Profile For Skipjack

I can tell you for a fact, I just got my CDL. Your nerves are your absolute worst enemy. When you test, stay as calm as possible. The examiners are not there to fail you, but they do have criteria that you have to meet. On the pre-trip, start at one place and take your time and then move to the next. When you get nervous, you tend to start skipping around and that can cost you. I took the test for a straight truck back in 2008. It was nerve wracking, but I made it, I just recently took the test for semi truck and passed it. I you have been studying, you already know the information, just stay calm, and you can put it out. if you do miss something, don't panic, you can tell the examiner as long as the test is going on. On my test, I had to do the overall, engine, in-cab, and coupling system. I had finished the underhood and started to move back to the coupling system when the examiner asked me to tell her about the wheel again. I had forgotten to mention that they cannot be welded. this did not count against me. So stay calm, and try to do the test as if you were explaining things to a fellow student or a friend.

Hello, I just got home a few days ago from MTC. It was quite an experience. The first 3 days we spent in a classroom doing orientation. Once that was done, we spent the next 3 weeks in the yard walking alongside the trucks as people were doing backing maneuvers and on the road with other students and an instructor. I will say that the instructors at MTC are very knowledgeable. Ian, Rich and some of the road instructors like Kirk, Kevin, Monroe, Pop, and the others all have 20 plus years experience behind the wheel. the information comes very fast, but if you study and listen to the instructors, you will learn how to pass your CDL test. A few years ago, I drove a 34' box truck delivering ice. I thought this might give me an edge, but let me tell you, these are a whole different beast. I worked my butt off to learn, but in the end, I did get my CDL. On the downside, if you are going for a manual license, the equipment was in poor shape. We had one truck that was wide steering and the trailer had a bent kingpin, but we worked with it. I had signed up with Werner and after I got me CDL, it was like all the doors closed. No one would talk to me. I made several phone calls and only twice did I get to actually talk to the Werner recruiter at the school. Apparently Werner does not believe in communications. The one recruiter told me that Werner had denied my application, and the recruiter at the school told me I was supposed to have been in orientation that day. I spent a lot of time in St. louis trying to figure out if I had a job r not and finally got a bus ticket and came home. On a happier note, one of the students that started with Werner, got dropped, picked up by US Express, got dropped, and finally got picked up by Covenant, talked to their recruiter. I am scheduled to go to Chattanooga, TN on the 22nd for orientation. If all goes well there, I will leave from there and begin driving with a trainer right then. The entire experience has been a bit frustrating, but I do believe, with some decent equipment, MTC's manual students would have a much higher pass rate for their CDLs. As I said, the instructors are excellent in knowing how to move the big rigs and if the equipment was in better condition, their jobs would be much easier. It is not a bad school, but if you go, be prepared to work like crazy. If you want to spend time partying, this is not the place for you. We had very nice hotel accommodations. We stayed at Extended Stay America in Earth City, Mo. It is about a 5 minute drive from the school. The staff at the hotel were very nice and tried their best to help me with any issues I had. The only complaint I know of personally was, there was a rollaway bed in my room and my roommates said they could not sleep on it. I was attending school during Thanksgiving and Christmas and the school got us free meals at the Hometown Buffet which is a very good restraunt. the rest of the time I was basically living on pot pies and ramen soup. Somehow, noodles just do not appeal to me any more. ;-).