Comments By Diver

Thanks Bleemus. I live 3 hours north of here so I know what you are talking about! Hoping not to have to do to much standing around outside, but this is my first ever orientation so I'm not sure what to expect. Will do!

I start orientation tomorrow morning. I just got down here to the motel and checked in. Orientation is in Auburndale and the motel is about 6 miles away in Winter Haven. As far as the motel goes, I've stayed in worse, but it isn't to bad. No coffee maker in the room, but they do supposedly have a hot breakfast at 6 am. Since orientation is fairly close there should be enough time to grab something.

Not sure how many of us there are here, but they do orientation for CCC, CT, MCT and CTL here. So there should be 30 or so I'm guesstimating. Guess I will find out tomorrow. it lasts for 4 days and then I head back home. They'll tell me where to report next Monday to start training.

Comcar does hire recent grads in case anyone in school is looking for a company. I'll post how orientation goes in case there is an interest in finding out about Comcar.

Raymond, no time like the present to start a career. I had a career plan when I turned 18 (I just turned 54) and I am now embarking on a new career. It's never to early to start planning for your future as it doesn't get any easier as you get older. As far as trucking goes it seems like most companies won't hire anyone less than 23 so you're good there. Good luck with your decision!

Thanks Jay and JJ. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. I would have preferred the regional as it pays better. I plan on going in with a good attitude and busting my hump for them, so if a spot opens up maybe they'll keep me in mind.

Best of luck to you JJ. Nothing like the feeling of accomplishment that you get when they hand you that Class A!

School finally got the check cut for our CDL's today, so I now have a brand spanking new Class A CDL in hand! I report to orientation in Auburndale, FL with CCC Transportation on Monday, May 11th and I'm excited to be getting out there on the road. It was supposed to be for a dry bulk tanker SE regional position, but apparently they are all filled now. So I will be driving local out of Newberry, FL once training is complete. Dang, home every night. LOL They did say that if a regional spot opens up down the road I can move over in to it. I don't think I could have done it as easily as I did without the help of this site, so a big thanks to Bret and everyone else.

Check out the company sponsored school section on this site and look at Knight Transportation. Sounds like they might be right up your alley.

Congrats! Sounds like things are moving right along for you with Swift. I have one more week of school left. I've accepted a position with CCC Transportation out of Auburndale starting orientation May 11th. Pay is not the greatest, but the position offered works for me as far as home time goes. Hope things continue to go well for you. Be safe out there!

I went through the High Roads Training, but that split sleeper berth is quite discombobulated to me. The instructors at my school said it exists, but they won't get in to it. LOL Maybe once I'm out with a trainer I'll get a better understanding of it too. But like you said, it won't keep you from getting your CDL and me neither!

Congrats! I should be getting mine this Thursday. Everything passed, just waiting for everyone else to finish up so that we can go down to the DMV to get them. Part of our tuition pays for the license. I'm chomping at the bit to get mine in hand!

Most companies do require a year experience and the number of companies that will hire recent school grads is limited. I was considering the company sponsored school route initially, but decided that I didn't want to end up "having" to stay with a company based on that. I opted to go to a vo-tech school. It is an 8 week course and the cost was less than $2900. I had a friend that went to Truck Driver Institute which was only 3 weeks, but the cost was $6k. I think more than twice the training for less than half the cost was a better choice for me. If you think you will be happy with a company that will train you, then by all means, go for it. You need to decide what will work best for you. That's what I did and this site is definitely a wealth of information in helping one decide. Good luck!