Comments By Keiler M.

Awesome post TPC, happy I read it, I'm supposed to be starting OTR this week, just waiting at home for a trainer. I will make sure I always have plenty of food and water in the truck for when I have to be away from truck stops to not burn my hours, it's a great tip. I want to be as productive as I possibly can, I've always been a hard worker, and now that I will be performance based, even more motivation!

I'm starting with Knight's Dry Van division, mostly going to be West coast, can't wait to get started!

It is still much better to go ahead and get the class A, just because if later on in life you get another job, it might come in handy. When I was in school I saw couple of students with a class B going through he whole course to get the class A again..

I'm getting ready to start driving OTR myself. I've never done it before so I am going out with a trainer for 2 weeks. This company says they don't team drive (while training) because they want the trainer there with you at all times to answer questions and guide you. We'll see how true it is and how it goes. I already know how to drive, I worked as a vacuum truck driver in the oilfield hauling produced water. A lot of us oilfield workers are switching to OTR because of the work there slowed down.

One thing I liked during my driving test was the truck, I don't know how "new" it was but to me, it was amazing. The AC was ice cold and I loved it, the breaks were great, the gears went in with no problem.. What a different aspect of it. I'm used to having a truck with no AC and all kinds of problems. I'm glad I never got stopped by DOT haha..

So, would it had worked out if you would've put your log as "off duty"? I want to do the same thing while I'm out there, but I am unsure of where to put my line when I'm waiting to be loaded/unloaded. I want to be as productive as possible and waste little time of my clock on "on duty not driving" Because that just burns my driving time.

A little update from my last post on here. The sleep apnea test result came back, minor-moderate so the Doc gave me the 2 year card (wohoooo!) Later that day I went over to Knight and did my driving test with a local driver. I was a little nervous but everything turned out good, the truck was a nice volvo, 9 spd and I shifted with no problems. The local driver was really cool so that helped a lot. The only thing I messed up on was at the Pilot, I position myself wrong and had trouble backing up, so he backed up for me. I had requested to go out with a trainer anyways so that didn't affect me, but I'm glad everything else turned alright. My backing is not that great, I was used to the oil field sites where there's usually a lot of space to maneuver, I never had to back up in a truckstop or anything, so I need a little bit of practice.

Now I am waiting for the background to get cleared (there's a delay with one of my past employers not getting back to Knight for emp verification) and after that I will probably be waiting for a trainer and on to my adventure OTR. I chose to stay on the 11 Western side, but once I get more comfortable and since we don't have force dispatch at Knight, I'll probably run more towards the midwest, I am just afraid from all the rumors you hear of the East coast, so if I don't have to, I rather not go there. I know eventually I probably will but for now I am happy I have the option to run in the areas I am familiar with.

Thanks a lot OS for your advice and sharing your adventures with us. I enjoy reading them and the useful information you provide. Hope to run in to you at one of our yards some day.

Awesome thread! I loved reading it and cannot wait for more. I applied for Knight here in Las Vegas but I am waiting on the results of the sleep apnea test they had me do before I could get hired on. I am hoping to get the results in this week so I can go to the yard next week and take the driving test and hopefully get hired on. I asked the recruiter if I could go with a trainer and he said it shouldn't be a problem, I also asked the DM there and he said depending upon availability. I've had my CDL for about a year now and I was driving vacuum trucks (hauling water) in West Texas but since the work got slow I had to move back home. Any tips on how they do the driving test? Are they going to expect me to double clutch? Because I forgot how to do that, I just float the gears up/down shifting with no problem. I was at orientation with Celadon and the guy made a big deal about it, I also failed the driving test because I missed the speed limit sign on a construction zone (there was no workers or anything) and I was following the flow of traffic and still going slower than them but was "technically" going over the posted speed limit so that was an automatic fail. I also forgot that you couldn't shift over the railroad tracks and he said that I shifted while crossing the railroad tracks so that was another automatic fail so they sent me back home and didn't give me a chance to sign on for a refresher or a 2nd chance.

I haven't driven in about 3 months and I was in Denver, never been there, not making excuses but I am still an unexperienced driver, specially since I usually drove around the same area when I was working in Tx. I am hoping that I could get on with a trainer if I get the sleep apnea results back negative. So if you have any tips for me that would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

So why are you working the docks and have to be re-tested again? I was able to get from what I read that you dropped a trailer? If so, sorry to hear that but I'm glad they're giving you a 2nd chance vs firing you. I had an accident on my first company and was fired for it, I went homeless for a couple of days but then was able to get on with someone else. Good luck on your driving test!

As long as you've got an In-n-Out Hamburger stand nearby, you're good.

They had one of those! Lol it's no wonder truckers are falling out and dying young. The healthiest food at stops is Subway. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die! , slowly....,.ummm.... With complications. I'm going to get a cup of fruit. Peace!

In N Out is super delicious! also they have a protein option with just the lettuce as wrap, you don't need the bread/cheese. I love it there, but I wish instead of Subway there was more Chipotle, that's my favorite of them all. I always get the chicken bowl, no chips, no drink and just $7, cheaper than subway lol and a bit healthier and more fulfilling

Didn't understand anything o.O

1) I'm 48 and thinking of getting into trucking as a company driver. As a complete NEWBIE...how long can I expect to be gone as a general answer ? I've been reading around the 'net and the general answer I see is "they want you to live in the truck"..... and "home weekends."

I'd like to be home weekends and say...1 day mid week or more often, but could deal with being out only 2 nights at a time. How realistic is this ?

2) Most jobs are saying 2500 mi. a week as an average...this is 500 mi. a day 5 days a week...or 10 hrs. a day at 50 mph. Now throw in stops to hit the toilet etc. ....it looks like driving is going to be a 12 hr. a day, 5 day a week job to make the "$1,000 a wk" they all tease you with. Any help on these two questions ?

Thanks Fellers...

Yea, very unrealistic view of it. Starting out is a little difficult so you will have to go out with a trainer and go to the cdl school and things of that nature, so you have to expect to be gone a lot. If you want to be home your best bet is to sacrifice and be gone a lot for your first year or so until you can have enough experience to get something local, maybe with an ltl company and things of that nature. I'll let the more experience people on here give you a more detail answer but, I know for sure that it won't be easy at first.

Hello Daniel. Thanks for your reply. It wasn't my intention to "downplay" the situation, I did not know it was that big. I have seen way worse accidents here in West Texas where I drive so to my knowledge it wasn't that big, now I know that is not the case so thanks for clearing that for me.

I am currently employed by another water hauling company out here in the oil fields but the thing is that it is slowing down and a friend of mine and I were thinking about trying out for team driving otr. Also my girlfriend and I would eventually want to do it also, she's working on her license at the moment. I am glad I was able to find out about my being hire-able problem sooner rather than later though..

It discourages me now because some of the companies I've heard that hire people with a bad driving record (not that I consider myself to have one) don't pay that great. I didn't see myself as a "i'm desperate I'll take whoever takes me" but from what you said, my situation is not as "not that bad" as I thought haha.

I sent an application to "Marten" I saw a job posting on "jobsforteams.com" and they said on there "maximum accidents in a 3 year period that they allowed was 3, same with moving violations. I am hoping I hear from them next week as they seem to be a pretty good company and I've seen their trucks drive by where I live. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Also, my teammate has some tickets in his mvr but some of them were removed, he was let go of his former company because he didn't notify them of those tickets he had gotten on his personal vehicle. (I advised him to let them know, so you were right, they found out and let him go...) That's why I rather be honest..

For now I guess I'll hang in here at my current company and lower my pride a little bit and keep driving as safely as I can with my eyes 1000% on the road. Thanks for everything. I'll keep you updated

Keiler