Comments By Lawrence K.

The original poster stated that his/her instructor said to start the upshift at 1800 rpm.

Since I am not in school yet, and have not even sat in a truck for over 40 years, what is the range you shift in? More specifically, on the upshift, at what rpm to you shift out of the lower gear and then at what rpm do you shift into the higher gear?

(I realize that engine/transmission combinations may differ, but there is a general answer to my question.)

Lawrence

Still in Plan B

Items To Pack These are you standard items and with the things you mentions maybe throw in a laptop and a smart phone but other than that always and I mean always at all times keep a minimum of 3 days of food and drinks on the truck. There will be times you will have to shutdown and there will be nothing around for miles.

Thank you, I have that list already.

Remember, I am not talking about going to the school, but after I graduate and are soloing OTR. :)

Lawrence

Reading the lists of what to bring to a company-sponsored driving school, I know there are supplies that I will need to have. For example, I know that when I start solo driving, I will need bedding, flashlight, maybe some wrenches, screw drivers, Windex, rags, pencil/pens.

Then some time in the future, I may want a refrigerator, microwave, TV.

What other extras/supplies should I expect to have to purchase and have? As I go into this profession, I would like to know what is expected and what I may need/want.

Thank you

Lawrence

September 23 initiating plan B

Congratulations.

I have to agree with Brett, the online course is GREAT.

Lawrence

Thank you all for your comments. On thing I like about this forum are the honest comments WITHOUT all the drama!

Below, you will find the email I sent to Steven's today. After saying "yes," I found out what out-of-pocket costs I would incur within the next seven weeks, and $900 seemed a little steep!

So, I will revert back to Plan B, which is taking a CDL course at our local community college.

Now the email:

It is with great reluctance that I must inform you, that is Steven's Transport, that I must cancel attendance at the Colorado Driving School, scheduled to start July 8, 2013.

This decision was a difficult one; and, Lisa, it has NOTHING that you or Clayton did or said. After receiving all the information, specifically what my out of pocket expenses would be to get my license, I determined I could not afford that expense in the next seven weeks.

I do thank you and Clayton for all the time you two spent with me. And if anyone asks me about driver training, I will recommend Steven's and more importantly you.

Again thank you. Please confirm receipt of this email.

Lawrence

Again, thank you all for your support.

Lawrence

Well, it looks like it is "crunch" time. I have been "accepted" at Steven's, and now I have to make the decision of whether I really want to go or not.

If I do, I will be going to the Denver school--a 24-hour bus ride.

I was pleased with the interchange between myself and the recruiter. Almost all of the information on this site about Steven's company sponsored training was correct, which also made me pleased.

This is a big decision for me, and for my son and daughter-in-law. I have been helping them with errands, etc., and of course, that will disappear.

If anyone has any pros, cons, concerns, cautions, advice about Steven's, I would appreciate it. I think that Corporal ?? went through it, and has been happily driving for them for several years.

Steven's does have a terminal about 100 miles from me, so maybe when I go solo, I will either be able to drive the tractor (or tractor/load) home, or I can park my car at the terminal.

Lawrence

If I go with my fallback plan, I will be graduating and getting my CDL mid December.

With that in mind, how early should I start applying with trucking companies? One month? Two months? Six months?

Lawrence

As a side note my roomate works at a call center and I don't blame you for wanting out. The stories he has told me would make me crazy if I worked in that field.

::Chuckle::

Yes, it can be pretty stressful.

Thank you, Brett, for the thorough response. I did perform some searches to see if the topic was covered, but came up short.

I am wanting to get my CDL, but a main problem I have is funds. Of course, there are company sponsored training schools, and also many companies reimburse tuition (the problem there is that I would have to have the up-front money).

I was making headway with one company on your Company-Sponsored Training Program page, but I have not been impressed with the response after making the initial phone call. I applied the Wednesday before Memorial Day, knowing that the recruiter I spoke with would be gone from Thursday to Monday. Tuesday would be her first day back. She sounded like she was going to get right on the application, but I didn't hear anything. So Tuesday afternoon, I left a voice mail. Wednesday morning went by, no contact. I left another voice mail, after making repeated telephone calls. Yesterday noon, I still hadn't heard anything, so I left another voice mail. Near the end of their business day, I called again and spoke with another recruiter. He pulled up my application, and told me that I wasn't eligible because I stated I was fired from my last job. (In one respect, I was fired; in another, I wasn't.)

He stated he would send my original recruiter a message to call me, and I haven't heard anything (their business day is over).

I really don't know what to think of this. Is she just chicken to tell me no? I have made every attempt to be kind, professional, and nice on the phone (my last job was at a call center for 6 years, so I know what it is like to be on her side of the call). Should I give up on them? Should I try some more to talk with her? Should I maybe contact the HR department and see what is going on?

I just don't know.

So, I started looking at other companies, and that is when I decided to visit GlassDoor. And that visit prompted the start of this thread.

I do have a "fall-back" plan for getting my CDL from the local Community College, but that doesn't start until the middle of September, and I would have liked to get it sooner. And even if I do wait (which it appears that will probably be the road I will follow), will I still have the same problem with other trucking companies?

I have considered off and on being a truck driver for forty years! And at this time of my life, it just seems right. But even though I know that the people writing those reviews probably have some sort of ax to grind, it still discouraged me.

Oh, well. Didn't mean to cry on your shoulder. :)

Thank you again, Brett.

Lawrence

How does one relate to the trucking company reviews on a site like glassdoor.com? I am not young and naive, but it seems to me that reviews on such sites are probably negatively slanted. How do you relate to those reviews when one's personal exploration of a company has pointed to something more positive?

Lawrence Hopeful CDL owner.