Comments By Grandpa Clark

Graduation! With my 2-day final evaluation behind me, I guess this will bring my training diary to an end. Our evaluations were completed at North Little Rock over Tue/Wed. Wed was a full=day and we completed all the tests, including the driving test. Wednesday was spent working through the last of the video content and we had a presentation from a Fleet Manager to explain the workflow process.

On Thu. morning we officially graduated and were given our silver Maverick keychain and the keys to our trucks. The instructors shook our hands, gave us our certificates. We were given our fleet manager's phone number and told to call them for information on the next step. And just like that, I became a company driver for Maverick Transportation.

I phoned Tina, my fleet manager, and she told me my truck was at the Laurinburg, NC terminal. I got a rental car and was getting ready to leave for the 13-hr drive back east, when another Maverick driver flagged me down. Chuck was headed to Charlotte, NC to recover an abandoned truck and had been advised to jump in with me for the ride east. At about 2 p.m, we departed the North Little Rock Campus and made our way east, arriving in Charlotte around 2 a.m. The truck had been left behind a shopping center. Chuck jumped in, examined the truck and found it in decent shape, started it up, and he was gone, headed back to Arkansas to turn in the truck. I continued on to Laurinburg, arriving at 4 am.

The shop manager directed me to Truck 208036 which is a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia with about 260K miles on her. She is an ex-trainer truck which is interesting. Maverick trucks have mid-roof sleepers, except for the trainer trucks which are condos. The truck was covered in a thick layer of dust, as the lot in Laurinburg is gravel and it had been parked for a while. I jumped in, turned the key and...it was dead. Not the greatest start to my career, but a quick jump-start, and she fired right up. I got inside, and saw that the interior was in very good condition and clean. I was so exhausted, I just laid down and had a quick 2-hr power nap.

When I awoke, I found my assigned trailer and found it did not have any equipment on it. The next couple of hours were spent getting my dunnage and tarps. After that I completed my inventory, I picked up a few remaining items and called my Fleet Manager for further instructions. She advised that I could deadhead home for the weekend, or, drive down to Charleston to Nucor Steel and take a load home with me for delivery on Tuesday morning. I told her I would take the load. (might as well jump right in!)

I left Laurinburg at about noon, and my expected ETA showed on my workflow as 3:30 p.m. My first stop was for fuel and truck wash. Unfortunately, the wash bays were very busy, but I was so disgusted with my filthy truck, I decided to wait it out. It took about an hour to get my wash, but after that, I was gleaming in the South Carolina sunshine, headed to Nucor Steel.

Ever notice that as soon as you wash your car, the rain clouds start to form? By the time I got to Charleston, the sky was threatening rain. I arrived in the midst of rush hour, worked my way through construction and found myself lost in the woods/neighborhoods just north of Charleston. Not a great way to start my first trip. I called Chris, who is another Maverick driver who has been on the Nucor account for 5-years. He lives about an hour from the plant and had told me to call him when I got close. Well, I was close, I just couldn't see how I get the 5 miles to plant with all the truck-restricted roads blocking my path. My navigation was primarily the Trucker Path App, and my tablet GPS, and both of them seemed to disagree on my next move. Thankfully, Chris was at home, getting ready to have dinner when I called. He laughed and said he got lost his first time too, and not to worry about it. He instructed me on the proper/legal way to get into the Nucor plant, and within about 20-mins, I was pulling onto the scale at Nucor for the first time.

I was assigned a load of steel beams and my work instructions from Maverick said "no tarp". I breathed a sigh of relief as it was just starting to rain. Unfortunately, when I got the shipper work instructions, it said the load had to be tarped. That seemed strange since Nucor has the steel beams sitting outside, exposed to the weather. I called Chris again to ask what I should do. He said, "sucks to be you", looks like your tarping beams. I got loaded by 7:30 p.m. and then began the adventure of tarping steel beams, in the midst of a downpour that seemed to go on forever. The load required both of my steel tarps and when it was done, I figure I added about 200 lbs to the load in bungees. The tarp job was exhausting and since the steel was wet, I was very slow and cautious when climbing on it. It was also very sharp on the edges. I finally finished the tarping at 11:00 p.m. Yes, it took me about 3-hrs to tarp the load.

Thanks to the rain, I didn't really need a shower, which is good, because there wasn't a shower available. Unfortunately, I also had no water on the truck and I was out of hours. I wondered how I was going to sleep when I was so thirsty, but my exhaustion made my thirst a non-issue. I slept until 5 am and headed for home, arriving at 1 pm. with my very first load. This concludes my training diary. Thanks for all your helpful advice and encouragement along the way! Sincerely, Steve

Maverick has a big presence and does a lot of recruiting in my area. Trucks always look real nice. I've certainly considered them but I want to start out either dry Van or reefer to start.

Nothing wrong with that plan. If you ever get the itch to try flatbed, feel free to hit me up with any questions you might have about Maverick. I'll be happy to share my experiences. All the best to you on your journey.

Amazed at how well the gash has healed!

I want to share my rather painful and embarrassing experience, in hopes that it may help someone else who may be tempted to NOT wear those cheap-looking safety glasses that are part of our Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I'm so thankful I had my glasses on when I went through the following experience.

In my second week with my driver-trainer, we were assigned to pick up a steel coil, just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. My trainer is a stickler for following the PPE guidelines and at this shipper, we were required to wear a protective vest, long-sleeves, helmet, gloves, and safety glasses. After successfully getting our coil cradle built, receiving our coil, and securing it, we had just finished tarping it and were preparing to pull out of the loading bay. We needed to get our paperwork from an office that did NOT require PPE, so my trainer took off everything except his reflective vest. It was very hot and I normally would follow his lead. Since we were leaving the loading area and going into the office area, the danger was over right? For some reason (I credit Divine intervention), I kept all of my PPE on. I can't say why I did it, as it makes no sense, but looking back I'm so thankful I did! Before I explain the mechanics of this injury, I have to tell a bit of background.

About 4-months back I injured my left knee. I was doing something really stupid: running on a treadmill that was on an incline after months (OK, years) of not running at all. Two days into my brief running career, my left knee was so swollen I could hardly walk and I was in extreme pain. Since I avoid doctors at all cost, I prayed that my knee would heal on its own. After about 7-8 weeks, I was 90% healed, with pain only when the knee was twisted a certain way. As long as I avoided that one movement, I was fine. I didn't want to delay my trucking adventure, so I went into this training period with a left knee that was still tender and in recovery.

Back to Pittsburgh. My trainer and I (in full PPE) walked to the office and found we had forgotten our load assignment number. I told him I would run back to the truck to get it. I quickly returned to the truck, grabbed the notebook that showed the number, and stepped quickly down from the truck. As I landed on my left foot, something under my boot (a small rock?) twisted my knee in a way that caused a sharp stabbing pain. This caused me to fall to the side as my knee buckled. All 240 lbs of me were falling out of control to my left when my face struck a concrete pillar. The corner of the pillar made direct contact with the left lens of my safety glasses, driving the glasses into my face, causing extreme bruising and a deep gash over my eye. Blood was pouring out of the wound and a truck driver in the next bay quickly came over to assist me. I put pressure on the wound and the bleeding eventually stopped.

I examined the safety glasses and was shocked to see a huge scrape in the plastic lens, directly over where my left eye would be. The glasses were destroyed. Had I not had my safety glasses on, I very likely would have sustained a very serious eye injury. As it is, the picture above was taken 36-hrs later when I finally admitted to my wife that I had suffered an injury. I thank God for protecting me and I'll never again ridicule the cheap-looking safety glasses that we are required to wear as part of the PPE package.

My wound healed perfectly with no medical intervention (thank you Lord!) and I did not miss any work as a result of this injury. Nearly 3-weeks post-injury, the last of the blackness is almost gone and the cut looks like it was sown up by the world's greatest surgeon! You can bet I always am quick to grab my safety glasses every time I get out of the truck to load or unload.

I'm currently at Maverick's HQ in North Little Rock, AR undergoing my final evaluation tests. If all goes well, my 9-week training adventure will result in my graduation tomorrow, when I will be officially given my keys! I attended my Orientation and Securement Training at Maverick's Madison, IL terminal, so this is my first visit to "the Big House". The grounds and facilities are very impressive and there certainly is no shortage of spotless maroon Freightliners around here!

I'm staying in the student dorms on campus, while some of the other students going through final evals are at the Galloway Inn, a hotel a short distance from the campus.

As I was leaving my dorm room the first day, I asked my roommate if he had the key. I was traveling with my laptop and some other valuables that I normally travel with. My roommate attended this location for his CDL training, and he stayed in the dorms for the duration of his 4-week previous training stint. He told me there are no keys for any of the rooms and they are all left unlocked. I went, "Huh?"

As a former police officer, I have a rather jaded view of humanity and here we are, staying with dozens of complete strangers from all over the country, and our rooms are left unlocked. My first thought was, "These people must be crazy!" It occurred to me that everything is unlocked around here. The new trucks that are sitting outside waiting to be assigned are all unlocked. The classrooms and offices in the training building are all unlocked, and despite my best efforts, I haven't found a locked door on the entire property! So, what's the deal?

I asked about this policy because I thought that certainly, with everything unlocked, theft must be rampant with all the traffic going in and out, and the dozens of students that are constantly coming and going. I was told no, theft is not a problem at all. The policy at Maverick is one where they trust each other and they expect people to behave decently towards one another, and this includes trusting that people will not steal from each other.

I wasn't sure what to make of this policy, but I must admit, that after 3-days here, it has been rather refreshing and has restored some of my faith in humanity. I'm here for just one more day, and I have really enjoyed my stay...and nobody has bothered any of my personal property, despite the fact that for many hours each day, my valuables sit unattended in an unlocked room that dozens of strangers have access to.

If you are interested in my journey with Maverick and how I ended up here as a 57-year-old rookie flatbedder, feel free to jump over to the CDL Training Diaries where my entire journey is listed under the "Old Man Leaves Six-Figure...Psychiatric Evaluation Pending" Diary.

From drivers who have YouTube channels, to this forum (and other forums), to truck stops, I have never heard much negativity about Maverick. I take that to mean the company takes care of its drivers. I am always happy when a fellow driver finds a good company for which to work.

Based on my limited experience, I'm thankful I decided to come to Maverick. I was torn between TMC, Melton, and Maverick, but having gone through the entire recruiting process, the in-house orientation and securement training, and finally the 14-day in-truck training portion, I have zero complaints. Being at Maverick HQ for my final evaluation is a bit intimidating, but everything I've seen so far leads me to believe that Maverick is doing everything in their power to ensure our success as students. Thanks for your comment and I appreciate your support.

Standing in the stadium, waiting for the grand finale' here, too! Super awesome, Grandpa Steve; Tom says you look too young to be a 'full' Gramps, haha! (Yeah, you do!)

I'm happy you've made the right choice for YOU, indeed! That's huge. Realizing you ARE busy, still just miss ya bouncing in the 'general' discussions every now & again; hopefully soon~!

Best to you, good sir;

~ Anne & Tom ~

Thanks, Anne and Tom. Trying to keep up with all these 20-something aspiring flatbedders has definitely been a challenge! The first few days of throwing chains, working binders/ratchets etc., definitely had me (and my wife) questioning my decision to start the flatbed game at 57! However, since I knew I wanted the challenge and was fascinated by the mechanics of the whole flatbed world, I was motivated to push through. I hope that as I become more proficient, I'll learn tricks and tips along the way to make things a bit easier. I'm sure that just like everything else, it's always going to be most difficult at the beginning. Sometimes I find the young guys glancing at me and I'm sure they're wondering, "What's up with the old guy? What's he doing here?" One thing I've always had in spades (Maverick pun intended) is enthusiasm and motivation. I've always told my boys to walk with purpose...don't shuffle! Look like you've got somewhere to go, even if you're not 100% sure what you'll do when you get there! Whenever an instructor needed a volunteer, I always jumped right up. Enthusiasm and a positive attitude have always served me very well, no matter what I've tackled. Policing, technical training, aviation, and now flatbedding. In my opinion, there's no use being tentative. Might as well jump into the deep end with both feet! I might just be dog-paddling at this point, but I'm thrilled to be in the pool! Thanks again for all your encouragement. I'll jump over into the general discussion forum to share a rather strange observation about Maverick. I'll check in later here to give you the update on my final evaluation that I just completed today.

Great job Driver!

Thanks G-Town...I appreciate the encouragement!

From drivers who have YouTube channels, to this forum (and other forums), to truck stops, I have never heard much negativity about Maverick. I take that to mean the company takes care of its drivers. I am always happy when a fellow driver finds a good company for which to work.

Based on my limited experience, I'm thankful I decided to come to Maverick. I was torn between TMC, Melton, and Maverick, but having gone through the entire recruiting process, the in-house orientation and securement training, and finally the 14-day in-truck training portion, I have zero complaints. Being at Maverick HQ for my final evaluation is a bit intimidating, but everything I've seen so far leads me to believe that Maverick is doing everything in their power to ensure our success as students. Thanks for your comment and I appreciate your support.

Your training diary is really great. A lot of people are going to appreciate the effort you put into it. Congratulations on your accomplishment!

Welcome to the world of flatbed!

Thanks, Old School! I appreciate your encouragement and look forward to continuing the journey.

Great updates as always. You're going to be fine.

Thanks, PackRat...I appreciate the encouragement!