Comments By Aaron Placencia

Thanks, I hope so also. I'm pretty excited and I'm sure with everything I've been learning I'll do fine. I know it'll be a lot to learn by yourself and just figuring out everything on your own but I'm confident in the skills I've gained that I can do it all safely.

Great update Aaron. Glad all is going well. Hopefully you will get your own truck soon.

Well this week has been pretty good, we took a day off in Nevada on our way to Oakland ca... Can I say California sucks? No truck stops or rest areas. At least in Oakland. On the 99 there was plenty but that was out of the way. But anyways the trip went well.

Recently they had us in route to go back to Montana, we went back to MO, then from MO to SD, and from there we were gonna be going back to MT so I can pick up my license. But a prime driver is sick as can be and his load is late, delivery was at 5 am this morning and it's going to Ohio... So now we are in route to ohio, it'll put us over the 6,000 miles for the week again. So it's been going pretty dang good.

Hometime coming up, see the wife then in November I'll get to go see my grandma and family out west. So I'm enjoying everything, things been going awesome. Just been seeing the road and the beautiful scenery. Can't complain about that. Anyways hope everyone had a good weekend, and a great rest of your week. Stay safe.

Congrats, you'll enjoy it, just study and it'll all be a breeze. Considering you've have 12 years of working the same job your dedication sounds like it wouldn't be a problem. So keep me updated on how everything goes in October.

Aaron I've been reading your posts for a while. Thank you they are great. I just got the call from Jim Palmer today I was accepted and start on October 24 I'm so excited it's crazy. I've been working for the City for over 12 years at the local ice rink. So now it's time to hang up my Zamboni keys and start a new adventure and chapter in my life.

Thanks, I will do my best to keep it updated especially when I go solo.

Biggest thing is the lanes between JP and wil trans, I'm sure prime has no problem with it. But we get ton of miles if we stay west, which is what I wanted anyways. Even tho living in Maine. I plan to move my family out west at some point. It also seems once we head east the runs are smaller, 500 mile runs. But once they find us the load back west it's good.

JP will allow two dogs. They just don't want a crazy amount but I believe some people have two or three with them. All in all, the three companies are all solid. The way JP is I'm sure wil-trans is the same and you wouldn't have much problems there. Prime well we know they are a good company, a lot of success stories from them, they are just the big brother in all of this.

Since you can't make it out till June, you have plenty of time to study, keep doing some research, and just find the best fit for you. You can also call and talk to the recruiters, doesn't hurt to let them know if you haven't already. They're all pretty nice but Alex for me has been pretty awesome. She still checks in on me to see how I'm doing and the wife is doing back home. Makes me happy to have picked a company that cares about what's been going on lately.

Anyways, Just let me know of any other questions and I'll answer the best of my abilities and as soon as I can. Take care and be safe.

Prime and JP are two of the three that I am looking at - the third is Wil-Trans (which owns JP). I can't get started until June (not happy to have to wait that long) due to a work and lease contract that ends around that time. I like the smaller training size with JP and WT but love the access to doctors and such with Prime. Also, i have two pets that are inseparable and Prime only allows one - still not sure on the limit with the others but that may require leaving both pets with a family member. I'll be 'living' in MS but that will be irrelevant since I don't need excessive home time there - would rather take some time when wanted in other areas of the country.

Good luck on heading out in October - hope you keep us posted.

And so glad that Aaron started this thread - have read it multiple times as well as several others. Now the hard part of waiting until I can finally make the move to this. So beyond ready to get this started!

The biggest thing that made me pick jim Palmer was the class size. They only bring in 5 a week. So I figured id have a better chance at learning with such a small class. But both companies are good, but everything so far with Palmer have exceeded my expectations and I'm pleased I picked them.

So Aaron, have followed your posts with interest, and now have some questions. First am looking into starting my training asap and doing some research. First question to you..... I notice in your bio you mention Prime, but you are with Him Palmer. I am curious how you ended with JP, your decision process etc.

I have currently have been accepted at Prime, and Jim Palmer, but have applied at TMC and at least one other whos name escapes me at the moment.

Have followed your training post and one other that went to Prime. Both where good and informative.

So now just need to decide..... who

Well the miles have been coming off pretty quickly. Last week I had about 18,000 miles to go before I go solo. We did almost 6,000 miles. Just shy by 6 miles. I've been running days so it's been great. Enjoy it, we are here in Alabama, we deliver at 8am tomorrow. So it's nice to just relax a bit. Other than that, everything has been great. Looking forward to finishing up these miles, so I can do my solo week and hopefully move on and be out of training.

All I can say is, it's rough trying to sleep while the truck is moving. But you gotta do what you gotta do so, I'll deal with it. 😂 Anyways, stay safe everyone and I'll see you guys next time.

Thanks David, congrats on your upgrade. I'm sure I'll see you around again. Miles have been ticking off pretty quickly. So hopefully by the end of the month or early October I'll be finished. Stay safe and have a good one.

Aaron, Good read you did such a good job posting your training. Hope you get your mile's soon and your upgrade. Best of luck and be safe! See you around. David JP2077

I didn't, it was just Philadelphia, and palmyra.

Great to hear. In PA, did you get to the towns of Intercourse and Blue Ball?

Well since being back out we've had a few loads, one that took us to Gary Indiana, then another to Philadelphia, from there to Hershey in PA. From there to Kentucky, and now we are in Tulsa OK, he's visiting his son and his new grandson so I get to relax at the truck stop for the next couple days. This load is taking us all the way to California, so it's a pretty solid run.

Things been going good. Just been learning all the paperwork, which its all pretty simple. But other than that, I've been enjoying myself. I do miss my wife a lot ever since leaving hometime but it feels good to be making a decent check to help her out with everything. Plus I'll see her in October so(: no worries.

Anyways, just thought I'd drop in and say things been going well and sorry for the lack of updates. But yeah. Stay safe and I'll see you guys next time.

Sorry for not being active lately. I'm at home for the week. So I'm just relaxing and spending some time with the wife. I'll continue to update all the way up to when I go solo.

We had the run from Missoula to New Jersey, then jersey to Ohio. Ohio to boston, then Boston to Maine. Overall everything has been going great. Think the biggest thing I've learned is don't rush. Especially when weather is crap and makes it tougher to see. But other than that. I've been progressing better with my shifting. Lane control is good, and keeping my eyes moving and keeping my distance. I know I have tons to still learn, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more once I go solo. But for now I'm just taking in as much as I can and hopefully won't forget them. Anyways, everyone take care and I'll update when I get back out on the road. Be safe y'all.