Comments By Brian W.

Not bashing anyone for going to roadmaster or any of the other company schools, but that is a lot of dough and some require you to sign a commitment for a year or so. Lots of companies have a listing of accredited schools that they will take students from. I went to a community college and received my CDL and have not seen a company yet that did not recognize it's training. I paid just under a grand cash for my training and with other training schools the cost was around 4-6 grand. The schools are there just to get your CDL and teach you the basics. Plus, if you go to a community college, you can get a student loan or financial aid to help you pay for it. I would much rather be on the hook for a grand versus the other just to find out that trucking was not for me or I could not pass a portion of the requirements(double-clutching,backing,etc)

The real training is with the company you go to and while most offer tuition reimbursement, they will only pay a portion per month inorder to keep you there longer. For instance, say you went to Roadmaster and spent $6,000(I know it sounds good having a CDL in 14 days), Werner,for instance, only pays $100 a month toward the loan. Your payment is close to $200 a month, so you will be paying back half the loan and you will have to stay there 30 months for them to pay their half.

Now to the OTR part, I can only speak on behalf of Werner. I would train OTR to get my 275 hours in, about 4-6 weeks. Then, I would switch to a dedicated account after training to be at home. They have an account that is zone dedicated and your home every other weekend or truly dedicated home every night or every weekend.

Well, I take it your son will be graduating sometime in May; that is roughly 7 months away. Lots of LTL and dedicated runs are in the NE, so I am not seeing where you will be OTR for a year unless that is what you want to do. With school and training, I see at most 4 months tops before you are on your own. Also, if you are doing anything other than OTR, I do not see where it will be a problem to attend your son's graduation, because you are home every weekend or every other weekend. Just make it known to your FM that you need to be home the day before graduation, just to be on the safe side. Good luck.

Walmart blames Tracy Morgan for not wearing seatbelt

The legal battle between Tracy Morgan and Walmart over a calamitous collision with a Walmart truck earlier this year is not going to be resolved amicably or soon, judging from latest legal maneuvers.

Walmart is blaming Morgan for his own injuries in the crash, claiming he was not wearing a seatbelt in the New Jersey Turnpike collision in June that killed one man and left the 30 Rock comedian/actor and others badly injured.

Morgan and others hurt in the crash are suing Walmart in federal court, accusing the corporate giant of negligence for allegedly allowing the truck driver to drive hundreds of miles while fatigued.

The collision is still under investigation by the Department of Transportation and Walmart isn't answering that charge until it's finished. The driver of the Walmart truck has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide and assault by auto.

But in court papers on Monday the company asserted, among other defenses, that Morgan's injuries "were caused, in whole or in part, by plaintiffs' failure to properly wear an appropriate available seatbelt restraint device," according toThe Hollywood Reporter and TMZ.

Therefore, the company says, the plaintiffs aren't entitled to damages because they "failed to mitigate their losses."

Morgan was a passenger in a limo bus involved in the six-car pile-up on June 7. He and three others were critically injured, and one fellow passenger, comedian James McNair, 62, was killed.

Morgan spent days in intensive care and weeks in rehab and still is not completely recovered. His lawyers say it may be months before he can fully walk again.

Dont know anyone personally that wears a seatbelt in the back of the limo. This reference is baseless for 2 points.1) If Wal-Mart hadnt struck said limo(at 20 mph above speed limit) seatbelts wouldn't have been an issue. 2nd) It is a passenger vehicle which like buses do not require individuals to wear them, only the driver. This stepping back from wal-mart from at first stating that would accept full liability and now trying to throw some of the blame on to the victims would make me ask for even more because of mental anquish. You know it is not like they are going to bankrupt Wally world.

I understand it takes time and everything but i can think of a couple of scenarios off the top of my head. say a new driver has a late load because he or she was uncomfortable about driving in a certain weather condition or the loss of a close family member just curious are ya fired or how does that normally work

Well that would fall into your FM lap and he might not like it if it was in his eyes a doable drop on time. One might not get you on his bad side, but another would get you permabonded on the bad list. You will see less loads, less miles, and lots more sitting and waiting on a load. Screw ur wife but romance your FM.

Something else to consider will be cost of insurance. Most are reasonable if you do not have any dependents. Single plans that companies offer range anywhere from 16 to 80 per week deduction. If you take the family plan, cheapest I know of is 108 per week and high as 154 per week. Then you you have other considerations like vacation and other insurance(life,short-term disability, etc) that you may want to inquire about. But from my personal experience talking to student drivers from Knight and Stevens, hands down Stevens had the worst reputation. Most were students that left Stevens because of poor training and no hometime.

But it sounds like you have done your homework and wish you the best. Always go with your gut instinct and know that training will not be a bed of roses but at the same time it shouldn't be a bed of thorns.

Ok after 27 applications and many rejections, I may have found a taker for me after my termination ordeal. Has anyone drove for Cargo Transporters. Training pay is not great .17 mile for all miles for 8 weeks. Then starting out at .38 after completing training and going solo. Just wished I didn't have to go through another 8 weeks of training after going through 10 weeks with the other company. Oh well, atleast I have got a bite..

Think of it as facebook gold...If facebook went under, where would you spend it. The American dollar is no longer backed by gold or silver, just the gov's promise that it is good. The dollar will fall as the world currency and then that copper will be worth a whole lot more. Hold on to ya metals because that and bartering will be the means to eat when it collapses.

With Werner, you get 1 day off for every 6 days out if over the road. They have a 3M account that gets you home evry other weekend but I believe you are to far south for that. You should be able to get on with a reefer company with all that citrus down there. Regional runs will get you home every weekend for your reset. Usually you will get home Friday evenings and then pull back out Sunday nights.

Curious...how much distance is gained sliding the fifth wheel forward one hole? I realize in this scenario it would probably put the steers overweight but still would like to know.

I'm sticking with you either find a way to get the load redistributed or you hope for the best. You're illegal running in the 13th hole or over by 40lbs so pick your poison or refuse to move it. Very interested in knowing the answer.

Definitely think this should become a regular/weekly feature on here. Great idea Daniel B.

Sliding the fifth wheel one notch will shift 500 lbs I believe. It will not change the distance from kingpin to trailer tandems, since the kingpin is fixed-mounted to the trailer. Sliding the trailer tandems is around 250 lbs, per hole I believe.

Well it seems that my situation was not made clear. So I will try and break it down a bit since everyone thinks I am hot headed. 1st the complaint. At no time before the owner barging in to my room had I spoken to anyone other than the day I checked in with my trainer and showed my identification. Only left the room once to walk across the street to subway and the store for some smokes. He just barges in on Sunday around 1pm telling me I needed to leave. All he had to do was check the paperwork and see that I was there to Monday and none of that would have happened. You all seem to think that I was causing a commotion or outside loitering around. Not the case. But where I come from, ya knock before entering regardless where you are at. 2nd - My 2nd trainer(dedicated account) and I had 9 commendations from store managers on the great job we did delivering the freight. I have copies of 5 of those but I am not sure if it was on my record for safety to see. 3rd- I placed out early at 217 hours out of 275 hours with no incidents or infractions what so ever. 4th- my last 10 days training, we did 9450 miles of which I did 4920 with 4 Jit loads and my trainer(OTR) received a bonus because of it.

With that said, I know now that having my mom's antibiotics was a definite don't do. I did not try and play it off as far as the prescription drugs. I just wanted a UA because I was accused of doing illegal drugs. The first safety guy informed me that this would be my one and only warning but then the higher up terminated me. If I had any inclination that I would be fired, I would have quit. Better yet, I would have took a LOA during training and forfeited the $500 bonus even though I really needed the money. Now, I have no job and no hopeful prospects at driving anything articulate. Looks like I will be a garbage man. But Werner was a decent company for the most part.