Comments By TxsGent

Mountain girl,

Condolences and congratulations.

I am sorry to hear about the loss of your brother. I am excited and happy to hear about your new job. You have been missed here.

Brett, I accidentally hit the wrong button when it asked me if I wanted to log in, a couple of days ago. Since then, I have to go through the menu to log in.

I did however just received news that I'm accepted at Millis and KLLM. Do any of you have a preference? Now, I'm all kinds of confused about which company to choose.

Photogirl, I didn't see the school that you are originally headed.

I only submitted one app and a week later I am enroute. Sending this via Greyhound. I did second guess myself, but I remember, I had reasons for the company I picked.

If you have submitted to other schools and you are still interested in them, call to follow up. I believe you have more options than you realize.

Good luck.

I graduated Truck Driving Acadamy on October 10th. I hadn't done anything more in pursuit of a truck driving career until the night of November 12th. I woke up in the in the wee hours of the night and worked on an application. I got it sent off around 0800 in the morning. Before the evening meal, I had my transportation conformation to orientation.

I leave for Murray from Fort Worth on Tuesday to start orientation at PTL on Thursday.

I really appreciate the PTL Diary that Scott B. has provided. Anyone have any additional advice as I start this new journey in my life with Paschall Truck Lines?

Thanks to the creator and the moderators of TT. TT is an invaluable tool for entering into the trucking industry.

Veterans Day Discounts And Meals

Jay M, I went the community college route. Even though it was four weeks long, there was only one week of sitting in a classroom.

Jolie,

Have fun with it. In Texas, straight line backing was the only backing for the test. If you start out straight, it isn't to hard. If the truck and trailer aren't straight or pointed in the wrong direction, fix it fast and then it isn't too hard. (Not trying to belittle your accomplishment.)

In Texas, the pre-trip test is written. Since there is only one pre-trip test, there where school bus questions thrown in to the test. My advice would be to practice doing the pre-trip every morning you can. Knowing where everything is and what you are checking is half of it. The other half is communicating to the tester.

Good luck.

Spirit, fellow Texan,

I SO understand your anticipation. I failed my first road test and thought I was going to have to wait two days to retake it.

The driving test is a safety test. It isn't a test to see how good you can drive. It is a test to see if the public, mostly, would be safe if the grand state of Texas allowed you to control 40 tons over the highways and through school zones.

You have to be in control of the truck. Grinding gears might count off points, but if it is on the way in to a different gear, I doubt it. Get in gear, you are good. Not getting in gear is coasting. Coasting is out of control.

You can't maneuver a truck if the engine is dead. That is another point of not being in control.

Curbs, damb curbs! Sorry that was my fail. Position yourself; don't rush; square your turns; and watch your tandems. Texas thinks that school children play on curbs. Actually, there could be people on curbs.

Check your mirrors with your neck. Talk what you see and are doing.

I suspect you have done this all, already.

Relax. You got this.

Ken, Sorry for the delay in responding an the question about VA benefits if it was intrusive.

The reason I asked is because I used post 9/11 to pay for truck driving academy at a local college. In addition to the tuition, I also received a housing allowance and funding for books. Since the school was local, I did not have to use the BAH for living accomodations.

I also see some companies advertising using VA benefits for apprenticeship. I haven't researched that, but looks like a monthly payment for a year.

Do you have VA benefits?