Comments By AndMilesToGo

Hold on, hold on, hold on...

Let me understand. Is this free stuff? Because we Russians LOVE free stuff. This changes everything!

The casual etiquette is usually to swap or give even if it's just something random in your pockets. I've seen people get creative and leave doodles drawn on scrap paper. Not every cache is big enough for goodies (or a writing utensil, BYOP) just written logs.

Is pokemon go geocaching lol.. but thats a good idea.

It's more like a secret treasure hunt. Unlike the Pokemon Go kids standing in traffic with their phones in front of their faces.

In populated areas you try and play it cool around the unaware but it's not easy especially when they're well-disguised. It helps to have another person or child or even a dog with you. Have had some pretty strange looks going solo. My favorites are the multi-part caches that send you on 'National Treasure' type hunts. Coordinates for one place, riddle at another etc.

Turtle 900 finds is amazing!! Are you surprised by the way people hide them or have you seen it all by now?

Hey someone else who has done this! It's been a while since doing it here but it's a good outdoor activity and can be a challenge. Mostly stuck to local caches. It's been tough to want to devote time to it when going somewhere new as there is usually other stuff planned or to see. andmilestogo - Geocaching.com

July 3, 2017

Today's class was cargo securement and Hazmat oriented. We watched a mix of videos over the course of the day. The first cargo securement and Hazmat videos were newer with the Hazmat being a real glazed eye, memory overload. The final Hazmat video was obviously much older but was actually much easier to follow. Passed the tests with no issue. As usual prior High Road Training Program experience helped immensely. We're off tomorrow for the 4th. Looking forward to pre-trip and air brakes later in week.

We have conflicting information on whether or not getting the D/T & Hazmat endorsements are possible without an actual CDL. A couple of the other guys are going today to get their permits so we'll find out Wednesday.

June 26 - June 30. 2017

First 5 days of class with 8 other hopeful guys. Our instructor is an old hand with over 4 1/2 million miles. Packets and study books are handed out and filled out. Old Hand is surprised I have a permit already. We watch some dated, industry standard instructional movies and are issued many, increasingly lengthy general knowledge, air brakes, and combination paper tests that almost all of which was already covered in The High Road Training Program. My tests are finished in record time with all passing with usually only a couple wrong due to wording or trickery. It was noticable how in just a couple of days everyone else caught on to the test questions through memorization. Due to taking The High Road so many times and coupled with the paper tests in class I'm very much over the questions. It's good practice but it does get tiring. A silver lining is all the insight and experience our instructor is giving us while reviewing the questions. Old Hand has a good sense of humor and I'm grateful for all the stories and anecdotes about the industry and trucking lifestyle. You can tell he actually cares a great deal about sharing his experience to help us become truck drivers and not just CDL holders.

Noticably; The High Road Training Program has many questions in it that the were actually on the Registry tests that weren't covered at all by the school. That may actually be something to bring up with them later on.

We also had 2 recruiters come in and talk with us; Adam from TMC and another from a local construction company. If anyone from TMC is reading this your man Adam may be the best pitch man in the business. Take everything with a grain of salt of course - like it'd be nice if he replaced the words "more responsibility" with "more liability" - but he did make hauling flatbed loads for commission in a new Peterbilt tractor with your own name on it sound pretty good. On the flip side everyone I know who has done flatbed work hasn't liked it at all.

Lastly at the end of the week we all got to do a drop and hook. No one wanted to go first especially with the rest of us standing there staring at them but finally one kid took one for the team.

The backing up looked pretty rough and while no one was judgemental some of the guys recognized it to be because of the clutch work. I'm probably the only guy there who hasn't driven a standard so that scared the **** out of me. A few other guys went including one who had Coach and one who had large but non-CDL truck experience. They didn't have any issues. During break time I expressed my shifting concern to Old Hand who reassured me it was OK and it was actually better than having to break bad habits from someone who has driven stick in a passenger car or truck. Briefly wondered if that was a default response to put guys at ease but decided to take it at face-value. By dumb luck one of the other instructors had a private lesson and had to take the truck. That left us with an older automatic they used to road test with before it would give an automatic-only restriction on your license.

I jumped in and was immediately confused because there wasn't a shifter at all. Just vertical buttons on the dashboard to change gears. These buttons did not give any sort of confident click or anything when you pushed them so it was a little tricky. After pulling forward I couldn't seem to line up the outside edge of the tractor tire with the trailer in the mirrors - it looked fine but was too far outside - we all went under the trailer and talked about what could happen if you miss the slot for the kingpin. After getting back in to try again I realized I had been looking in the convex distance mirrors and looking in the actual side mirrors everything was so much more obvious. With the tractor frame slowly backing under the trailer and a slight "you're good" nod from another student it coupled up.

No one really had any issues with the landing gear, king pin/checking, or line hook-ups during their turn other than wear and tear on the glad hands making life difficult and rememebering to release tension on the kingpin so the next guy up could pull it.

June 02, 2017

The school that had actually come personally recommended to me is south of Boston. The location is much more time & distance from the house especially with traffic in that area which is annoying. They have a good website with an online form for information requests and had sent back an e-mail within a day with all the relevant info someone could ask for. It may or may not have been an automated response but it contained various upcoming dates and times for open house and classes so it was up-to-date. As a bonus they welcome walk-ins during business hours.

Showed up right behind another fellow interested in driving a Class B straight truck. The office is what you'd expect to see at a CDL school. Plenty of seating, water/magazines, job boards/recruitment posters. Assumably they've been around a while and the proximity to Boston and some major industrial parks for the area probably helps their cause. The two clerks were friendly and joking with us and spent quite a bit of time answering questions for Mr. Class B and even showed him new job postings they had open for Class B job placement.

Supposedly because of the job placement they send everyone for new medical cards and drug tests regardless if you have a valid card already. Was a little disappointed not to save some money there as mine is still good for 1 more year.

After the clerk had stuffed me full of jolly ranchers they mentioned that after the academic hours are over the hands-on schooling and testing is done at a site 20 miles closer to my house. I paid the initial enrollment fee and signed up.

June 01, 2017 - Afternoon

There really isn't too much information out there on basic Massachusetts trucking driving schools other than it being difficult to get licensed here because of the state troopers conducting the testing.

Without mentioning names I had e-mailed the closest place for more information but received no response. Not really a surprise as their website was out of date. Showed up anyway around 3:30PM and rang the (broken) bell at a standing room only counter. After several long minutes a clerk appeared from the back and asks if I have an appointment. I didn't, but explained I was just looking for Class A program or enrollment information. Clerk says that they only take appointments for an interview with the owner. After more long minutes another clerk for scheduling comes out but we can't decide on a day and time. I mention already having a permit and ask to leave my name and number for the owner to call me and they looked as if I just ran over their dog.

Never did receive a call.

June 01, 2017 - Morning

One year later. Started and finished a good part of High Road, again. It's a great program. Went to the RMV and passed General Knowledge, Air brakes and Combination (and the vision test). Couldn't take the tanker endorsement due to lack of money. My driver's license was expiring in less than 6 months and you can't hold a permit that extends past the license expiration date. So an extra $50 was spent there instead of the extra endorsement. In the long run having to pay another $30 test fee plus the tanker test fee doesn't really matter. Since Hazmat and Doubles/Triples can only be issued to an actual CDL holder another test will be necessary as it is.

In case it happens to someone else; The clerks at the registry had a tough time figuring out why the tests wouldn't activate properly and later on why the CDL permit wouldn't print. Both were due to the license expiration date issue. They did manage eventually.

June 2016

After a long while of starting and restarting of The High Road Training Program I went and successfully obtained a 2 year DOT medical card from a chiropractor licensed to do DOT physicals. The exam wasn't that involved and it was cheap at $60. My insurance didn't cover DOT physicals and it was cheaper than the $150 and up other places were quoting. Happily bopped on over to the RMV to take the CDL learner's permit test and promptly failed their vision test. Regardless of what the vision box on the DOT card says the RMV will spot test you again. They do have an official waiver that can be signed by an optometrist which will get you out of the test.

It was a bit confusing as reading books had never been an issue and neither is seeing clearly straight to the horizon. Also no issues with colors or peripheral. A few weeks later the optometrist said it's an astigmatism and the mid-distance area has trouble coming to a focus. Issued a new pair of glasses that are a pain but have eliminated a lot of head and jaw aches. Who knew. Transferred job, CDL on hold.