I answered the media call for Truck Drivers as advertisements were all over the internet. I Filled out an online job ad for "truck driving" and was contacted by Swift Trucking about their top of the line driving schools.
Here is where I should have recieved a warning! My first recruiter vanished after six weeks of negotiation. My second recruiter changed my Truck driving School from Portland, Oregon to Lewiston, Idaho 48 hours prior to the start date.
I was in Bellingham, Washington at the time. (Everything Iwas promised in regard to pay and time off was falsified, I found this out later when I was at the school).
I arrived at the designated motel in Idaho, they had never heard of me.
When I finally got a room with a stranger I recieved a sexually humiliating phone call from one of the many men in the lobby. (other Students)
First day at school they told me they had never heard of me either, I then signed a total of twenty contracts giving Swift the rights to my life, it was sign or get out.
At 10am the first day, I found myself in the office of the Swift medical doctor, Doctor, Dr J. Weiland of Lewiston, idaho. At the eye exam I could not read the required line of letters with my glasses on, so the Nurse Practitioner started to ridicule me. She walked off and a helper pointed to a room and told me to strip down. I refused saying that if I had failed my eye test I did not want to strip down, what was the point if I had failed and I had!
An argument ensued. I was taken to the door of the doctors personal office, he waved his arm barring me from entry as if I was a stock yard animal. I asked the doctor if I had passed my eye exam. "He chuckled and said "... You will have to get your eyes checked in two years". He committed fruad and signed my DOT health certificate. I told my instructor and he just laughed. Withing the next two weeks I began to understand why, 50% of all applicants were diabetic or borderline and they got through, my problem was minimal.
Five days into the 21 day course I asked the men in my class to stop the verbal taunting and sexual discrimination that went on in the class room, to begin with there were sixteen men and two women.
The instructor, Dave, just told the men to take it outside when I complained. I appraoched the ringleaders and asked them to stop. They said I would have to get used to it if I wanted to be a truck driver. It was their inate right to belittle me in class or out. I threatened to report them.
Being an adult, I gave the other students the benifit of the doubt and carried on, after informing the admistration that I was having a problem, but would try to resolve it alone. It was hard to be pushed to the outside of a tightly nit group and ridiculed endlessly as I tried for fifity one hours to back up and park the eighty foot big rig in the docking bay.
On the fiteenth day I was top of the class for Pre-trip and Skills. The students got together and every one of them went into the office and complained about me, each one making up some ridiculous story. The next day I arrived at the school excited to actually begin training on the road, but it was not to be.
I arrived at the School for the last days of training on the road and the Admistrator yelled at me "... To get in the office" and told me "... To get the hell out, that Swift did not allow discrimination..." I was allowed no recourse.
I am having nightmares, it is four weeks since this happened and I have to pay Swift $4000.00 dollars for the privilage of the worst experience of my life. I have a postgraduate degree and have taught at University. I happen to know what discrimination is!
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