Comments By Buster's Buddy

I've been gone for a while, but I'm back now. I've been running hard most of the time, and resting hard the rest of the time.

My training adventures were many and varied. Highlights include 2 Finishers (XPO's name for Trainers), a blown trailer tire, truck broke down outside Laramie, fixed broken truck before Road Service got around to responding, Qualcomm broke so I got to use paper logs, and truck and trailer towed (separately). And my favorite- with just a few hundred miles to go on my 7500 miles before they bring me to Joplin for upgrading, I'm in Ohio and I get a load to.... Portland. Oregon. 2500 miles in the wrong direction. From Portland they sent me to Seattle. Well, at least the pay checks were good. And when we broke down Friday evening outside Rapid City we were able to visit Mount Rushmore that Sunday. So my projected 3 weeks and 7500 miles of finishing turned into 6 weeks and 12,000 miles. Honestly, aside from missing my dog Buster, it was great. My second Finisher (lost the first one to a family emergency) was great. I can't imagine a better trainer and mentor than JD. He's been driving since 1994, has a great sense of humor and an incredible amount of patience, and is chock full of knowledge which he delights in sharing. I learned so much in that extra time, most of it little tidbits that make life on the road easier.

Once I finally got upgraded and got my 2013 Freightliner 13 speed out of the shop for the 3rd time I was on the road home to pick up Buster. My first few weeks were all about remembering EVERYTHING, or at the very least Rule 1: Don't Hit Anything. I had several Learning Experiences, and I came awfully close a few times, and my ego took some bruises, but I always stopped in time, and GOAL'd bunches and bunches ("thanks!" to the fellow who honked yesterday when I didn't GOAL enough). I also spent a lot of energy getting a semi truck Corgi Friendly. I also set up the top bunk as my kitchen: fridge, microwave, crock pot, and rice cooker.

XPO has been running me hard and I'm loving it. Last week I ran 2284, that was my first week under 2500. I've had 3 weeks over 3200. XPO (formerly Con-Way, formerly CFI) still seems to be a decent company to drive for. Most of the things I'm not thrilled with they are actively in the process of changing (the ancient Qualcomm and Load Planning are my biggest issues). XPO is committed to substantially growing their market share in the next 5 years.

I've now driven in every US State except Hawaii and Delaware. Plus British Columbia, The Yukon, Ontario, and Quebec (note: not all of these in a CMV). I really should figure out in which states I've driven a big rig. In 4 months I've been from New England to every Southern state except Florida, through out the the MidWest, and 10 of the Western 11.

Hey, did you know Quebec is not bilingual? It was quite an experience driving in the dark in the rain through construction and trying to remember enough High School French to figure out if the sign I just passed meant NO THROUGH TRUCKS or NO TRUCKS NEXT EXIT. All with no working phone, text, or internet. Truly a Grand Adventure. I'll be better prepared next time.

All in all I still feel like I'm getting paid for me and my dog Buster to drive all over the place in our 100 sq ft RV. I highly recommend XPO, especially for those like me who want Company Paid Schooling (Crowder is awesome) and a pet friendly environment.

I always look for the easiest parking spot, often that means a spot on a corner or by a traffic lane

F.Y.I. - These are the parking spaces where the most accidents occur as well.

An excellent point. Which means I need to clarify my statement. I never park on an outside edge or corner. As mentioned, these are the spots where most accidents occur. Even though they are easy to get in/out of, they are trouble waiting to happen.

When I say a corner or traffic lane what I really mean is an inside corner. For example, if the lot is just a square with parking around the edges and something occupying the center of the square (the truck stop building, fuel island, or pull through parking) then the spots at the corners face an open travel lane. In order to back into the majority of the spaces in the middle of the sides you would need to do a 45 degree backing maneuver. However, to pull into those few spaces on the edges you simply turn the corner and as soon as your trailer is inline you can straight back into them.

I hope this makes things more clear and not less so.

Holding your phone in your hand while driving. When I was in orientation they had a fellow who upgraded, got into his brand new truck solo, and drove 1/2 mile away from the terminal. He cornered so hard it triggered the camera. He got a Qualcomm message to return to the terminal. When he arrived they showed him the photo of him talking on his hand held phone. Guess he was so excited to get his new truck he just couldn't wait to tell the folks back home. This is XPO's latest crusade - talking or texting hand held will get you fired first offense.

I got lucky. I was far enough along in training that I was doing all the customer contact alone. Walked in, told him I was from XPO here to pick up a loaded trailer for Laredo. The fellow told me which trailer to hook to. The paper work didn't have the trailer number on it. When I was hooked I went back to tell him the dock hook was still attached (my trainer taught me to ALWAYS visually check you are unhooked from the dock - I wondered how all those DOT bumpers got bent backward). His reply was that he had just finished checking that it was unhooked. That's when we realized he sent me to the wrong trailer. I hadn't checked the BOL destination. Which I now do faithfully. Plus, I received a good reinforcement about always checking I'm clear to leave the dock.

I was just thinking about this. Today on 2 separate occasions I watched a day cab pull into a dock that I also pulled into. The first one was TIGHT, the second dock involved backing around the corner. In both instances the day cab pulled into the dock faster than I pulled into the driveway. That's what these guys do: hit docks all day long, and the faster the better. In both instances I took much longer, pulled forward a few times, and hit the dock like a professional driver and felt pretty good about myself. See, that's the part that got me thinking, I'm a professional driver (or I'm faking being one until I actually make it). I literally get paid to drive. I don't get paid to back up. So I'm perfectly content with being an adequate backer.

If you don't hit anything you win. It doesn't matter how much time or how many tries it takes. Even if it's frustrating, it is still success. You should be proud every time you back into a space or a dock without hitting anything. You're a driver, every mile you drive without hitting anything is a win. Backing gets easier with practice.

I'm in my 3rd month solo and I decided right off the bat to stay away from busy truck stops as much as possible. I much prefer to spend the night in rest areas. I usually hit a Pilot or Flying J during the day to grab a shower. The lines are shorter, the parking is easier. I always look for the easiest parking spot, often that means a spot on a corner or by a traffic lane where I can pull all the way forward to line up, then straight back into the spot. When I first started I really concentrated on pull through spots that were clear on each side and I focused on not crossing the lines. Some great advice already - park in the back, look for large truck stops, and above all get the Trucker Path App if you have a smartphone. I love that you can see a satellite image of the parking lot so I can scope out the choice spots for me (in the back, on a corner) and get a sense of traffic flow in advance. I;ve been known to park in a TA or other large truck stop that is across the street from a Pilot or Flying J because the parking is easier, and then walk across the street for my shower.

Well gang, hard to believe or not, this was all covered on TT 5 weeks ago when it happened. I did call 2 other recruiters and got the same story. I live in a small town about 100 miles north of Phoenix. Prime told me that was too many deadhead miles and offered me a choice of leasing or moving to Phoenix. I even offered to park my car at the terminal and drive myself home. No deal.

I'm not badmouthing Prime or claiming Prime has a don't-hire-if-more-than-100-miles-away policy. I can't speak for anyone else. I'm just offering my personal experience in response to the OP.

Today instead of being in Springfield MO with Prime I'm in Joplin MO with XPO/Con-way. Nothing I've seen in the past 5 weeks has my questioning my decision.

When I called Prime and said that I was ready to go to work for them (after several months talking to the recruiter), I was told that they would only hire me as a lease driver because I lived more than 100 miles from their terminal.

In general they don't push leasing, but there are specific instances where they do.

Just got my CDL after graduating from driving school in Missouri. Paper copy for now. They are mailing the hard copy to my home in Arizona. Once that arrives I will have to pay $55 to get my CDL and all of my endorsements tranfered to AZ.

Our final week of school has been mighty hectic. Our class started at 10 students and finished with 5. Due to illness for the past 2 weeks we have only had 1 instructor per day, and there has been a rash of accidents (a 4 wheeler turned too wide and struck a truck) and mechanical-issues. Making sure we had a truck and an instructor at all times has been challenging. The school has hired a batch of new instructors and purchased several new trucks so this shouldn't be an issue in the future. But that doesn't help my class. In spite of these problems we have had very little non productive time this week thanks mostly to Tim, our instructor. 

3 of us were scheduled to test on Tuesday and 2 on Wednesday. Monday was final polishing for the Tuesday testers, Tuesday the same for the Wednesday testers. 

I passed PreTrip but failed Backing Tuesday (stupid mistake on the 90 degree backing). The examiner told my instructor he was surprised I failed since I was handling the vehicle competently and right until the end I was doing fine. He said there was nothing for me to work on before my retest. 

Tried again Thursday morning. Even worse case of test anxiety than first time. Since I now new the point system I made sure all my stupid backing mistakes were low value ones, so I passed Backing with no problem. Road test was rough. The first time I drove a big rig in the rain was during my road test. My previous 7 scored drives were all in the 86-95 range. Although significantly easier than any previous drive I scored 73 on the road test. You need a 70 to pass. Whew. Still, I get the same license as my classmates who all scored higher. So very relieved that part is over.

Thursday was more paperwork and finishing the Joplin Road Test and 45 degree backing test, both of which are specifically for XPO/Conway. A final written exam (which I thought we had already taken) and then some time on the simulators experiencing virtual ice and low visibility runs. I'm sure it was helpful, but I'm still bummed Skid Pad won't be fixed until next week. XPO supposedly will make arrangements for me to spend time on it if I can make that happen sometime in the future. 

Friday morning we went in for Graduation and to get our packets and discovered that during the instructors alternating sick days period we managed to miss an exam. Oops. Ripped that out real quick and now we are just waiting for the XPO bus to come down from Joplin to pick us up. It should be here around 1:00 and the first stop we be DMV to get our license. Then it's the hotel and waiting until Monday morning Orientation. Actually apparently Missouri uses 3rd party License Offices and has no DMV. We will get a paper CDL and the plastic one will be mailed to my residence in Sedona. I have 90 days to get it transferred to AZ. 

All in all this has been a great experience. I highly recommend Crowder Tranportation Training at Crowder College in Neosho, MO. My class is part of the 4 week XPO/Conway program where XPO is paying for everything except breakfast on the weekends. There is also a 5 week program open to all. I know there is a couple here with a team pre hire from Schneider, but I don't know who is paying for what. Great instructors, late model equipment, nice apartment, decent cafeteria food, glad I came. 

Next week: Orientation Monday - Thursday. With a little luck I'll be on the road with my finisher on Friday. Or maybe Monday. We shall see...

Congrats!!!!

What company has orientation in Joplin? I used to live in Springfield, so I'm familiar with Joplin.

XPO Logistics Truckload (formerly Con-Way Truckload), the number 2 employer in Joplin.

Thanks to all for the congrats.