Comments By SOBER-J

Exactly right. On both. Doesn't matter how much hair you have and if you think you going to shave everything that's a no go or refusal. Unless of course you have that medical condition causing you to not grow any hair at all. Then you will have a Doctors verification for that.

There is a youtube clip that is a labs promo for why companies should use the hair test. It shows that one of the first things they do when they get your sample is chop it into tiny pieces. Then the solution then the test. Not that hard to find if anyone wants to.

Sober-J over

Way to go Chris! You got the right attitude brother! BE THE JOB, BE THE TRUCK DRIVER! The money will follow you!

I'm Sober-J over

Mountain girl sounds really smart and I think I would listen to her!

Greetings everyone! I am the new guy around the forum... I have no experience in trucking nor do I have my CDL

Basically my question is I have been given multiple opportunities to go through a Company Paid CDL school...I was expecting to only get accept by one school or two at the most due to my sketchy job history as I have been working through temp agencies just to support my wife and kids while I was in college....

Here are the schools:

Roehl CR England Central Refrigerated CRST MCT Transportation *Knight(I have received a prehire letter but have not been in contact with them at all regarding what they offer)

Now I know nothing about these companies aside from all the negative feedbacks about CR England. As it sits Roehl is offering more pay and the home time is also the best out of all of them. So obviously it is my number one choice...According to the people at Roehl I start getting a pay check after the first 8 days of CDL school. Now I am not sure if I am misunderstanding her or not but I was under the impression that I pay for Food, Transportation, Lodging, and I do not get paid until my 4th week or so? She says that they pay everything except food and once I finish with the first week I can start earning a pay check making $600/week until I complete training? I do not want to commit to something and end up getting there and sleeping on a street corner for 3 weeks. She also told me that my starting pay was .35/mile for flatbed which is what I am interested in pursuing through Roehl if I choose them. As far as the other companies they were about all the same except for Knight.

My overall concern is getting enough miles in and paying the bills but also getting some home time once or twice a month.

Any advice would be helpful or experiences would be great too!

I have no idea who to go with because I am cloudy on the other companies... I did some research but everywhere I have looked says contradicting things... I hope to do OTR for a year or two and attempt to land a local job...

Thanks in advance!

Brother your on the right track. Not sure who pays what and all that you just have to hammer that out with the recruiters and sounds like your doing just fine. Just make sure you get any question answered that you want to know before you go to any school or company. Company school usually goes something like this.

you don't have to worry about being left on the streets. I mean if you go to school and just totally F it up then yeah, they not going to hire you and they not going to keep letting you stay in the motel.

Far as lodging and meals. Hotel should be paid while your there in class. Continental breakfast is usually there at motel and lunch is usually provided. Dinner, probably going to be on you. Remember this is all company paid training at company school. different companies are going to have different pay rates while your in school and in training.

Now once your done with all that and in your own truck give yourself some time to settle in and see how everything works. But realistically you can average 2500 miles a week just like they tell you. So just do the math 2500 times 40 cpm is 1000 a week and that's not counting short hall extra or stop off. Trust us you not going to starve driving a big truck. There is money to be made but there lots of hurdles and hoops to go through to get to your own truck. This site has just about everything that you probably want to know and then some.

Just keep digging and talking to companies. Decide if you want company school or private. If you go private its more money out of pocket up front but you could get more reimbursed back to you from the comp that you sign on with. Cause once you finish school and if you keep clean and safe you always going to have a job, no career!

I'm Sober-J over

Ok here's what I found out today as afar as the DAC goes. I went to the website which was given to me which is HIRERIGHT.COM. It was given here so you can find the link just search through our conversations. They are the DAC. There is a 800 # you can call. Rosemary who was the person I talked to was nice enough to tell me, after I gave her my SS #, That Schneider was the only company that has reported any thing on me. Now let me tell you I drove for other smaller companies since then that obviously just do not report to them for this DAC. This DAC thing is apparently a paid snitch web company. It appears, and I only say this from what I know about me, that trucking companies choose whether or not they want to report to them or not.

Here is more that Rosemary was so kind to tell me. After 7 years any accidents or incidents, which I had none with Schneider, is gone. All it shows is I worked there from x date to x date at this company, Schneider. Also after 10 years even the company that you worked for is gone.

I have drove for smaller companies and they just do not report to the "DAC" its fact.

Now is this paid snitch web company legal? probably not. The problem is we are working men and women who do not have the time, money, or recourses to fight against them. They know it! And they will keep doing it until they are stopped! They know that if they disqualify someone from a position that individual will most likely do nothing about it and just move on. That's what they hope.

Bottom line is when you get your truck don't F up. Cause big brother is watching. Especially if your driving for these big companies. Guys and gals if you stay safe out there and keep yourself clean your not going to have much to worry about except PU, DEL getting the job done, getting paid and getting home. BE THE JOB, BE THE TRUCK DRIVER. That's what we got into it for.

Yes I think its crap that we have double standard after double standard placed on us as drivers. Sometimes it seems that THEY treat us as no more than prisoners on work release. Confined to a 10 by 10 cell and able to go home on the weekend. THE truth is we are more than that. You all are more than that. You may not get it yet but you are what keeps this country going. Don't forget it and don't let them rob you of who you are. You, me, all of us are the back bone of this country. Without us the whole economy would stop moving. The worst part of trucking is if you mess up at one carrier it could be your last.

Finally just don't give them any ammo against you. Stay clean and stay safe and they got nothing. Hell, they can't even find the logs on the computer for God sake and they supposed to be.... you get the point.

I'm Sober-J over

So I am looking for assistance. I am recently retired from the military after 7 years. In 2006, I obtained my CDL and for about a half a year I drove for a company that is no longer in business and since then I have been out of the truck but my CDL is valid and as is my medical card. I am having a difficult time finding a company to hire me. No DUI, No tickets, clean criminal background and etc. Any suggestions without having to go through a "refresher" course, because I have found the "refresher" means talking a CDL driving class all over again and I am not willing to use my GI Bill on such.

Thanks,

Ryan P. Bowman

Sorry that's US Express

Ryan I have been out a while myself. 5 years. I will be talking the refresh threw Express. Not costing e a dime though. You might want to check them out.

SoberJ over

So I am looking for assistance. I am recently retired from the military after 7 years. In 2006, I obtained my CDL and for about a half a year I drove for a company that is no longer in business and since then I have been out of the truck but my CDL is valid and as is my medical card. I am having a difficult time finding a company to hire me. No DUI, No tickets, clean criminal background and etc. Any suggestions without having to go through a "refresher" course, because I have found the "refresher" means talking a CDL driving class all over again and I am not willing to use my GI Bill on such.

Thanks,

Ryan P. Bowman

Ryan I have been out a while myself. 5 years. I will be talking the refresh threw Express. Not costing e a dime though. You might want to check them out.

SoberJ over

DAC report is like a DMV report, only for commercial drivers.

You can request on Here

It's free or you can call them . Takes about 15 days to receive.

Companies will send accident, tickets, and various other info to your DAC file.

Well here is something else that sounds against our rights. My understanding is that for any other job, except trucking, the only thing that can be said is... if the individual actually worked there and the dates they worked and also they can say we would or would not hire them back. Think I will start checking into this one to. I can not wait to get back into trucking, but I have a long term goal to make it better. Not really sure how to do it but this web site is certainly a great start. Can't thank everyone that keeps it going enough!

Sober-J over

Thanks for the info David. Think I will request mine just out of curiosity. I worked for a couple small companies in the past and not sure if they even participate. That seems to be the case here. Looks like the company you worked for would have to file a report against you.

SoberJ over

Sober J., it's a great question!

First, let me tell you a story about law enforcement checking your logs. I was inspected seven or eight times this past year. Of those seven times only two officers wanted to see my logs after they found out I was on e-logs. One of them was in New Jersey, and he didn't have a clue as how to check it so I handed him a small card we have which has some very confusing directions on it, and after glancing at it he said "well I'm sure everything is fine, I know you can't cheat on those electronic logs anyway", and he didn't even bother after that. The other officer was in New Mexico, and he took my qualcomm in his hands and says "Hmmm,, I've never seen one like this, well just let me take a look here and see what I can find." I'm watching him pretty close because I had violated my hours the previous day just because I had to to get my delivery to it's destination on time. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of me, but it was obvious he didn't know what he was doing. He ended up over in the area that records your fuel mileage and some performance measurements and he just sort of clicked around in there for a few minutes looking at data that was useless to him and then he hands it back to me with "well that all looks just fine."

Each company sets their qualcomm up with their own parameters for what you can get away with. You will be able to figure out how to sleep at your receiver and start your day without starting your fourteen hour clock, I do it all the time. You've got to figure out hoe to do this stuff if you want to make some money.

Oh, I almost forgot, yes you can get copies faxed to you, your company will show you how to do that. If they don't just ask and they will be able to help you.

For a driver like yourself who may have bee accustomed to running "swindle sheets" it will seem a bit restrictive, but I have found that if I manage things correctly I can still make a decent paycheck while running around on the edges of obeying all the new rules. There is still a little creativity to it, but not like the "good old days."

Ha ha sounds like same ole stuff. Those DOT never could hardly read a log book anyway. Now they staying away from it even more. I not to much for this new technology but it might not be so bad. I not trying to run 4000 miles a week anyway but we out here to make money and I sure don't want to be getting down there to low. Well keep the wheels rolling.

Sober J over

DAC report is like a DMV report, only for commercial drivers.

You can request on Here

It's free or you can call them . Takes about 15 days to receive.

Companies will send accident, tickets, and various other info to your DAC file.

Well here is something else that sounds against our rights. My understanding is that for any other job, except trucking, the only thing that can be said is... if the individual actually worked there and the dates they worked and also they can say we would or would not hire them back. Think I will start checking into this one to. I can not wait to get back into trucking, but I have a long term goal to make it better. Not really sure how to do it but this web site is certainly a great start. Can't thank everyone that keeps it going enough!

Sober-J over