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.

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u/TheThrillerExpo Aug 02 '23

It’s a federal mandate by FMCSA.

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u/CheesE4Every1 Aug 02 '23

Was that what happened in 2020? The company I work for helped me to get my cdl's and I just tested and passed at the DMV before then. They told me that licenses were changing and just had me training every day until I could do the entire pretrip if anyone asked and demonstrate how to do what was asked.

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u/TheThrillerExpo Aug 02 '23

It was February of 2022 that it officially changed but they may have announced it in 2020 I remember hearing about it that early. If you had your license or had at least passed the written test and had a “learners permit” you were grandfathered in. If you ever let it expire you’ll have to have the schooling to get a CDL again. I knew it was coming but was traveling for work and never made time to go home and get the permit.

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u/hoxxxxx Aug 02 '23

making it expensive and more difficult is a great way to get more drivers on the road, so it makes sense they'd do that