Comments By Kerry L.

1st day+ out with trainer:

Thankfully my trainer doesn't listen to country music. He is former military, like myself, but sometimes he talks too much. I would prefer for things to be kept a bit more professional, but I do appreciate that he doesn't have that drill instructor mentality. He definitely has some bad habits as a driver, so I have a running list of things not to do while driving. Trainer notified me that he was coming in to Willard, OH and that we had to leave out at 02:30. Offered to have me join him for dinner. So, met with trainer and did the typical meet&great.

02:20, I am ready to go. I get coffee at Circle K across the street from the hotel. Trainer picks me up at 02:40. At this point, I don't have a login for the onboard ELD, so trainer is driving. We bobtail from Willard, OH to a drop yard in Solon, OH to pickup a trailer. Hook up and trainer is putting in the address where we are headed into the GPS. Load is headed to Syracuse, NY. He realizes that we are going to be over an hour late. Trainer doesn't call dispatch and doesn't call the receiver to see if he can reschedule. He is trying to figure out how we lost over an hour and then he realizes that he forgot to include the miles driving from Dutch Maid terminal to drop yard when calculating the time needed for the load to arrive in time.

On the way to Syracuse, NY, trainer decides that we should stop at a truck stop to eat. He said that we were already going to be late, so might as well stop to eat. We did this after having already stopped at a rest area for a 30-minute break.

We arrive at the receiver over 2 hours late and have to be rescheduled. It wasn't a terrible waste of time because trainer had to take 10 hour break, anyway. Receiver allows overnight parking, so no problems. 01:30, trainer receives call that we have a door for delivery.

I am able to login to the ELD, so my driving begins. I perform my first back since August 2020. It was a little rough, but I got it done without hitting anything/anyone and it didn't take too long (10 minutes). We begin planning the trip for our next load. The address for where we are picking up isn't recognized by the GPS. I eventually pull out the atlas, but that isn't any help. Trainer is trying for hours to reach dispatch and can't reach anyone. He suspects that it is a problem with the phones at the office. I finally figure out that the name of the street provided in the load information had an errant letter (street name "America" misspelled "American"). Got the directions from GPS without issue.

Still being unloaded as I submit this post.

Anne,

What do you do if there are cars in the lane required to do the button hook? I think, in real life, you have to do a hybrid of a jug and a buttonhook.

You allow vehicles to pass and utilize space where a vehicle had been. During CDL exam, impeding traffic is stressed. But, once out on the road with a company, take as much time as is necessary to make a turn without hitting anything/anyone. During heavy traffic, it may be necessary to hold up traffic and use space where vehicles had been. The maneuver is the same, but it may take a bit more time in heavy traffic.

One week of so called training and they put you on your own?

Yes Sir. They go through about 50 new drivers a week. No license, new license, and experienced. You can guess the retention rate. Their present training model is to give us 1 week OTR and see who sinks or swims. Something about that must be cost effective but rough on people. Lucky me, I was finally hired at another company to drive dry van. Then just before 5pm today someone phoned me with the news they could only hire me for flatbed. 🤣 I'm almost 65 years old and a 6 week old kitten can beat me up. Had to say no. I'll let you guys know if I have any luck. Thanks.

Carmen,

I'm confused. The 'one week' training is SNI, (in a nutshell...) correct??

Kerry, you made it confusing, re: DML ... LoL!

Carmen, it really couldn't hurt to look into Dutch Maid. Did you apply here? Apply For Paid CDL Training

Seriously, what's one logistics 'trash' is the better ones 'treasure.'

I also feel, all considering, you should look at Witte Bros. .... Smaller(ish) company, great retention rate, and actually 'prefer' mature drivers (but they can't say that ... I can, from stats & trends!)

Wish you well, good sir.

~ Anne ~

ps: Please look into Witte Bros. (and DML if you haven't.)

What part did I make confusing? I will clear it up, if I can.

HAHAHA!!

You don't realize that a good percentage of the cheese is now coming out of Idaho to Wisconsin. My company hauls many loads of cheddar in tubs from Glanbia to a couple plants in Wisconsin. 😁

Laura

If you tell me Maine lobsters are imported from New Jersey, I’m going to cut my throat.

They swim up the coast.

I am not able to update my profile. Requesting a moderator update my profile to "Rookie Driver." Thank you much.

You are now Rookie Driver.

LMAO!!!

Kerry, I'll send an email (or you can) to: Brett@TruckingTruth.com , but what you MAY be doing, is trying to 'type' into that field. It's a drop down, where you get to select. Pretty sure it's either 'Rookie Solo Driver' or 'Rookie Team Driver.' (I've used the latter, but never got my 'real' CDL, haha!)

Try, can't hurt!

~ Anne ~

ps: @Chris K .... you always get a chuckle outta me!!

I just got to thinking that I am not a solo driver yet, so I looked to see if there was an option for driver in training, and sure enough there is. So, I am now a "Company Driver in Training."

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to relocate to Florida in the next couple of months. Can anybody refer me to a good trucking school that offers training and certification?

Thank You,

Cypress Truck Lines is a company that will cover the cost of obtaining your CDL then train you to drive for them.

Roadmaster has a school in Orlando and they work with Werner.

Schneider will sponsor you to get your CDL at a school in Florida. You will have to contact Schneider to find out what schools they work with.

Hi Kerry,

Thank you for information! I will follow up with those companies. Can you refer me to any companies in Texas?

Best, Chris

Stevens Transport

Werner Enterprises

Schneider National

Raider Express

Continental Express

KLLM/FFE

All of those companies either have training in Texas (DFW area) or hire out of Texas for training. All of these companies take people with no experience and offer a means to obtain CDL.

Howdy, y'all might have read my post a few weeks back. I live in Jupiter Florida which is north of West Palm and South of Stuart. The companies I have found that have cdl training and hire in South Fl. Swift refrigerated Roehl FFE Prime If I attend Sage trucking school in Ft.Pierce the companies that hire graduates Armelini Werner Schneider H.o.Wolding Freymiller Two other companies that hire new cdl graduates in South Fl. Heyl Pride Also I believe Dutch Maid has a cdl school now and trains folks from South Fl. I this hope helps

Dutch Maid Logistics doesn't have a school...YET. The school should be opening just before the new regulation takes affect that will require CDL holders to go through a training program before testing.

There could be many it seems that way, but let's put this in perspective. Wisconsin has more than 60,000 trucking companies registered in the state with a population 5.8 million, Utah has more than 21,000 with a population of 3.2 million, and California with a population of 39.5 million has more than 135,000. New York State as more than 37000 trucking companies registered with a population of 19.5 million. Of the estimated 1.2 million trucking companies in the United States, 97% of them run less than 20 trucks.

It does seem like there are quite a few major carriers headquartered there, especially a handful that offer training.

Check now. You should be able to modify your profile.

Perfect. Thank you.

It's like I am here but not.

You are a figment of your own imagination.

That sounds about right.

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to relocate to Florida in the next couple of months. Can anybody refer me to a good trucking school that offers training and certification?

Thank You,

Cypress Truck Lines is a company that will cover the cost of obtaining your CDL then train you to drive for them.

Roadmaster has a school in Orlando and they work with Werner.

Schneider will sponsor you to get your CDL at a school in Florida. You will have to contact Schneider to find out what schools they work with.