Comments By UpNorthTrip

Yea man don't give in I too failed out of school but not the skills test the written permit test I failed each test twice I studied more and passed Gen,Airbrake n working on combinations now so come Feb I will enroll back into school to began driving on the range then regular road.

My setbacks were Job,Preggo Girlfriend, n some personal things it really bummed me out I felt sorry,mad,stupid etc but I told myself I'm not gonna give up just a minor setback I mean I did want to start driving or at least have my cdl by the new year but hey things happen so now I probably won't have them until April as Class starts Feb 29th

This is believable to me and I say that because I'm currently in school and a few companies have come to my class one of them was AVERITTT and the lady stated you would make 4-500 a week GROSS so after healthcare,uncle sam,401k it's possible. I threw her card n pamplet in the trash immediately.

Thanks brett also ive been halted 4 times but my answers were correct .

You're 2 for 4 on one of the questions and you're 2 for 5 on another. You're missing the same questions several times, that's why you're being halted. Make sure when you finish a set of questions you review the answers and find out what the correct answer was.

And make sure you read the questions carefully. A lot of them are tricky, like they end with the word "except".......

Yessir that i am finding out between your program and my school curriculum its almost as if im taking a law class WORDING is everything!

UpNorthTrip, I highly recommend you pretty much ignore everything he says about the companies and the industry. This industry is rife with crabby old timers that hate pretty much everything about trucking. They hate all the big companies, they hate the DOT, they hate how the industry has changed, they hate this "new breed of driver" - it never ends.

Do not look to him for advice on choosing a company. Choose a company based on what you're looking for - home time, types of freight, pay & benefits, etc. Ignore his opinions about it. He's just another crabby old timer. Whatever advice he gives about choosing a company just smile, say "thanks", and then pretend you never heard it.

Swift is a great company with a ton of different opportunities and they handle new drivers really well. That goes for any of the major companies that hire new drivers. Most of them have been doing this for decades.

Just ignore all of that baloney and focus on learning your trade. Once you've been out there for a little while and you understand how the industry works you'll see what I mean about the crabby old timers.

Thanks brett also ive been halted 4 times but my answers were correct .

Wow soooo much information to be bombarded with at a time and try to retain it smh

In only 2 days of school i have a new respect for professional truck drivers their is so much more to it than getting in the truck in driving .

i dont see how anyone who is unstable can even attempt to operate such a vehicle the correct way and do it safely.

My instructor awesome guy over 40 years exp we also have about 4 or 5 others who will be on the driving range who also have between 16-35 yrs exp.

i was getting into this for a reason i have now changed the MONEY!!! and kinda change my thought of going OTR lol although i know i would learn so much more and master this craft

paper logs are giving me a hard time i will make sure i go with an elog company but as my instructor said thats good but computers always breakdown so its something you need to know.

NOW the part that has been stumped is i have not heard this man talk of any mega carriers he recommends except Old Dominion and ConWay only because they dont have any training and they always pick the top students out his class that he recommends because its tells them that student knows n operate the vehicle as if he has 2 yr exp.

he talked very very very bad about Swift lol (and this is who i got a prehire with) absolutely nothing about them positive he also talked about CDL MILLS and how in his program you will EARN your CDL hes not gonna just pass you he has a reputation to upheld lol.

he talked about something called Black Mountain and some others in Knoxville & North carolina.

he also has recent grads who came out of his class Owner Operators,Lease Purchase (he said honestly dont do a Lease Purchase unless you making 1.10 or higher making 75,80, cents isnt worth it)

sorry for the long read but honestly its short we covered so much in 2 days.

Congrats man be safe out there!

The beginning of my journey starts monday first day of cdl class im ready but nervous and anxious

Wow i love this post and forum i can relate to quite a few of you guys i am also an introvert ,anti social,free spirited person pretty much enjoy being alone just me and my music and some food.

I also been a factory worker for well over 10 yrs Always been the best and gotten overlooked ,underpaid,taking advantage of because im a hard worker and i believe in completing every task im given in an 8-12 hr shift whereas co workers would tell me i need to slow down ,im making them look bad, i need to take extra breaks to stretch the work out etc etc

I start school this monday and im so ready im ready for that independence despite some companies with cameras and just only being worried about myself no lazy asses or ppl to claim the hard work i put into completing the task

I agree Atlanta traffic is terrible not so much the navigation but the commute is ridiculous people constantly jumping in front of trucks and hitting the brakes purposely, refusing to move out the passing lane etc etc and as of right now im a 4 wheeler i can only imagine how it is in a big rig btw im a Native NewYorker.

Thanks guys i will jot all this down.

So i just was wondering how does one schedule Vision,Medical,Dentist Appts if your OTR or do you guys go to Urgent care places? Do you not go at all unless something happens? Or you schedule all those appts on your hometime?

Im thinking bout time i get out of school which is around dec then get with a company i was just gonna schedule those appts before i will go off to Job training just to have all that out the way ahead of time.