What is Swift's current mentor-trainee protocol?

I was hired by Swift on August 16th so my experience is pretty recent.

PLease note, I had a fantastic mentor with over 4 years of experience with Swift (that's a lot of experience for a Swift driver). With my experience, my mentor wasn't nearly as aggressive with driving teams as the Swift curriculm would indicate. I've been in touch with my mentor since I graduated, and he had a student who was a significantly better driver then I was during that period (and I was actually pretty good), and he still waited about 2 weeks with him.

With me, we didn't go team until about 2.5 weeks into training. There were times when Swift wanted to pressure him into going teams, but he fought back until he felt I was ready. Whether other mentors do that or not, I couldn'[t answer--but if they value their driving record and their life, they ought to follow their own common sense.

As for the driving time, my experience was way more aggressive. There wasn't a day I drove less than 5 hours, and I probably averaged over 8.5 to 9 hours per day. There is a strong incentive for the student to drive as much as possible during the day, so you'll find that most students will do that in order to get their truck and make some money.

Beyond that, it wasn't like he took a day to cover a certain topic, etc. That may be the way the Swift curriculm is laid out, but I find that to be misleading. You'll be in the real world, and in the real world you'll be using the Qualcomm from day one (if you want to learn anything), and you'll be learning a little more every day. You'll learn just about everything in the curriculm, but I wouldn't expect it to be laid out for you like you were attending college or something. You need to be proactive, and you need to actually use this stuff in the real world so you'll learn it.

My advice is to insist on doing all of the work yourself. You send the Qualcomm messages, you slide the tandems, you put the chains in the tires (if you get *lucky* enough for that opportunity), you put out the triangles if the truck breaks down, you talk to the shipper and the consignee, etc. Your mentor might try to do these things because he/she can do them a lot more quickly then you can. If your with a mentor who won't let you back up, or do any of the things above, complain about them and dump them. Find another mentor.

If you don't learn much of the stuff I've noted above, when you get your own truck you'll be screwed, plain and simple.

 

One other thing....

Running as a team is tough. There's a positive side to things, in my opinion (and many will feel differently, believe me). When I ran as a team, it was harder then when I went solo. While I had the advantage of getting help from my mentor (which was essential, believe me), the truck was running 22 hours per day on the average. We ran some insane hours, and I can assure you, I didn't get the best sleep during those times.

Also, running as a team can be kind of misleading. If you are driving 900 miles in a day vs. 450 miles as solo, the team has the advantage. Why? If the team has a driver who gets stuck in a traffic jam or whatever, and only runs 350 miles in a day, the other member can make up for it. Going solo you'll need to send in a Macro 22 (late message), and you want to avoid that as much as possible.

 

Running team gets easier once you adjust to dealing with life and sleep patterns as a trucker. It takes time for your body to adjust. Still, nothing like trying to get some sleep while running on these wunnerful roads we got these days.

 

In my case, your scenario is about right. We ran basically as an extended solo, IE: just a bit more miles than a solo could handle on a day, 700-800. This was a dedicated run and if a student punked out, the mentor lost the run/load for the day.

 

How your mentor teaches you isn't as important as you learning the practical things. Backing and manuvering around truck stops is important. Learning to slide your tandems and what to do if they won't slide...whole 'nother ballggame when ur solo and the dang things won't release or the handle is stuck ...all kinds of hassles when you don't have a helper. Make sure you learn about the comdata process for fueling and how to fuel...calculating your wieghts...filling ur tanks before hooking to a heavy load can be a mistake. Learn to calculate the wieght on the trailer so you know how to adjust the tandems once you have scaled. Qualcom is a pain in the ### at first...seems easy with the mentor...then ur in the truck solo and all you get is invalid entrys on ur macros and the frustration starts to set in...lol I still get goofed up entering a wrong trailer number after a drop and hook. Running 2 man is way different than solo as far as time management goes...learn to log...and not waste half a day on line 4...that 70 will sneak up on you after a few days. Personally I like to run 7-9 hr days and as much of that during the daylight as possible. I like to keep a nice pace...I know some peeps burn that clock up and drive all sorts of hours....my point is ...that you learn the basicvs before thinking ur a super trucker. I am learning new things everyday that help manage my time...when is a preplan a drop and hook and when is it a live load/unload...my experience is that it can be either and the load assignment is wrong about half the time...anyway..things like that can make a difference in how you plan to run a load...just a few thoughts to consider...and all have to be learned....did I mention backing and truck stops...lol...they can be trouble...easy to hit something..

 

the info you'll have given on this tread is really good i am in school now with swift day one is tomorrow so i am glad to know these things now i know what to look for when i am with my training

 

yens shouldn't be running team at all, when training your mentor should be in the right seat watching you, not sleeping in the back, at MAY TRUCKING the owning says if you team your good enough to run solo, thats what saperates the good companys from the bad, swift needs money bad, there 2.5 to 3 billion dollars in debt, there going to the stock market to raise 900 million, running team brings more money in faster at lower wages that your getting, sorry but you have to see thro that smoke and mirrors

 

Swift starts you off with some driving daily with your mentor in the right seat. Then they increase your driving time, with mentor watching. Finally, after the mentor starts trusting you...

Now is this perfect? No. While I've never taught trucking, I have been an instructor (20 + years military). Eventually, there comes a time when the trainee can be trusted with tasks that he has mastered, in this case open highway, clear weather, light traffic driving. If a student is constantly monitored, all he learns is to depend on that monitor. Having some independence, with help nearby, allows the students confidence/self-reliance to grow. A proper instructor (in any field) has to allow for this. To do a partial team does not mean 10hrs each driving a day. Are there slimeballs doing that? I'm sure there are. When I went for mentoring, I got weekly phone calls from the training DM to ensure that this wasn't happening. I'd drive for (insert hours) and my mentor would make up what was needed within his 14. The last couple of weeks had me driving 8-10 hrs a day. My mentor only took over when he was bored and felt guilty of me earning his miles.

May has a good program; very admirable. But the Swift program had me bumping 3 docks daily and parking a trailer in a yard. That would be a little tough to do on May's solo mile training program. Both programs (properly executed) have their strengths.