u/Effective-Case5569

Got 5 months CDL-A with Swift OTR. A local company back home in San Diego recruited me as a CDL driver.
They made the job sound good in the interview and didn't tell me their only big rig was a manual until after I'd already put my notice in at Swift. I have an automatic restriction, but they said they'd train me so I could get it removed.
The guy who was supposed to train me got fired, so now I'm spending most of my shift stacking 25-30 Ib bags on pallets. Now they're talking about paying someone to come to the site for one week to teach me stick and then expecting me to drive.
Would you stick it out for the manual/local experience or start applying elsewhere? Is one week realistic to learn a manual big rig?

I’ve been with Swift since March and honestly wanna leave OTR badly around August/September once I hit 6 months.

I couldn’t find a local CDL-A job in San Diego before this, so I came here just to build experience.

When local companies ask for “6 months experience,” do they usually mean:
- 6 months SOLO
or
- 6 months total with a carrier?

Trying to understand how local companies/insurance actually look at it.

I’ve been with Swift since March and honestly wanna leave OTR badly around August/September once I hit 6 months.

I couldn’t find a local CDL-A job in San Diego before this, so I came here just to build experience.

When local companies ask for “6 months experience,” do they usually mean:
- 6 months SOLO
or
- 6 months total with a carrier?

Trying to understand how local companies/insurance actually look at it.