Comments By Robert V.

Well we finished our 2nd week. We spent six days on the road. As team drivers we were allowed to go out together with one trainer. 3 people in a cab starting around 7-9 every morning and finishing 10-12 every night. Our trainer was a very experienced driver with years of on the road experience. He got the hotel room every night and we slept in the truck. One morning woke up at 6 am by a hailstorm. Like being in a tin can and someone beating on it. Toughest part of training is listening to someone tell all your mistakes and talking to you while its happening. Irritating at times but also part of the learning experience. Any disagreements we had were over points of view more than anything else. Yes I know I ground the gears, missed a turn, came to the intersection too fast, missed a sign, etc. etc. However, I came back a much better driver than when I left. Toughest part was going through Central Arkansas at night through very hilly, curvy, some semi-steep hills at night. 7,8,9,8,7,6,7,8,9,8,7 shifting gears for what seemed like hours. Made it using Jake brake, stab braking, gearing up and down.

I dont like truck stop food, horrible stuff, but we managed to hit a grocery store every two days to get some fruits and veggies in our diet. Will definitely have a cooler well stock with good food. Stale burritos, over cooked chicken and pizza slices left under heat lamp not my cup of tea. Best meal was a salad at McDonalds.

Neatest load we carried was we picked of 47,000 pounds of Charcoal from the Royal Oak plant in Arkansas. It took over an hour to load the truck so got to walk around the factory. Dirty, black and old was the place but cool to see how they made charcoal and bagged it. Saw a big flat truck loaded with timber come in and unload. Was showed how to use a company scale. Front wheels on first and weigh, then drive wheels, subtract front wheel total from overall total to get drive wheel weight. Then the whole truck on the scale and subtract the first two weights to get the tandem weight. Good to go.

Overall a good experience with some rough spots. My favorite shifting pattern is 10, 45MPH downshift to 9, 25 downshift to 7, 10 downshift to 5 and I am good to go for turns, lights, or stop signs. Got that down pretty good now. Much easier to use MPH rather than RPMs for gear management. After 11 days of classes and driving we have two days off and start our final week Monday.

Finished 2 days of driving and training. if my wife and I pass our tests tomorrow we will go out with a trainer with a live load the next day. We have made friends with another couple that finished their 3 weeks of training. They got a brand new truck and its a beauty. It also is an automatic and they love it. I had a rough day. After nailing my alley docking they took us to the simulators. The first thing they tested us on was practicing keeping control of a truck when there was a blowout. I did well with that one. Then it was reacting to things pulling in front of your truck like deer, cars, pedestrians, etc. Then we practiced going up and down snow packed mountain roads. We all ended sliding off the cliff. Finally we tried driving on snowy streets trying to make deliveries. By then the simulator was making me sick and I had to quit. I was allowed to rest. In the afternoon I couldn't get the shifting rhythm on my first so after a break I had to go out again for a drive. The second time my shifting and control was back to standard so I can take my teat tomorrow.

Waiting for day 3 here at Schneider. Yesterday we got some truck time. These trucks are so much nicer than the ones we had at school . Much easier to drive and shift. They assigned two drivers to a trainer. My trainer been here for 26 years. We were taught skip shifting so we get to go 2,4,6,7…......going up and 9,7,5,4 on the way down. So much easier than trying to go up and down every gear. Sage trained us well. My wife and I clearly had more drive time than many of these other students. Some admitted they didn't even know how to double clutch. How they got a license I don't know. Another lady asked for another week of drving because she only got her 30 minutes every time they went out while at school. Any way looking forward to day 3.

Tell Tim, Eric and the gang we said Hi. Its true about other schools with groups going out driving and getting limited driving time. One guy went to a school in South Orlando where he was the only student so he got to drive every day all day. He had a lot of driving time in. Lot of transfers from other companies, one lady was getting 20 cents a mile after the company school.

Hi Bob and Patti, I was wondering how you were getting on. Please update as you continue your training with Schneider. My husband and I have applied to them, as well, but cannot start until June 5th (last day of public school for me, horray!!) I'll be reading with interest.

If you have small feet selection is very limited. My wife had to compromise to get a pair of boots that was close to fitting. Tell your recruiter so they can stock your shoe size in advance. They cost 35 bucks for the first pair and you get a free pair every year after that. Even though I bought a pair in advance I still wanted in the free pair program. So now I have two new pairs of boots. One instructor has 4 new pairs in his closet that he has never used. Been with the company 16 years. So he has gotten 15 pairs of new boots. They have low and medium height boots. I bought a high top boot before I came so I bought a low or regular kind of shoe. Black is the main color with laces and they have a brown loafer. the loafer was very hard to get on so I went black. The loafer is kind of ugly and the blacks have heavy tread. I called them snow tires but they won't slip. Tomorrow we start driving.

My wife and I arrived Monday in West Memphis, Arkansas. We arrived at the Days Inn in our rental car. Schneider provided us with a vehicle and driver so we could return the car back to the airport and get back to the hotel. So we were off to a good start. The van leaves at 530am Tuesday morning for 700 start. The outside of the hotel and area is so so but the room is nice spacious and clean. Across from the hotel is a dog track and they have a nice all you can eat buffet. If you go to the Arkansas welcome center you can get buy one get one free meal tickets for the buffet So that brings the cost down. Monday was TexMex and Tuesday was TBone steak night. Ask them to cook it rare and it is pretty good. Tuesday we began doing paperwork, physicals, agility tests, new boots (don't buy in advance) cheaper and decent quality from them, free lunch, and we received our books and met our first week trainers. Schneider is definitely organized and prepared. They are laid back and somewhat no nonsense so that was good. Emphasis is always on safety, no trying to skirt DOT. See how Wednesday goes.

Did Wayne and Dan pass yet? They started about a week after we did. Do you have Bill for a teacher?

GO RETIRED TEACHERS GO.

I'm going to night school so I haven't met them. Most of my training has been with Scott and Lanny. I hope retired teachers make good truckers! My husband is a driver for Armellini and we want to team drive for Schneider out of their Dallas location. Let me know how your training with them goes.

OK will do.

I just missed meeting you and your wife by a few days. I am training at SAGE right now. I am teaching high school during the day and hope to be hired by Schneider so that I can attend their training the first day of summer vacation. Hearing your story from Tim and reading it here has keep my confidence up. Thanks so much for sharing it. I wish you both THE BEST. These late-in-life career changes are challenging, but exciting. I'm hoping to find peace-of-mind on the highways of America.

Sorry to have missed you. Did Wayne and Dan pass yet? They started about a week after we did. Do you have Bill for a teacher? Tell him Bob and Patty said Hi. We were happy with the training and teaching. Even with the one on one while on the road I still wish we had gotten more drive time. Anyway we start with Schneider on the 30th of March in Arkansas. So good luck to you. GO RETIRED TEACHERS GO.

Wow!!!!! I'm following this thread of information with undivided attention. I have my CDL class A permit and currently doing training with California career school to get my CDL license. my interest trucking company that I would love to work for is Schneider. I'm active duty in the Navy and due to separate next month(march15). I will be relocating to TX after I get my license. anyone have Idea about Schneider apprenticeship program? I will appreciate that.

My wife and I will be going to Schneider in Arkansas as team drivers. So we are interested in this thread.

My wife and I both picked our licenses on Tue and we added hazmat and tankers. We decided to go with Schneider and will go to Arkansas for training in late March. Our next stop California to see our new granddaughter.