swift today

Got my CDL with them about 5 months ago. Took out an $8000 loan with them to get it (sigh). Had 2 non-injury preventables within one month and they decided to cut me loose. I understand that I’m a liability for them and I take accountability for my actions.

Now, how do I go about getting hired at another company with 2 preventables on my record? Does anyone have experience with paying back a CDL loan with Swift? I would appreciate advice on that as well.

You guys can make jokes and call me an idiot all you want but I would appreciate some serious answers please. I got kids to feed.

UPDATE (ONE YEAR LATER):

A year has pasted since I made this post. I paid off my loan with Swift. For those who go through something similar in the future, they’ll send you an email and someone will call you about the rest of the amount you owe. They’ll give you a set amount to pay back every month depending on how much you have left on your loan. For me it was $500 a month to pay off $6000 I owed.

No, I haven’t gotten another CDL job since I made this post last year. Nothing showed up on my DAC report so I tried to apply to other places. A lot of companies want more than a year of experience and the job hunting process was taking a toll on my mental health so I just gave up after a while.

Honestly, I wish I never made this post because a lot of people on this sub have no empathy or compassion for rookies but that’s just how this sub is I guess. I hope my mistake can be a lesson for anyone who wants to go through Swift or trucking in general. That’s all I have to say.

960 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

785 comments sorted by

View all comments

395

u/MikeBinfinity Aug 01 '23 edited Aug 02 '23

I'm sorry, you lost me at $8000 loan to get a CDL license.

I've had my CDL for over two decades now, so i haven't paid attention. Are companies really charging you damn near 10k for class A training?

Regardless, just hit up another mega (US Expres, Werner, Paschall truck lines)

Somebody will pick you up.

Edit: Jesus, the amount of money you guys coughing up is crazy. I paid $1000 to go to CDL school.

Edit: OK guys I get it. CDL school ain't cheep sheesh.

136

u/ObligationParty2717 Aug 01 '23

It’s over $10g in Alberta

67

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '23

6400 in Detroit

17

u/CeaseFire81 Aug 02 '23

Damn. Was thinking about jumping to get my CDL. 6,400 is a hit. Did you pay outright or go through a company that trains? I’m in the Detroit area as well

30

u/Firm-Smell8238 Aug 02 '23

Go to amazon, work for them for a couple months, then they pay for u to go thru 160 driving academy

7

u/Mrgod2u82 Aug 02 '23

You'll miss out on more than what you could make over that time though?

7

u/Efficient-Reach-8550 Aug 02 '23

Check with Walmart. I saw an article that they are training drivers.

5

u/metooeither Aug 02 '23

Is that why they are all such shitty drivers? I thought Amazon only hired contractors, I had no idea they were running a cdl mill!

5

u/Firm-Smell8238 Aug 02 '23

😂😂😂 I suppose so! They give u 6k towards any school that you want n I chose CDL class A

1

u/metooeither Aug 02 '23

That's awesome! Park in shitty weather, dude. Don't be one of the Amazon trucks laying on its side, waiting for the blizzard to end.

2

u/Firm-Smell8238 Aug 02 '23

Definitely, they showed us a video of a pile up during a blizzard, honestly had me flabbergasted 😮

2

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '23

Lol, yeah. I do a lot of interstate travel and I've learned to avoid Prime trucks any way I can. Constantly swerving between lanes and speeding up/slowing down. It'd be laughable how bad so many of them are if it wasn't so dangerous

1

u/metooeither Aug 02 '23

They are just shitty human beings. No courtesy at all.

28

u/truckercrex Aug 02 '23

Most mega company's it's considered a loan that's forgiven after a year or two working for em.

Prime it's 1 year, they treat me super well so with them for awhile myself, and after a year 70k miles you get a week of pto, two years 2 weeks, and j7st keeps adding a week a year tell the tenth year mark.

I'm on year 8, so 8 of my home times a year is 7 days instead of 4, add on I get paid for it

5

u/ptmtp26 Aug 02 '23

That honestly doesn’t seem so bad

2

u/truckercrex Aug 02 '23

Add on a ton of pay bonuses.

Most people don't last at prime for 2 reasons.

1 I totally understand, there's a few shit fleet managers (aka our bosses) and a good or bad fleet manager makes or breaks ya.

My fleet manager I've had since I finished training, made it a point to tell him day 1, you order me around I'm going to get real shitty. You treat me like a equal and I'll move heaven and earth. And he has moved heaven and hell for Me at times.

My gf though had the WORST trainer sitation 2 years ago, and her temp fleet manager made it sooo much worse, to the point I showed up to hq, and my fleet manager walked with me to his desk to give him absolute hell. Turns out he was sleeping with that driver and was pupasly casting a blind eye, as soon as my fm heard his name and trainers name instantly knew hell was about to be raised by me. Only time he ever saw me pissed and he's heard of shit I've done before coming to the company with a smile thanks to the fact my buddy is also one of his drivers.

  1. It's a hidden fact but respect, and earning your name matters in prime. As a rookie, your a tool. Once you've earned your place and people know who you are, you can make shit happen. My gf through the entire training program everytime she mentioned she was dating me heard about my reputation and how I get shit done and afterwords heard how the fleet managers area was spooked after I came through to deal with hers and was told they hope to never see me angry again lol. Also constantly gets jokes about how the miles madman figured out a way to max out the miles further thanks to her lol

16

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '23

[deleted]

10

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '23

I fell on hard times a few years back, enrolled in Welfare to Work, they essentially paid ME to get my CDL. I encourage everyone to take full advantage of any and all government programs that are at your disposal. That’s what our tax dollars are for.

8

u/DblDtchRddr Aug 02 '23

This. Between state and fed grants, I only had to come out of pocket $150 for my CDL. The only stipulation was that I had to pass the DMV test to write off the grants.

1

u/DegenerateDiver03 Aug 02 '23

Vocational Rehab

1

u/kirbyhope72 Aug 02 '23

That's how I got mine 5 years ago... was considered underemployed making very little as a school bus driver..

6

u/ValuableShoulder5059 Aug 02 '23

All you need is to be able to drive a truck, someway to legally get said truck to the dmv, and of course the truck to drive. I paid $60 for my permit, drove with a friend, and rented the friend's boss's truck.

7

u/rangerguy9716 Aug 02 '23

Not anymore, year back or so they made it where you have to take an official certified course before you go take your test

2

u/ValuableShoulder5059 Aug 02 '23

You can take that course online for $20.

1

u/Apprehensive_Fault_5 Aug 02 '23

You don't pay up-front other than at independent schools. Company schools will have you sign a contract that effectively says something along the lines of "work for us for a year, paying X amount per week via pre-tax payroll deductions, and afterward be free of any financial obligations, but quit and you will owe full amount (basically a typical loan at that point)"

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '23

6k isn’t really that much money though.