Comments By James K.

Hey guys I have an idea I would like to pass on.

As those who read my last post will see I somehow managed to fail the agility test for con-way truckload and was sent promptly packing. I was in shock because I thought I was in shape. I will be honest with everyone I haven't exercised in a long time and I think because I used to be in shape its harder on the body when your out of shape. It's weird I know. Anyhow I have an idea for truck schools to adopt to well make students aware of what lies ahead in this industry.

Before a student can begin truck school I recommend that schools begin administer this test or something similar to potential students so that they know whether they will pass this test or not. This is why I am recommending this. I rode a greyhound a stinky greyhound for 30 hours only to fail this thing and be sent packing back on the stinky greyhound (same bus #) less than 24 hours later. If I would have done this test prior to leaving and realized I would have never have traveled to Joplin from Vegas. What does everyone think about this? If the student fails the test they can choose to either continue through school with the risk of failing at the potential company and wasting their time and the companies or they can hit the gym going through school. Once again this is just an idea

Con-way and Schneider have identical programs so I am sure the companies that do them and the growing list beginning to do this will be similar. It's not about physical ability as I was barely breathing hard but its all about the heart rate. I haven't really done cardio in a while and mix it with being nerve racking it can become a fail right there.

Hey thanks for keeping my spirits up. Yeah I. Gonna hit the gym and then Give it another go. Now I know what to expect. The test physically isn't hard as I was able to complete the task real easy but my heart just wanted to beat away, I guess my body was shocked lol. I just seen guys two or 3 times my size pull this off and a guy like me an ex firefighter in the airforce struggle. I made sure I told these guys what I used to do and that I didn't agree with this test because imo it's discriminatory. But yup your right conway lost a great potential driver there loss.

So I'm gonna take some time to get in better shape and go at it again. They did encourage me to come back and i didn't have to pay for the 2nd 30 hr greyhound bus I. 24 hrs

Well fellas my first company came crashing down today. I passed the dot just fine. The agility was a diffrent story. My heart rate spiked and never came back down. I was sent home. This agility test will get you if ur nervous. I wasn't even breathing heavy. The guy told me to breathe more so I listened and almost passed out from hyperventilating. I was sick a week ago and am still recovering so could be why. Anyway the company was conway.

P.s I guess I'm selling g cars for a while. Least I halve some sort of backup

Tomorrow my bus leaves from Las vegas heading to Final Destination of truck orientation. I won't give away the company yet that I chose as I don't know if I am aloud but it was a hard decision between 2 companies, I think I picked the right company. I am not really nervous because I did well in truck school so I know I will do well out here because I am a good listener and a fast learner, but even though I feel like I'm healthy the physicals have always made me nervous(white collar syndrome) or w/e they call it . Anyway I can't believe the time has come to begin my truck driving career. I want to do some blogging about my adventures how can I go about doing this? I would love to contribute to the site a little bit and would like to give a detailed story of orientation and my training which will last about 3-4 weeks until I get to upgrade and get my own beast. Hopefully I will even be able to get home for the holidays since it will be around my training completion so I will request home time if I can get it. Looking forward as winter Is beginning in the states I will get right down on snow.

Woohoo just want to say i passed all 6 CDL tests minus the passenger because i am not going to hassle with that right now the first time. Hazmat was the hardest test and i got 4 wrong and was only aloud 7 so i got kinda nervous at the end there lol but i did it. I got my HAZMAT endorsement the first attempt. Even the dmv people were surprised, as they said getting someone who passes the tests the first time is very rare. Made me smile. I do think truck driving is for me and i can't wait to hit the road. I go to orientation with my company 11/3.

This all happened lightning quick as i got fingerprinted on monday was accepted on weds and tested today thursday. They said it would take 30 days and it took 48 hours lol. Guess being ex military with a TS makes a diffrence too.

I would like to thank truckingtruth.com for the material needed for the hazmat.

K thanks for clearing that for me. Appreciate it

Hey guys,

First i decided to forego my sales career after sound advice in my other thread.

I already have the tanker endorsement, I just got fingerprinted and expected to be able to test for hazmat in a couple weeks. When i complete this will i get the x endorsement or whatever the hazmat/tank, or is this a separate test? i have been looking and can't find the answer.

The company im going to requires hazmat within 120 days of hire but i planned to get this anyway because call me crazy but i don't mind driving hazmat. Most companies will pay you more and it makes you more valuable in my opinion. I go to orientation November 3. Cant wait to get trucking.

Thanks. I agree.

Been following your thread, too, BTW. Looking forward to finding out which company you decide to go with and why.

If your talking about me. I right now have 2 companies in mind. Con-way and Werner. Before you ask how did I do this without a cdl, its because in the military we were exempt from the cdl because it was mainly on bases where we didn't go into public territory per say. Now since I have my CDL-A I was also going to try and use my commercial experience as a Firefighter that has over 4 years of driving experience to maybe nab another kind of truck job. I drove firetrucks from crash vehicles, them super long ones you see at the airport, to water tankers that look just like the fuel tankers you see on the street for over 4 years. I don't know if real world companies would accept that or if I have to start over. My class experience was mainly a refresher of what I learned in the AF and my final written score was 97% overall and I passed all my hands-on the first time. I was told I scored the highest in the class for each pre-trip, backing and road but wasn't given my score. The instructors also told me they expect me to have a long successful career in this industry. Thing is I spent the last 3 years away from home most the time and it feels kinda good to be home every night with a semi normal day. But I will only go OTR for experience and will get out of that asap.

For the others I appreciate the advice and not bashing me for this. I am currently taking this seriously and am honestly going back and forth on what to do. I am leaning back towards the truck side after reading the replies.

Since this thread is going can you guys tell me which one to choose since I have been selected to orientation by both Con-way or Werner. I think werner is hyped up and they had a recruiter come to the school and was over the top. People called him the used car salesman lol. That kind of turns me away because there's a reason for the flashy trucks and so forth. Con-way on the other hand I just spoke to over the phone with the recruiter and she didn't seem like she was desperate like the werner guy so I am leaning towards con-way for that.

I will also know whether the job I took will be a keeper or not in 2 months as its a sales position and I want to give it a crack as I have the skills needed in that profession

Is there any kind of refresher style training that I can do. I mean I have the license now so I shouldn't have to redo the cdl that's asinine. So I may have to sit through this one more time then