Comments By Schism

That's is one ugly waiting line . That's a half day wait right there .

at least they allow parking if one's 14 runs out.

I hope they provide parking when everyone's 14 runs out! Geesh!!!

I'm in for the long haul . He is an old trucker...but not aggressive with me . He is actually recommending I test out this weekend...at the 2 wk mark instead of doing the expected 4 wk road time .

We shall see soon enough .

The broker loads are just not good ! Our pickup at American Gypsum in NM was nearly a 5 HR wait....we were dispatched a time to be there and load and found out on site we were actual on 'float' status .

It's just plain wrong . After that wait and load we hit the Flying J to take the 10 and see a company truck there with a high value non broker load . My raging cajun trainer about snapped.

Come to think about it...He is about to lose it 24/7 .

I guess you could go in there and yell, "Every lost minute is another lost customer to Chinese steel!!!"

Of course you might not want to do that either.

The trainer and myself have had significant loading times picking up slinky coils in CO and IL as well as a rebar basket load....estimated 20 hrs no miles combined for those loads in the past week .

I'm on training pay but believe me the trainer is not happy . Deliveries are going well though .

The tough thing about b truck ltl that I was told by my instructor in school is that the old hands know when and why to cheat the bridge height. I was told a story by him about his first day on a new route where a driver said you 'can' take such and such a route fully loaded as long as you don't return to base the same way .

Sorry for you're stress...hope it works out ok for you

Dang flatbedders are rough on the equipment aintcha. 8)

Heavy C, I don't know what to recommend to you, because I'm lucky to have a pair of high quality leather gloves last me three weeks - I'd say three months is really getting your money's worth.

1 free per year.

Can anybody get a HireRight report? Can he just get his report (after the charge is expunged) to make sure it's clean?

Read my last post... to clarify the reports I pulled for school was a privately owned school in NH.

Western Express has no cdl school .

Western Express is the company name. As far as schooling goes I can't speak for all but I had to get my dmv and Criminal background reports prior to starting .

Neither reports are as in depth as HireRight .

If he went company sponsored training he would have to be honest like others have recommended. And depending on the company may or may be accepted .

There is a great list on this site which has company sponsored cdl schools. Keep in mind when going that route though that he will expected to drive for that company for a certain amount of time to repay the schooling and license .

They do not have a school. They do have a student driver program that puts a new cdl holder in a truck with a driver trainer for 4 weeks .

Melton and Roehl would not take me until July of this year due to an out of state suspension for unpaid ticket . There are more companies which have the 3 year old rule .

Western ...which ran my HireRight prior to issuing a bus ticket never mentioned the speeding ticket or the suspension .

I met a driver in orientation who has 4 years driving experience that was turned down by CR England. driver has over 70 csa points . But he drives for Western .

They have an industry reputation as a second chance company . I'm sure there are other companies but it may be a good start for you two.

The trucking industry needs smart drivers . I've watched many hours of trucker mistakes on YouTube but I still took the challenge . Don't drive white knuckle scared ...but always be aware of what you are driving .

You are not the first IT crossover into trucking...and you won't be the last .

Companies hold to their own background criteria . Some companies with hire a dui or certain felony convictions if they are date back to # years. Other companies with not hire either under any condition .

You really have to get him to dig in and start calling some recruiters and see what they have to say. There is no harm in research prior to cdl school.

I can't speak for their cdl school..I have my cdl but roehl pulled HireRight report on me . Western Express and Melton did the same .

I imagine any transport company looking for new cdl drivers or students will definitely check out perspective drivers as common practice .

Big grats ! Thank you for your service and best of luck in the trucker pursuit .

It's a company driver outfit . Like I said above the LO option is very new.

Western has a pretty new lease op program. I won't give you second hand information with the details I've gotten from new lease drivers. If it's something your interested in its best to call for details .

Most folks here advise against l/o and o/o programs because there is little pros to the numerous cons .

The driver trainer and myself was in Denver CO on Monday picking up rebar coils at Rocky Mountain Steel . Prior to leaving the truck stop that morning we were in total agreement that two of the trailer tires needed to go .

With the blitz coming he decided to swap trailers instead of stopping to get the tired fixed. It's his truck...I'm just the new guy....but he swapped out a trailer with bad tires for a trailer that throws the abs light . We are no better off . But his over two decades of experience comes with a plan to disconnect the abs light on the trailer , which does nothing for the dash light.

I know his hrs...give or take because we have rolled together for 9 days at this point and qualms is a fickle mistress who never let's you forget .

We stopped at dusk on i25 south and I knew it was coming ...my turn to roll...A mere 4 hrs from potential DOT hell . We punch me in ...pretrip and I put er in gear and release the tractor brake and start to roll away when I notice the valve won't stop breathing . Here we go....9 days on the road and I'm in this situation . I back up and pull tractor protection valve...let it run for 30 seconds and try again . It doesn't stop breathing . (Sigh)

He says.." if it ain't bleeding below 100 psi it's fine...roll " (headscratch)

I try and roll...hoping what he calls a minor non dot air leak will stop . I managed to make it to the top of Raton Pass on I 25 south...get thru the scale and park it .

I said there is no way this thing is legal...I'm not doing it. The truck never got above 105 psi and never reach cut out pressure . I've got a 6% grade down ..an air leak...an need an abs light.

On DOT eve . We try the tractor brake a few more times..it's no use..we are hosed..He is mad... company breakdown staff are mad..telling me I am bat crap crazy for shutting down at a scale house . 7am the next morning comes around and he 11/14 is fresh and he delivers to albaqurque nm himself.

I don't know what else I could/should have done sans call safety and have then Out of Service the tractor.

I would appreciate any opinions here folks... I've had a great 10 days otr with this mentor except for that one bad nighf.

I've been thru Poconos in PA , Denver CO seeing the Rockies mountains as the skyline left to right and was walking distance to The Big Texan in Amarillo TX all in the same week. I didn't hate it.

I enjoy Indiana Jack...Big Rig Talk and Sergie Dratchev a lot !

Jack has such a pleasant demeanor ...BRT is a hoot..Canadian as he is...and Sergie is a flatbedder for Landstar .