Comments By Terry C.

There aren't any rules that prevent you from obtaining a cdl and not using it right away. It's the same as a non cdl, it's good for however many years your state had set between renewal. ( Florida is every 8 years) Your medical certificate is only good for 2 years and without that, your cdl isn't valid. However there is a down side to having the cdl and not driving. If you let it go too far you'll have trouble getting a driving job without "recent" experience. Case in point. I maintained my A licence the 10 years I lived in Chicago but didn't drive a tractor trailer. I maintained my med cert the entire time. This year when I wanted to come back to driving truck's I couldn't get a job anywhere cuz it had been so many years without driving tractor trailer. I had to take an 80 hour refresher course thru an accredited school ($ 2,500) in order to get hired. I was basically uninsureable.

So the longer you go without driving, the harder it will be to find a job. Food for thought =)

Sir, what do you mean, your CDL isn't "valid" without your medical certificate?

As I stated, you must be physically fit to have a cdl. You must pass a physical to get a certification. Those are good for two years. If the medical certificate expires, your cdl will be recsinded by your state after 10 days. Some states have exemptions. I don't know which ones. I'll attempt to post the FMCSA link. FMCSA

If you come to prime with no cdl and go thru the PSD program I can assure you that you'll do the PSD with a reefer. At least you will REALLY WANT TO. Prime won't let PSD's drive loaded tanks so you can only drive them empty. That means taking 2-3x's longer to get your 75 required hours of driving time to test. Then you can do TNT with a tanker trainer. Not very many of those so you may wait awhile to get one. Also prime doesn't have alot of tank loads coming thru Springfield so if you come here and get your cdl thru the PSD program, you'll likely either : ride with another driver to meet your tnt trainer. Or they may bus you to them. I talked to one tanker driver that prime rented him a car to drive to Georgia to meet up with his TNT trainer.

Students...Do yourself a favor and learn every bit of the driving portion of the exam. I'm a bit perturbed at one of the examiners for what he pulled on my student on the drive test today. He failed him BEFORE he ever left the exam pad. I **** you not!! He never got his wheels off the exam pad and auto failed him because my student evidently poked his nose on the road and stopped and a truck coming down the road towards the gate hit his brakes. The examiner said; that's it, test is over, back up and park. The examiner claims he encroached on the oncoming truck making it deviate from his path. That is an auto fail. My guy never left the freaking pad. One of the other examiners allegedly couldn't believe it and repeated like 10 times while he and my student and the other examiner that failed him were in the trailer: " you never even made it to the road and failed!"

That's the second student in a row I've had auto fail for pulling out in front of another truck in the exact same spot. My first failed pulling into the lot (after passing the entire rest of the test) and my second BEFORE he even got on the road. I don't know what to think. Both students never did anything like that the entire time they drove with me but for some reason on test day, bad decisions cost them the test. Although this past one sounds a little scetchy. The first guy yes, I watched and he definitely pulled in front of another vehicle. The second I didn't see but according to my student, he never got his tires off the concrete of the exam lot.

Don't change anything you do on test day from what you learned on the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This sucks! What happens in this situation? Does your student retest? And, I'm going to guess it's nerves. That test is a major step! Lots of pressure!

Yes he retested today and passed. He only had to retest the driving portion not the pretrip and skills.

Students...Do yourself a favor and learn every bit of the driving portion of the exam. I'm a bit perturbed at one of the examiners for what he pulled on my student on the drive test today. He failed him BEFORE he ever left the exam pad. I **** you not!! He never got his wheels off the exam pad and auto failed him because my student evidently poked his nose on the road and stopped and a truck coming down the road towards the gate hit his brakes. The examiner said; that's it, test is over, back up and park. The examiner claims he encroached on the oncoming truck making it deviate from his path. That is an auto fail. My guy never left the freaking pad. One of the other examiners allegedly couldn't believe it and repeated like 10 times while he and my student and the other examiner that failed him were in the trailer: " you never even made it to the road and failed!"

That's the second student in a row I've had auto fail for pulling out in front of another truck in the exact same spot. My first failed pulling into the lot (after passing the entire rest of the test) and my second BEFORE he even got on the road. I don't know what to think. Both students never did anything like that the entire time they drove with me but for some reason on test day, bad decisions cost them the test. Although this past one sounds a little scetchy. The first guy yes, I watched and he definitely pulled in front of another vehicle. The second I didn't see but according to my student, he never got his tires off the concrete of the exam lot.

Don't change anything you do on test day from what you learned on the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a perfectionist and a chronic over-analyst. Iew. What an awful combination.

You know, sometimes when "they" put you in "jail," it's a good thing. I know they're testing my mettle, to see if I either quit or get tougher.

This job is 99% mental. All your points are dead-on accurate and I'll be a better driver because of what I've learned.

It's a relief.

Couple things here:

I'm a perfectionist and a chronic over-analyst. Iew. What an awful combination

It's NOT an awful combination. It IS, in all seriousness, a "gift." You're cognitive and intelligent. Two very redeeming traits. I'm the exact same way. When you learn to embrace this and use it, wonderful things will happen. I've come a very long way in my life trying to rid myself of pessimism and negative thinking and I still have a long way to go. Looking at things "outside the box" is very helpful. So let's put this thought into work with your next quote;

You know, sometimes when "they" put you in "jail," it's a good thing. I know they're testing my mettle, to see if I either quit or get tougher

. Instead of looking at this as "putting you in jail," maybe we can look at it this way. They are allowing you to take a little time away from driving to work through a mental block while at the same time not forcing you into time off. (unpaid) At first glance this may seem like a punishment but in all actuality it is very helpful. It's a fact that if you get into an accident/incident, you're more likely to have another one soon after. This holds true especially to people, like us, that don't like to forgive our own mistakes.

Lastly there's this:

This job is 99% mental. All your points are dead-on accurate and I'll be a better driver because of what I've learned.

Life is 99% mental. Having a good attitude is key. You already have a GREAT attitude towards things, with just a little room for "tweaks" as I see it. You're 100% right, you WILL be a better driver if you put what you've learned into practice from here on out.

I'll end with this. I am by no means a psychiatrist or a Licensed clinical social worker but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'm certainly not trying to imply that you are wrong with your thinking. All I'm trying to do is point out that you can ease the stress on yourself by trying to "sugar coat" the way you look at it. I've watched your posts since coming here and you have overcome some amazing adversity to be where you're at right now. I hate to see you struggle with a set back or two if there is any way I may be able to help. If what I'm telling you is offending you, I apologize. The topic of your thread is "OMG When are the mistakes going to end?" The answer to that is NEVER. But you can lessen them by not dwelling on them as I said earlier by living in the present and not in the past and future. And this I can honestly say I have lots of experience with at 45 years old and living years of my life dwelling on the "shoulda, woulda, coulda's." I still have issues with stress, but nowhere near to the degree I had before I started looking at things outside the box. And that is what is so wonderful about the community here at TT. There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to learn from here. Every one of the moderators here have something valuable to learn from. (except Daniel when he's trying to tell people I love Tupac) If I've overstepped my bounds here, again my apologies. Again I'm not trying to talk "down" to you at all. I am no better than you and am just another random dude out here with too much to say at times. Good luck MG!!

Hello MG, I'm sorry to hear about your recent troubles. Most of my experience in driving comes from city P&D. I love it, it's my niche.

When you have an incident, you are twice as likely to have another within days of the first. Why? Because your focus is in the past reliving the mistake of the first. When you're living in the past you're sacrificing focus in the present where you need it. You had a couple mistakes so let's look at what you learned from them:

#1 when making turns you always watch your trailer thru the turn. You know the mistake you made that day and how to correct it. There is your focus. Watch the trailer. Now stop thinking about that damn mistake. You WILL NEVER CHANGE IT. You're wasting energy and focus on an event YOU CAN'T CHANGE. It's over. You my dear are a perfectionist. You're your own worst enemy at this point. Stop talking about the mistake to others and for the love of all things holy get back in the present.

#2 the second mistake happened because your focus was still on the first. Instead of thinking in the present where you should be thinking about weight distribution and securement of the present load, you're thinking ahead to what may come. Trying to prevent mistake #1 from happening again (living in the past) and thinking about what may come next (living in the future) not much of your focus was not in the present.

I admire your thinking MG. I'm a perfectionist myself. I've worked very hard to learn from past mistakes. Until one day I didn't have to work so hard at it anymore. Do you know why I didn't have to work hard at it anymore? Because I learned to FORGIVE MYSELF. I took that bag of bricks I was carrying (metaphorically speaking) and dropped them.

You've been given some time to work thru your thoughts on the mistakes with working on the dock for a spell. Please forgive yourself. (Que "Let it go" from frozen) It's ok to prepare for the future every now and then but don't live in it. You're an over analyzer and need just a bit more time to work thru yourself. That is not a flaw. It's actually a gift.

You've got this!!

Pad c is at the millennium building. It's the exam pad where you actually take your test. I'll pm you my phone number

I took a refresher course last year and a guy I went thru the school with got his CDL then. He also waited months after getting his CDL and had a tough time finding a company that would take him. Well he finally found one and that was Knight Transport. They were going to have him relocate to Lakeland FL which is the terminal he would have worked from. So try Knight and see what they say. Also see if any companies may reimburse you some of the cost of a 40 hour refresher. Prime reimbursed me 75% of the cost of the 80 hr course I took. And it was reimbursed before I finished my 40k TNT training. I believe Western Express was willing to reimburse some of the cost as well.

I'll be following your truck then Greenhorn. Mmmmm coffee!

My hope is that Prime has one of these bad boys in this color, you to go with a theme LOL. Of course I will not be overly picky I will take whatever is available of course. Plumb crazy purple would be a nice one as well

You can have my "Barney the dinosaur" purple Freightliner when I turn it in August 6th!!

Well dang, if you listened to rap I was gonna suggest Terry C.

You guys are freaking hilarious!!! Anyway Jeremy, I'm in Springfield right now. My student tested today and failed his skills test. DOH!! Because he didn't listen what I've been telling him about not backing up when you can't see your target. Anyway bud, couple of things here:

First you're from Auburn?? That is very awesome I'm originally from Meadow Vista!! I have many friends and family in Auburn. I went to Chana High for a couple of years. I am going on home time after my student gets his CDL but I'm not looking for a student because I'm taking a leave of absence August 6th for a trip to Jamaica. So After I come off of home time I won't have time to train someone. Plus I can't take you home while you're a PSD otherwise I'd grab you up. I live in Daytona Beach which is a great place to have down time, but I can't leave you in the truck for 4 days and I don't make enough money to put you up in a motel. I'm not sure my FM would let me take someone on home time anyway although since you've been sitting awhile they may make an exception.

My student retests Sunday. We'll be on the pad tomorrow the 4th at the millennium building from 10 to 12 and again from 2 to 4 on pad C. Stop by if you wish and I'll work with you on pretrip or show you some pointers on doing the backing maneuvers. If you come to the pad just please make sure to wear your safety vest. I'm pretty sure my student would be ok with you taking some wheel time as he doesn't really need the practice all that much, he just needs to remember what I've been telling him when he tests =)

And sorry Daniel, you must have talked to a different Terry......I in no way shape or form listen to Tupac. I'd much rather listen to a truck stop men's room with 6 drivers suffering from explosive diarrhea.