Comments By Ronny S.

Why not stick out the company training for as long as he can, obtain his cdl, work for a year or two and then try and work locally? He doesn't have to be an Otr trucker his whole career. That's the beauty of having a cdl. Because like Old School is saying, you can't use honorable reasons to just bow out of this career at any time. Spend as much time with him as you can and tell him to get going. Support from afar.

I'm in Springfield now at the same hotel but here for the wil trans section of the training. Best of luck to you I got here last night.

Make phone calls daily, FaceTime or Skype. You'll have something to look forward to.

I second this! I honestly am not sure how the truckers of the golden days got through it with their families without being able to facetime or skype. It makes a world of difference to be able to see someones face, even if through a glass screen. Try it out if you can.

I absolutely agree Brett! I don't know very much about the industry, but I'm no fool either. At first glance, reading this didn't sound like the full story. The only other reason I can think someone would do this kind of thing (calling OSHA in) is to try and shake things up with the HoS regulations and standards. I find it VERY interesting that it worked in the drivers favor honestly.

I've been enjoying the read through of your diary. Pretty crazy that the guy backing up flipped out on you guys. Probably just having a sour day in general and needed to blow off some steam.

I applied with Jim Palmer and was also transfered to Wil Trans since they are closer to home. The application was simple and everyone did seem friendly and like they wanted to know you personally which was a great feeling. However, since they are such a small company you really DO need to have all your ducks in a row when it comes to employment, background check information, and so on. They gave me quite some flack (which I feel they were valid in doing so) about my employment history/gaps and hopping. They did seem very interested in my story and my hunger for becoming a trucker. Depending on what they tell me tomorrow morning I may choose them over Swift if all goes well.

Hey there! My father actually got a job through a staffing agency that required his CDL. It was with the company Conagra foods. He was paid weekly and it was a 12 hour shift job. He enjoyed it (it was local, but a little too far out for a daily drive so he ended up finding something closer). As for him, he had over 10 years under his belt when he got this job. Now for your age/experience, I'm not if they'd consider taking a look at you, but anything is worth a shot. Best of luck to you, maybe someone else more informed here has a better answer for you.

Congratulations!

Great news! Took my test again and passed it. Got my permit and will start classes on the 13th at Swift! WOO!

It seemed like the questions I missed on the CDL tests I missed because of over-thinking them.

For example, there was one about the back-and-forth surge of a tanker. Now I know I had read like 5 times that it could push you out into an intersection, but I started thinking well that's the forward surge and this question said the back and forth surge and didn't pick the correct answer.

If you worked through the high road guide I'm sure you will get it this time. Good luck on starting your career!

Thanks! Yeah, some of the questions I definitely psyched myself out on. I had done the questions over and over on the exam but for some reason second guessed myself. There were a few questions I had never seen before about road signs and one included a bus inspection question that I somehow correctly guessed. That one was odd.