Comments By Idaho Mtn Gal

Thank you all I am Loving this website. Yes I have been on High Road Training Program. I love it so much info and test are great power tools. The only thing I am haven problem with is the new DOT Physical that went in to affect in May this year. I am either over reaction on it or just thinking about it to much what to do. I guess if i want to Continue taken them I have to get a letter from my doctor. For anxiety. Does all companies make u do a sleep study if u r BMI is over . I see that prime does that. So with all that said I have to put off school in till I have my sleep study done at end of August. Things sure have changed in 20 years. I am from Missouri. ..

Howdy Lisa! My last time on the road was April 1991....24 yrs ago. At that time I had a Chauffeur License. I just had my DOT physical and being clinically obese (5'4", 220 lbs (but now losing ), they took a neck measurement and since it wasn't over 17" (13"), I didn't have to do a sleep apnea test. I have done a couple in the past since I snore (one sign)....but I've snored since I was a kid. I have 5 rotten younger brothers and they would tell the boys I was interested in that I snored! ;-) The VA says I may be borderline, but I don't have enough apneas to be considered for a machine.

As for medications, I believe those for anxiety are monitored with their use. The only meds I take is for my thyroid and the DOT physical doc didn't seem to care about that. My brother is bi-polar and was on several meds. He came off them under his doctor's recommendation and stayed off a year before driving. The doc that did his physical said it wasn't a problem. It is something to think about. Stay on them, get the letter and if you aren't anxious while you drive, get your doctor's help to come off them.

Good luck with the sleep test!

IDLaura

Check out ALL companies that have schools and that will train you. The companies will have you driving for them for 9-12 months after you are done with school. England is pumping out the trainees by the hundreds every month. My brother got his CDL in Feb from a school and England was the first to respond to his employment app, so he took it. The next week he received many requests from companies that want older, more mature people to drive for them.

When he went out with a trainer, he found out his trainer (57 yrs old, brother is almost 62) had only 6 months driving time and he found that to be common. They were out 5 weeks and got 15,000 miles total! My brother knew more than his trainer did and he didn't know much. He fired his trainer after a near miss incident with another truck and got another. That guy DID help my brother learn more in 3 weeks. Then for some reason, he got a lady trainer for a couple more weeks and while she was nice, she didn't know much about trucks. While we aren't supposed to be mechanics, we need to know more than nothing. After he had been driving for a couple months, he came across his original trainer who, my brother said, was being starved out.....next to nothing for miles, sitting and waiting 2-3 days for loads and getting .22 cpm. After training, my brother was immediately put in the "Recovery" fleet where he goes to recover/rescue tractors, just trailers or both, along with loads. He's doing well, but wants me to find another company that will let us team and will keep us running. We are about 7-8 yrs away from retirement and both of us need to get a nest egg built up. My brother talked to his driver manager about me driving in the recovery and they would take me but I ain't getting on any airplanes and flying :-P

At this point, it's going to cost either thru a school (like Sage) or a company. Some companies will reimburse a portion of your tuition if you go thru a school....that is what I opted for as I don't want to be committed to a company for a year after school. Some company schools are good...it just takes investigating them and companies to see what you want to do. Good Luck!

IDLaura

Howdy! I am glad you have had a good experience with Sage. I will be on day 8 in the classroom (Monday) and all I can say is that having the 2 instructors read the powerpoints in their monotone puts me to sleep (plus I'm a nite owl and it's tough getting going in the mornings). Back in 88-91, I drove for 3 different companies and while it was awhile ago, I do have experience. My concern was the HOS as my brother got his CDL this spring and talking with him I realized that it's an all new ball game. We got 3 hrs on HOS and I still don't quite understand it. When I asked, I was told not to worry as most companies use QualComm and it will keep me straight.....yeah, until the system fails and one has to do log books. Those I know how to do but not on duty hours, off duty hours and sleep time in a 14 hr period. Oh well, may end up teaming with my brother and I won't have to worry as much.

My big fear is the pretrip cause under the Chauffeur License, I didn't do one....but we will get to practice that starting next Weds afternoon. It will be hard going back to double clutching, but that will be for a short time. As for helping to get a driving job, they partner with Werner, recommend May, Andrus and Pride along with a local company that is only hiring "relief" drivers. There is NO driving Nov-Apr and working on a dock at $13.71/hr (better pay than most companies in this area) is better than nothing, it won't keep the wolf from my door :-P The cost of the 150 hrs training turned out to be $3891 (without hazmat & DOT physical...I paid that and drug test). With a grant from a local Veteran's Motorcycle club, I am paying only $2891 and I believe what I am getting is worth only that much. I did get my permit without tankers....which at my age, I don't need to be hauling milk and cleaning the tanks :-P This Sage didn't have any sort of financing, so I wiped out my savings to get going. The one good thing is having one on one with the instructor while driving. I'll let you know how the driving and testing goes.

IDLaura

I was just wondering do you have to lift so much pounds to pass a CDL physical or when u go to a company u have to show them u can lift 50 pounds.

Howdy! While it will be awhile before I drive (have to get the husband situated in a nursing home first), I asked a couple of the recruiters about lifting for their company and NO, dry box and reefer drivers do NOT have to lift 50 lbs or less/more. For my physical, I lifted nothing, did not do toe touches or squatting, jumping jacks, etc. I had to hear a (forced) whisper, have an eye exam and answer physical questions about my health. The guys that are in my class went thru the same exam. Oh yeah....and a pee drug test. That was it. If you have health issues, be honest about them, otherwise, you should be fine.

IDLaura

That's as good as the one I saw a couple days ago. I was heading south on a 2 lane State hwy in a 35 mph chip & seal construction zone. Everyone was doing about 40 coming into the area and slowing to 35 mph. Out of the blue, a lady in a SUV passed and cut in front of me (I leave plenty of room in chip & seal zones....and yes, I had a rock chip my windshield, even with the space :-P ). She started to pass the guy that was now in front of her, but he swung into the left (northbound) lane due to the construction worker near the road. She threw on her brakes and tried ducking around on the right side of him....I don't think she even saw the worker on the road! For the rest of the 7 miles, she was forced to drive 35 mph as we were now following a pilot car. She kept riding the guy's tail that was in front of her and hitting her brakes. Just as we were to get out of the zone, she turned off into a car repair business....not at a hospital nor a doctor's office....a car repair place. All that stupid driving for nothing. IDLaura

The really sad part about Swift versus Central ???? Swift just bought Central.....damn the luck, girl. It would help us to know what state you live in, so we would be able to see whats out there for you.

When did they buy out Central? :-P She said in her first post: i have looked at the majority of the company schools and called several but it appears that the only ones really available to me are Swift and Central because i live in Oregon. There's gotta be more than just Swift and Central in Oregon. IDLaura

My son paid 150.00 to use a college truck to take his CDL test and did not go to school but already had a job that wanted him to get his CDL. Check into that, might be doable.

I read this yesterday and asked my school if they did that. Due to insurance issues, they said absolutely not. While talking with a friend today, they told me that the DMV has a truck here in southern ID that can be used for testing. However, the companies I looked into wants school or experience, so that's not the way for me. IDLaura

I used to haul dry van and I'm thinking about making the switch. It sounds like flatbed is a lot more physical with strapping and tarping loads all the time. How much physical strength does it require? Any ladies out there making a success of it? I'm also kind of short at 5'4 so I wonder if that would be a hindrance.

It is more physical with tarping, or using chains on equipment. I drove a drop deck flat (not a lowboy....was 3 ft above the ground) 22 yrs ago....back when I was 40 and in good shape. It was hard then even when using a cheater bar.

Several mths ago (before driving entered my head) I ordered 9 pallets of bagged haylage (like silage...only made with alfalfa hay) for my goats. It came tarped and strapped on a flatbed. The driver was in his late 40's and in good shape. That tarp was awkward and heavy to take off. It was windy and he had the ****ens of the time trying to get it folded up....I helped. After my product got taken off, he had to retarp and strap it. The wind was even stronger and the end towards the back of the trailer kept blowing up over the pallets. He really struggled with it. Would he have had problems if it wasn't windy? Some, as he complained about how heavy it was. It took him 40 mins to get the remainder of the load retarped and strapped down. Too much manual labor for me at my age! :-P IDLaura

Me and my boyfriend are looking to get into trucking.. But, we are stuck at which route to take. We have been looking into a course at our local community college where we can use our financial aide as well as company sponsored training. We can see the benefits of both, such as with the community college option we can work where ever we choose when done but are not guaranteed to be able to find employment. In this course we do a 5 week class and obtain our license, then for the next 10 weeks we are employed and generating income with a motor carrier (separate of course.) As with the company sponsored training we receive training and a job, but are tied down but able to get experience. We really want to be able to drive together ASAP. We also realize with company training we will be separated as well for training but, afterwards will we be able to drive together? Also how long will we be separated? We have also played with the idea of doing the community college program first, then trying to find employment and save money. Then if we can't get a job on our own we can do company sponsored and have saved enough money to pay the bills while we are gone.. I also believe we make more money already having gotten our license? I'm not sure, plus this way if we can't find a job, more experience can't hurt us right? Any and all advice/ ideas are appreciated. Thanks!!!

My brother got his schooling thru a truck driving school. They helped him with getting his CDL and had companies that sent recruiters to talk with the class. He sent out many pre-apps and unfortunately went with the first respondent. Had he known to wait, he actually had 7 companies that were interested in him. He had no experience previous to the class and is 61....an age where it's hard to get hired :-P He went with England, who picked up his tuition and for that he had to commit to 9 mths with them. England put him out with 2 different phase trainers and now he running in their "Recovery" division. Still, he is seriously thinking of going with another company that pays better when his time is done. There are plenty of companies out there that would love to have a team. Since you are both inexperienced you will have to go with different trainers. Each company has different requirements for that....just pull up company websites and read thru them to see what will be required. Don't stress about not getting a job driving....the companies NEED drivers...especially clean (no drugs) ones.

IDLaura

Idaho Mtn Gal...you are my age....so you are NEVER to old to get out there and do what ya wanna do !!! I have milk cows...so we are alot alike....oddly enough... I was told I was lactose intolerant..but I had been raised on a dairy !!! So I got a milk cow,..and have been gurglin' down fresh whole milk ever since...oh...and the butter !!!!! yummmm

Since I wrote that, decisions have been made and things have progressed to where I paid for my school today (have a grant...$1000....from the local VietNam Veterans Motorcycle Club), did a drug pee test, got my 2 yr medical card last week and start school next Monday for one month's schooling. 2.5 weeks will be classroom and 1.5 weeks driving. The driving and backing will be easy as I haul a livestock bumper pull trailer to goat shows, the vet, deliver critters to new animals, etc. Many people have me back their stock trailers for them :-D After talking with my brother (started with England :-P in Feb), the Hours of Service rules are new to me, so I will really need to pay attention....plus I ran team before. Driving solo will be an experience. Before the husband can be put in the nursing home, he needs a physical & that is set up for next Tues at the VA. He will also need orders from his Brain Injury doctor and that will be done on 19 Aug. Friends say I have the sparkle back in my eyes and a ready smile for people. I really didn't realize that I was so worn down.

What I have found from talking to people that are lactose intolerant is that they can't drink store bought milk (pasteurized and homogenized). When they switch to fresh cow's milk, some don't tolerate that even. If they try fresh goat's milk, they do fine. A few years ago, in Australia, scientists discovered that there are 2 different types of cows: Holsteins, Shorthorns and those in that type are A1 and Jersey, Guernsey, Swiss and those type are A2. Goats are A2. People that switched to the A2 cows usually did fine. The truly allergic to all milks is 1% only. The biggest problem for people is the pasteurization and homogenization of all milk. Then I discovered that people with gluten intolerance and have celiac disease don't tolerate even fresh milk. I thought gluten intolerance was just in wheat products. I had a grandmother come to me for milk for her 8 mth old grandson. I do not feed wheat to my goats. Well, the baby projectile vomited and she called in a panic. When I told her that there were oats and barley in their feed, she told me what 4 grains (rye also) had gluten. So called my feed mill and they made a custom feed of milo, little bit of corn and field peas along with the protein pellet. Let the gals eat that for a week and they came down to try the milk on the baby. He kept it down. She and I got to talking and I related that my kids ped doc wanted them on formula (born in 75 & 78). When I insisted that I was nursing, he told me to watch what I ate as it would go thru my milk and into the baby. But that was a long time ago and I didn't remember. I fed that little boy for 1.5 yrs and then they went to almond milk :-P I have my gals back on regular grains again, but would switch for a customer if I needed to.

Goat milk is naturally homogenized so, while a little may separate off, you need a separator to get cream to make butter. Not worth the hassle :-P However, goat milk ice cream.....YUUUUMMM!!! :-D Well, it's cooled off enough so I best juice the gals!

IDLaura