Comments By Joe S.

Congratulations Pepper for hanging in there! If you set your mind to do something that you want to achieve, then you can achieve it. Let me know if you need any help in Laredo. I have a lot of fire fighter friends in Laredo that would reach out to assist you if you need it. All I have to do is make a phone call.

Good luck. I'll be getting my training in soon and looking toward Schneider.

I've been using a CPAP machines for years. I will use it when I take a nap. The way to lose weight is your food intake. Try to eat (if you can) 5-6 small meals a day. This will keep your metabolism going through out the day. Balance your carb v. protein intake but more toward protein. Get your sugars from fruit and vegetables. These are simple sugars and not processed sugars. Only eat yogurt once a week. If you look at the grams of sugar and fat on a container of yogurt it will surprise you.

When you look at a label the first thing to look at is the grams of fat. If the grams of fat are above 3 grams per servings put it down. If it is 3 or below then look at the carbs. Double the carbs. per serving then find 10% of that (22 carbs. x 2 = 44 divided by 10% = 4.4 grams of carbs. per serving). Then look at the sugars per serving. If the sugars are more than the carbs that you calculated then you put it back. If not it is good to eat. If the carbs that you calculated are more that the sugar go for it. You would be surprised what you should eat and shouldn't eat and this is a safe and easy way to lose weight.

I know I'm not driving a truck right now but I plan on it in the upcoming months. I stayed in shape being a fire fighter but we had time to work out. I know once I start driving I won't have time but I will stick to my good eating habits.

Let me know if this is helpful or not.

Thanks!

Right now I'm taking the High Road Online CD Training Program to sharpen my skills. I have found that this program on this website is very informative and very valuable and will assist me in my CDL school and throughout my driving career. I'm glad I found this website.

Thank you Bret Aquila and everyone on this sight!

I talked to a Schneider recruiter today and discussed with them that I would like to become an OTR driver for their company. I discussed with him that I found a Schneider approved driving school in Austin, TX where I live and that I can pay for the school myself. He informed me that when I get ready to attend let Schneider know and we can coincide together and get the preliminary paperwork done. He also informed me that Schneider will reimburse me for the school once I am hired by them.

He told me that their orientation school is in Dallas and consists of 17 days. As I posted earlier, I can burn any excess vacation time with my current employer while in Schneider's class. I will not have to sign up for any health insurance because I have that being a retired professional fire fighter. I have a pension from the fire department so most of the money that I make I can put back into their 401(K).

I can work hard and see the country. Any comments?

Although I'm not a truck driver yet, (I'm getting my CDL and getting ready for classes), I understand what your going through. I'm a retired professional fire fighter and I drove fire trucks and ladder trucks for over 20 years. Just like GPS, I couldn't rely on the city keeping us up to date on what streets are closed for repairs or which hydrants were out of service. I always had a back up plan in my mind when the alarm went off. Even going into a burning building we always had one to two back up plans. The best thinking I found was to "take a step back and take a deep breath" and look at the whole picture. I'm not being critical of your situation. I had people in cars that wouldn't pull over for an emergency vehicle and would flip me off. I just smiled and waved.

As the saying goes "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. It's All Small Stuff"

Thank's for the input. I have found a school in the Austin, TX area that Schneider lists as a recommended school. I can pay cash for the school then if I get accepted at Schneider, I have over a month of vacation that I can use at the job I currently hold now to go to their orientation school for the 3 weeks. I thinking ahead.

Any ideas?

Hello everyone! For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to become a professional truck driver. I am now a 56 year old retired professional fire fighter. I retired from the fire service when I was 49 years old after 27 years and I took a job representing professional fire fighters in the State of Texas. This job has me driving around the State of Texas but also sitting behind a desk. I know that driving a fire engine or ladder truck is not the same as driving an 18 wheeler but I believe it is time for a change. I have nothing holding be back but myself. Right now I am in the process of obtaining my Class A CDL and have found a school to attend.

Any thoughts or ideas? Any good or bad criticism I can take.