Comments By Dan H.

Officially passed my skills test today! Not a lot to write about, everything went well. At some point this week, I should be a fully endorsed CDL holder!

My current plan of attack is to get to the DMV this week, then start applying for jobs the following week. I still have about 8 weeks of school left and I'd like to finish the year so I'm not in a huge rush. My goal is hopefully find something local that pays decent, if not I'll go over the road.

Why didn't they just offer to let you start with the next group? 🤔.

Thank you BK for the advice.

On a second look, I do believe there IS a year requirement. I'm still curious if it's worth apply though.

I’m down to just two weekends of school left out of three remaining. One of the instructors is taking this Saturday off due to Easter so I was asked not to come in. There’s one weekend of instruction after that and then I will take the skills test 4/13. It has been a blur with my 7 days-a-week schedule for the last 10 weeks and thankfully I have made it to Spring Break and taking some time to relax–ha! More like catching up on all the projects stacking up.

I’m feeling very confident for the skills test and I wish I could go ahead and just take it. Don’t get me wrong, I think I could flunk it just as quick as anyone by making a brain-dead mistake, but I feel comfortable behind the wheel and pre-trip is old-hat at this point. It would be nice to get it out of the way and use the last couple of classes as just practice. I would like to add that I think that doing my CDL over an extended time (13 weeks vs 7) has been helpful. I do think, however, some of my classmates with less experience around equipment may have found the daily class more beneficial.

I have used this extra time to take all my endorsement tests. I saved my scores so I didn’t have to get a new permit, but once I can get my CDL, I will have my tanker, doubles/triples, and hazmat endorsements already on it. I also went ahead and got my TWIC card as well–which should be here today or tomorrow. My thoughts are that I want as few barriers to any potential jobs as possible. Not to mention with my education background, studying for and taking tests is a strong suit of mine.

I’ve already begun job hunting (thank you that replied to my question above). I have…14 tabs open on my phone’s web browser that stay on my target companies’ career pages. Most of these are LTL companies, though there are some fuel companies as well. While I’m lucky in that my wife has told me she will put up with anything for a year (which is her response whenever I ask about different hometime arrangements), I am hopeful to end up with a home-daily position. Not all of these positions will hire rookies, I just figure it doesn’t hurt to check.

I got overly excited about applying at one local job and went ahead and applied–I’m not entirely sure why, pay would only be around 50k. They did end up emailing me back saying to please contact them when I had my CDL in hand as they had opportunities. Estes also just posted an opening in my area today. Should I apply even though I’m 3+ weeks away from my CDL? Further more, I’d also like to finish out the school year at this point. It’s not really fair to my coworkers/students to peace out with only a few months of school left, plus part of my salary is a 12% bonus I get for teaching the whole year. That being said, if it were a take it or leave it offer at an LTL job, I’d dutifully turn in my notice.

This question is buried in my CDL Diary too, but I thought I'd get a few more replies here...

Background: I'm three-ish weeks from finishing my CDL course and taking my skills test through a local CC (April 13th is the skills test). I feel confident in my ability to pass the skills test, though I do understand that both hubris and Murphy's law may have other plans. I have already passed my tanker, doubles/triples, and hazmat endorsement tests. I also should be receiving my TWIC card in the mail today or tomorrow.

I am currently a school teacher. I would prefer to wait to start a new job until this current school year is over as: a) it really wouldn't be fair for my coworkers or students, b) my district requires 30 school-days notice to leave otherwise they go after your teaching license, and c) part of my salary is tied up in a "bonus" that you receive for teaching the entire school year. That being said, for the right job I would put in my notice.

Question: One of the companies I would like to work for is Estes. I check their career page (as well as about 13 other companies) daily. They posted a job today for a combo driver in my area. I did not see a years-of-experience requirement in their ad. Would it be worth my time applying for the position? Also although this would be my first time applying to them, could applying for the same company multiple times hurt my chances in the future?

TL/DR: I *should* receive my CDL in mid-April, is it too early to apply to Estes, even if I'd prefer to wait to start a new job until June?

I'm not driving yet, I'm still in CDL school, but I have been researching different companies that I would potentially like to work for.

Most of the hourly type work I've seen is local LTL type stuff: Old Dominion, Estes, etc. If you're doing more OTR type work for them, the revert back to mileage though. Those companies are well thought of. Some of the tanker companies I've looked into (that specifically hire new drivers) have minimum pay (Eagle Transport).

As far as OTR, Maverick Transportation offers minimum pay if you don't mind flatbed, but I don't know if they hire in Illinois. I'm 100 miles outside of their hiring zone I have discovered. Marten also has a minimum pay too, if I recall correctly.

Not worth a dime, but still my two cents:

1. I know you can't believe everything you read on the internet, but a quick google search will tell you that THC can stay in your system much longer than 1 month with prolonged use.

and

2. Maybe you can beat the system once, but there are Federally required random drug tests after you're hired (maybe you've done better with lottery tickets than I have), not to mention--and god forbid--you get into an accident you'll be drug tested as well. I'm sure it is company dependent, but while coaching one of our bus drivers had to test for a minor fender bender.

Everyone has their own risk tolerance, and admittedly, mine is fairly low. I will also say I understand the impatience. I've been more-or-less planning on truck driving for over a year now. I began thinking about it last January (almost quit my job to start), made a decision last summer to teach one more year, and started CDL school at a local community college on the weekends this January. Truck driving hasn't seem to have went anywhere in a year.

If you're on baby step 1, I'm still just a gleam in my daddy's eye!😂

From what I've gathered on my small amount of research is talking directly to a shipper and contracting with them. I enjoyed this YouTube video on the subject.

https://youtu.be/xjgUhS5cffU?si=u8h7VSS8xsNd3W9_

Some more advice: the pre-trip is the examiner's first impression of you. Be sharp and know your stuff, that will help you get that "benefit of the doubt" on the rest of the test.

Thanks for the advice! I've definitely chilled out a little bit on the pre-trip as we've been practicing every weekend and I'm retaining it pretty well. My biggest fear at the moment is just leaving stuff out from the repetitive nature of it, though it was a relief to learn that if I forget a part, I can mention it later in the pre-trip and not be marked off. I am going to continue studying, and I have checked on Daniel's study guide and was pleasantly surprised it's very close to the one my school passed out.

Just another update

Just finished week 5 of 13. We've been driving the truck for... three weeks now? We spent the first two weeks doing the ELDT book work, then we took our test the morning of the third week and started on grinding gears (literally) bobtailing. I felt a little embarrassed that I struggled more than I anticipated. I've driven 10 speeds a fair amount on the farm but was taught to float gears. I'm sure it was a combination of both an abused transmission and having not driven a truck (10 wheeler) since 2019, but I suspect a large part was getting the double clutching coordination.

The straight back has been easy. The offset was slightly more of a struggle, but mostly just the learning the timing of when to chase/get under the trailer. I kept getting the tandems where I want them but tend to either chasing early or late. My last two were perfect though, so that's good. Unfortunately we only got 2 90s this weekend because adding the trailer/in-cap parts of the pre-trip ate up the lion-share of the morning and my group's instructor is an older gentleman and he needs to take breaks occasionally. I was pretty happy with my 2nd 90 I got on Sunday, though my instructor did have me GOAL multiple times to show me different things which helped my attempt be successful.

This last Sunday we took the truck with a trailer around town for the first time. It was not nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be. The little bit of semi driving I did on the farm was mostly all rural--so cars, stoplights, and merges seemed like a lot. Really about the only thing I was struggling with was getting it in the gear I wanted before the turn. I assume I need to slow down so I've already downshift to where I want to be? I'm going to ask this next Saturday.

Also noteworthy, two weeks ago we got a real dose of reality. We had bobtailed about 30 minutes from the school and switched drivers. As soon as the next guy got up to highway-speed, our instructor noticed the engine fan was blowing and asked what the water temp was an--as you've probably assumed--it was hot. We'd blown a hole in the line that runs from the engine to the heater core, which left us waiting on the side of the road for the tow truck. I'm only slightly surprised that it was towed to a mechanic instead of the school. It looked like a simple fix to me, but oh well, not my money.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about the course. I do see the disadvantage of weekend school and not getting the practice throughout the week, but the three of us in my group are all progressing well. This is probably the first week that I've noticed the 7 full days a week getting tiring, but luckily today is just a work day at the school, so I am getting a little reprieve!

Quick question: Do driving jobs require a resume? I've been looking at jobs, but not really in a position to apply but I can start working on resume/cover letter stuff it those are required in the industry.