Profile For Charles S.

I can't agree more with Daniel B about bringing kids along. I totally agree with his points and his view. But my opinion comes from another side.

I talked to an O/O a few years ago. He has/had 2 small kids at home. Along with his wife. One of the kids loved going with his dad the other didn't want to come at all.

This is a story the driver told me one day. They were driving in Maine on I-95. I think he said his son was maybe 8 years old.

Of course his son was in the second seat. They came upon a BAD car wreck. The driver said it couldn't have happened more than a couple of minutes before. The ambulances hadn't even arrived yet.

As they passed the wreck, there were 2 dead bodies and some body parts right beside the road. He said his son was terrified.

Eventually he had to be take to counseling. That was 2 years before and the son was still having nightmares.

It is bad enough an adult see something like that. I would not want my son to ever see something like that. I have seen it. Being a Paramedic for years.

It took me years to get a good nights sleep for all the horror I had seen on the road.

Please don't take young kids on the road. Too much can happen.

Keep it safe out there. Joe S

Well here we have it guys (and ladies) taking your kids on a family trip is a major no-no according to the authorities here at Trucking Truth. You could be happily driving down the highway in your family car and all the sudden drive up on a accident where your kids might see something right out of a Hollywood horror movie. So cancel the family vacations, road trips, visits to the grandparents, and by all means Disneyland. Keep the little ones locked in the house where you can be sure no harm will come to them. Do you also propose keeping your kids home from school because there could be a school shooting?

I have been on road trips many times as a child and adult and never once seen anything like what your describing. Yes, im sure it happens how often? I really don't think thats a reason to have a NC-17 rating on the highway.

I started coming to this forum looking for positive information on a job that I was wanting to get involved with. I still want to do the job, but I think I have had my fill of the characters here. Brett thank you for training materials and all of the actual POSITIVE information here, but you can remove my account I'm done.

I wish you all the best of luck on the road and just hope that some of you can pull your heads out of your @$$ to actually see where your going.

For the love of having a good childhood please don't take your children with you. Like I said before, the truck is a small walk in closet. Children need space they need to play and most importantly they need to socialize with other children. Your child will be stuck inside this truck not developing any social skills and being bored and lonely all the time. This life isn't the life for children. Send him to school instead. If you bring him I truly believe you're ruining his life.

Sounds like we are back onto the negative side of trucking again. Thanks for all of the insight. Was just a simple question about how to have riders in the truck with you, wasn't looking for a sermon on how going on a road trip in a truck will ruin your kids life. Geeze, what a load of b.s.

Getting ready to start driving school and have been wondering about being able to take your family on the road with you. Are you limited to having only one passenger at a time in your truck (being only 1 passenger seat with a seat belt) or can you have a second person in the sleeper awake or sleeping while you are driving?

I have heard about drivers taking their wives and child along with them on the road, just not sure what the rules are as far as DOT, or if its all about company policy. Not wanting to do anything illegal or to endanger anyone, just want to know what options there are and I have not found much information.

Watched the video as I do with a lot of youtube videos. Have definitely seen a lot of videos with some driver complaining about his pay, don't work for this company, this job sucks, etc. I really didn't see anything negative about the video, but I guess its all in how you look at it. I thought the driver was simply laying it all out there for the inexperienced person (like me) for them to understand what its really like out there. I am sure way too many people get into this job not taking any of the things into consideration that he mentioned and it causes them to give up. Several times in the video he did state that he loves the job and is happy with who he is working for, just that there are some negative sides of the job just as with any job.

Got an email from the recruiter at Knight, I will be starting orientation on September 3rd. Have my permit already so first week should mostly be company paperwork, safety videos, and other new hire stuff. Week 2 should be the fun stuff, playing with the trucks and learning how to do it all right.

Anyone been through Knight's training recently care to share any insight or suggestions? Looking forward to the next few weeks!

Oh okay I see what you were saying, I misunderstood. The only thing with the company sponsored programs is that its not always free. Some companies will do weekly deductions from your check once your solo to cover the schooling or part of it. Some companies will cover the whole ammont if you stay with them for a period of time. Either way I think its a good way to get in, get your training, and get a job right away.

How much training time did you have to put in? Are you slip seating? That's a great looking truck, will look great going down the highway!

Since I live out west I'll throw in my research experience. If you are looking at regional with company sponsored training, then look into Swift or Knight. If you can afford to pay for school you'll have a ton of options. Roehl, Schneider, Werner just to name a few.

I can probably come up with the $$$ for training, but you still need road experiance to get hired anywhere, from what i have seen even if you do have your class A you will need to go thru training to get hired.. I just don't see the benefits from it....am I missing something...?

Just having your CDL class A isn't going to cut it, companies are going to want to know that you have been properly trained to handle that 80,000lb rig on the road before they cut you loose with their truck and thousands of dollars worth of freight (not to mention the liability). If you find a good company that has sponsored CDL training that hauls a variety of freight your options won't be limited. You will likely start off hauling regular dry vans, and given a proven safety record and good history you could probably move into flatbeds, refers, tankers, and possibly port/rail containers depending on what all the company hauls.

I've never driven a truck before, and this is pretty much how I am planning on starting out. Going through a good size company that provides CDL training and has several regional options. As time progresses I may be able to get into a dedicated account or may even move to a different company after a couple of years that hauls different types of freight. But for starters, I am going with a company that is going to offer good solid training and provide good miles for experience.

Congratulations. Got my permit and endorsements yesterday. Just need Hazmat. I've been trying to talk to my recruiter at Knight also. I met her on Friday and she was very quick to respond to my emails. Now I can't get an answer from her. When were you hoping to start? I'm aiming for Sept 23.

And congratulations to you as well! On the hazmat endorsement, you can't get that with a permit only right you have to have the CDL first ? At least that's how I understood it.

Congratulations. Got my permit and endorsements yesterday. Just need Hazmat. I've been trying to talk to my recruiter at Knight also. I met her on Friday and she was very quick to respond to my emails. Now I can't get an answer from her. When were you hoping to start? I'm aiming for Sept 23.

I am waiting to find out whats available. I kind of like the idea of starting later rather than sooner just so I may get some driving time in bad weather with a trainer. Would rather go through my first snow storm or icy roads with an experienced driver than by myself.

Finally got my DOT physical done and passed the written tests for my permit. Contacted my recruiter at Knight and waiting to find out when I can go through orientation and start training.

Here in Arizona you need to have your physical before they will let you get your permit. Call your local DMV/MVD and ask to be sure thou. Whatever school your voting through should also be able to tell you.

Looking into getting various things in order for driving and I know one of the big things is a passport. Is it necessary to have the passport book or will the passport card suffice? I read that the passport card will grant you re-entry into the US from Canada, Mexico, and a few other places but will this be acceptable for CDL purposes? The passport card is about half the price of the book, so don't want to have to spend the extra money if I don't really need it.

Thats great news Jason, Glad the forum and the rest of the site were able to help you along your way. Is System Transport a local company up there in Washington? Congratulations on passing your test and your new job, now comes the fun part getting to drive and getting paid for it.

I think is pretty awesome that we had 2 guys pass their road test in the same day.

That sounds great, they are definitely one of the companies I had been considering since they offer local company sponsored schooling through a private school. I have watched a few youtube videos from Werner drivers that seem rather content with them, so would be interested in hearing how your journey goes if you do go with them or whoever you do go with.

Thats awesome, so what company are you starting out with?

Good news for today! It seems that Tim and I are still the top dogs for parallel parking. Unfortunately that means that since we didn't need to practice we sat on the sidelines all day (except for our 15 minute run each this morning). Today was insanely long and hot and humid. Did I mention long?! Jeez.

Hey thats awesome, any advice on suggestions for those of us that will be having to complete the same challenge?

Yeah I thought it was CR England, but I also thought I remember you saying that you wanted to go with them since you could go to school and wouldn't have to leave home to do it. I didn't see a school for CR England in Michigan so I was confused.

Did a quick search for trucking companies in your area that are looking for new trainees, found this particular one with several ads and seems interesting. Also found a lot of ads for swift looking for new hires out of the Michigan area too, surprised they told you no. Follow this link and check them out, they may have a different view on the meds than CR England.

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/trp/3977894344.html

If your not opposed to going out of state for your training there are a couple other bigger company sponsored schools that weren't on your list that would be worth looking into.

Or you could wait a few months and try again with CR England, but personally when I run into road blocks I just find a different route to what I want. So with the goal being to getting you on the road as soon as possible, I'd do a little more digging into these other companies that you haven't tried.

Tanya, you had applied with CR England right? I think you had said a while back that they were the only company that you had applied with that would take you on due to your home state. What other companies had you applied to?

Daniel, a new driver makes 42c per mile in those lightweights.

.42 a mile is pretty darn good for a new driver! Have seen info on some companies that start out at about 1/2 of that.