PAM/Driver Solutions Training

I start at Future Truckers of America in Asheboro, NC on Monday, April 23rd. I will arrive Sunday before 5:30pm in Thomasville, NC, where my hotel is. They have us staying at Stay Lodge. I have to be at school by 6:30am Monday morning. Classes are 7-6 M-Th. I'll keep you all posted!

Outstanding news to read! Wishing you all the best.

Finally settled into my room. Had a quick dinner of rotisserie chicken and veggies. The roomie and I went to Wal-Mart to get some essentials. So far, she's pretty cool. The room is ok. It has a kitchenette with a full size fridge and a two eye stove top. I've got my lunch packed and ready to go. School starts early, so I'll be hitting the hay before too long.

Today was day 1 of school. We had to be there at 6:30, so I was up by 5:15. Showered, ate a quick breakfast and headed out the door. The school is 30 minutes from the hotel. My roomie caught a ride with me. We got there right at 6:33. They had us sign a bunch of paperwork, including the contract with PAM. After everyone was processed, they started sending people for physicals. Those of us who got our permits already just had to go for the drug test. After the drug test, I came back to class to find the rest watching a video. It was old school and kinda funny. Here's a screenshot -

We watched for awhile with 10 minute breaks every hour. It was just going over the stuff I learned in the High Road CDL Training Program. Finally, a guy came in to go over air brakes. More review, but better than videos. He let us go at about 4:15.

Then the roomie, me, and a classmate went for dinner. We chilled for awhile before runming errands and heading back to the room. It's almost 9 now and I'm beat. I'm about to turn over and hit the hay.

I got to drive today!!

The day started out with going over the pre-trip inspection outside in the rain. Then we watched a guy test out on his. He got a perfect score. After that, we went in for classroom instruction about the pre-trip and logbooks. We went to lunch at a local church that feeds people in the community on Tuesdays. It was a good lunch with classmates.

More classroom instruction, and then they released us an hour early. I asked our instructor if I could use the extra time to jump into a truck and try it out. He grabbed another woman in class and I grabbed my friend. The 3 of us (the only girls in the class) followed him outside and he showed us how to straight-line back the truck. Then we all took turns at the wheel. I skimmed one of the cones my first time, but did good otherwise. The guy who does testing, Eric, was out there guiding us and said we're already doing better than some of those in their 3rd week, and we're only on day 2! He offered to stay after with us for the rest of the week and said after we can all back 3 times in a row in good form, he'll move us to the next step. So, we will definitely be ahead of the game. It was super exciting and I can't wait to drive again.

Thats awesome! I'm glad you took the initiative to want to learn more.

I forgot to write last night about yesterday.

We got there right at 7:06am, just in time for roll call. After roll call, we went out to do pre-trips with a 4th week student. My friend, who will be my teammate for the first 6 months, and I stayed a bit longer to get more familiar with the components.

Then we went in for some more classroom instruction. We talked about hazardous materials and then learned map reading and a bit of trip planning.

After lunch, a state trooper came and talked to us about safety. Then we went out for straight-line backing. We were in line for off-sets when some other dudes jumped in the truck before us. So, the girls and I went and started going over pretrip.

Then I grabbed a pizza and headed back to the hotel. My teammate and my roomie and I all studied pretrip while stuffing our faces.

Nighthawk, I'm not trying to be mean or nitpick but you really need to work on being on time. You're in your first week and of the 3 days you've posted, 2 of them mention you were late. Yes, it was only a couple minutes but that doesn't matter. Late is late. In trucking being on time is being EARLY for your appointment. I'm not sure if you're looking at hauling dry van or reefer , but I know that the big distribution centers will push you to the back of the line if you're late. Being early will help you maximize your income.

Please do not take this as me being a jerk, I just want to see you succeed as we know some of the obstacles you've faced to get to this point. The school I went to had students sponsored by swift, us xpress and Schneider attending and our school tracked attendance and being late. For my school 2 absences or 4 times being late over the course of the program resulted in removal from the course.

I'm glad to hear school is going well and look forward to following along on your journey

Nighthawk, I'm not trying to be mean or nitpick but you really need to work on being on time.

Not offended at all. You are so right!!