Profile For BigRalph

You seem to want to hold Schneider accountable for not providing additional training to you for the hard braking, stability control, and backing events… How is it you can’t recognize on your own when you need to slow down, not follow other vehicles too closely, and be aware of what’s around and behind you when you’re backing up? You really want to appear to be the victim here. If any of these events led to an accident while you’re driving your personal vehicle, would you expect a representative from the DMV to show up at your door intending to coach you on how to be a better driver? This is all pretty basic stuff… driving too fast for conditions, tailgating, not paying attention to what’s around & behind you… You can cry foul all you want, but Schneider made the right decision. Your wanting to pursue some sort of appeals process only further supports Schneider‘s decision… you’re still not holding yourself accountable for these very basic mistakes. You can continue wasting your time pursuing this, which will get you nowhere, or you can accept Western Express’s offer and hopefully work hard to repair your status as a solid driver.

I get the point you're trying to make, but you're assuming a lot that just isn’t accurate. I was in constant communication with both my operations manager and my trainer — texting updates, asking questions, keeping them looped in. At no point did anyone step in with coaching or even a warning that I was approaching a firing threshold.

And the idea that all four critical events were due to tailgating or speeding is off base. Conditions on the road vary, and you weren’t there. These weren’t cases of reckless driving — they were moments that, in a training environment, could’ve been teachable. Instead, they were just silently tallied until it hit the magic number.

I wasn't fired for dropping a trailer or crashing into anything. I was let go after backing up on a public road — and for those four critical events — with no formal coaching, no real feedback, just a quiet exit.

I also appreciate your DMV comparison — it actually proves my point. If a driver has an incident in their personal vehicle, the DMV doesn’t show up to coach them. But if you're operating under a training carrier’s authority, and they claim to support development, then yeah — I expect more than silence followed by termination.

As for your advice about going to Western Express to rebuild my reputation, that's laughable. I’ve worked for them. The training there was a joke. My trainer was smoking weed while we were driving down the road — so yeah, Western Express is definitely NOT the place to learn safe driving or rebuild anything. It's the last place anyone should go to fix their driving habits.

One of my questions is, surely you were coached on all of these events by your leader. I know for a fact hard braking and roll stability events go directly to your leader for them to review with you. So if it kept happening, you have to look at yourself and figure out why. If they didn’t offer any additional training, did you ask for it? Take accountability and say you wanted extra training to ensure this stopped happening? Especially after the 2nd critical event.

Unfortunately, I was not coached on any of these events, unless you'd count the day they sent me back to yard to talk about all of it but that was the same day I got fired. Speaking of training: when discussing following distance with my trainer said the gap I was keeping was excessive and would often comment that I wasn't driving fast enough. She would be snippy, rude and seemed to find the various mistakes she lead me to make quite funny. And yes, it feels as ludicrous to type as I'm sure it is to read.

So, I get the whole take personal responsibility. I'm all for it. Unfortunately, the other trainer was a very aggressive late middle-aged dude, so, it's like, in a perfect world should I have asked for more training? Yes, of course. At my yard, it just wasn't there. I was not coached on any of this before I was terminated. No one can absorb the skills and knowledge it takes to be a good driver from the very ether in a matter of days or weeks of driving.

I should add that I was shocked at the difference in professionalism and competence at my yard vs. the orientation yard in Mesquite to say the least.

All I can say is, you can try appealing your termination to the appeal board and see what happens. This has to be done within 30 days of your termination though.

Do you happen to know how to do this? I have not been able to find the contact information. Appreciate your reply!

Hey all — I got let go from Schneider within 30 days due to safety violations: three hard brakes, one stability control event, and a backing incident that happened to occur right in front of the head of safety.

I overshot the yard entrance, threw on hazards, and backed up on a public road. According to him, there was a car behind me laying on the horn. No one was hit, no damage was done — but I panicked, hit the brakes hard, and that sealed it. It was my sixth day, I was tired, low on hours, and had almost no experience behind the wheel solo.

The other violations? Two hard brakes from following too closely in tight traffic, and a stability control event on a ramp that multiple other drivers said frequently triggers false alerts.

Now I can't get hired anywhere except Western Express, and even they want me to team drive for a month at $650/week because of that safety violation. I'm wondering if there's any way to appeal or fight this — nobody was hurt, I wasn’t offered remedial training, and I can’t shake the feeling that due to a recruiter screw-up, they were just looking for a reason to cut me loose.

Okay cool, makes sense! I lived in Michigan for basically my entire life. Have been doing the Gypsy thing since 2022 and am 100% done with it lol. I was wondering if that too might play into account which is why I never transferred my license from Michigan until I found this job in Washington that fired me, so, that definitely sucks but here we are.

I do have a company in North Dakota that was willing to hire me until they found out I didn't have an ELDT. I found an online school JUST for ELDT, so, they are contacting safety and seeing if the online ELDT will suffice.

Schneider said they'd hire me two weeks after getting to Texas without an ELDT, so, there's that as well.

Very much appreciate your feed back!!

Hey all, I'll be as brief as I can while providing the necessary context. So, I got my CDL Last year in September of 2023 and did not go to work with it (Problem #1). I started school by going to TMC's School in Iowa in July of 2023. They kicked me out for "not cutting the mustard on backing" after around 100 hours. I went to a school back home in Michigan where they allowed me to take a "Refresher Course" (80 hours) and then allowed me to test for my CDL (Problem #2). So, I have a CDL with no automatic restriction and all endorsements.

Fast forward to now, I just recently transferred my license to Washington State last month in July of 2024 after getting here in October of 2023.

The core issue here is the following: Schneider is not hiring OTR with no experience here in Washington State - I know because I applied, and they said no. None of the recruiters at Scneider though I imagine it would probably be a problem there have mentioned issue with school time/ELDT stuff.

I applied to Western Express and have not heard back after calling and emailing a few times a week. Swift is hiring here, but, because of the way I got my CDL they want me to go to the Swift Academy, sign a contract, and basically start from scratch with CDL Training.

Thier website now says the contract period for work with Swift is TWENTY SIX MONTH (26 months), which I am hoping is a typo because wow. I have had other companies that hire here say the same thing, basically: No ELDT, no job for you. Really wish I would have known this before!!!!

I can easily move to and establish residency in Texas or Michigan. I'd prefer Texas since there is no State Income Tax. All of my belongings are in storage, so, I am very mobile. I'd prefer Texas or Michigan but will go anywhere. Getting into OTR is the sole goal I have in life right now and while nothing will stop me from getting into it I'd like to see if you guys could help me with finding the fastest way to do it without messing up like I did last time.

Thank you.