Comments By Jerry

SWIFT - Stop Whining, I'm Frickin Trying

I love a good laugh, and the other night I was talking with some of the other students of Celadon who are at various places in their training. We came across the topic of acronyms that people have came up with over the years and some of them are downright hilarious. Would it be an issue if we built this thread up with some innocently humorous stuff?

My home state is Ohio but I am over here in Indianapolis for Celadon's company sponsored CDL training program. I really thought pre-trips were pretty much the same standard stuff in all states because my impression of all of this is that it's more federal law than it is individual states. But, my instructor is going over pre trip stuff right now and I am recording the whole thing in a voice file that I could upload later ocne I edit the general convo out of it.

He's going everything in exact specifics of what the tester wants to hear you say when you are doing you pre trip, so it really would be a great track to listen to for anyone like me who really needs to hammer down on this

I wish they'd leave one of their training trucks at the hotel this weekend for us to practice most of the "non-running" pre-trip inspection. I'm not totally worried about the 4 point brake inspection, nor the in-cab, but it's all the components on the outside of the truck that I want to ace. There's an older trainee here that said she passed her whole pre-trip with a 70/70, passed her 4 point and her in cab and didn't lose any points. I'm not being condescending, but she definitely isn't a 'brainiac' or anything but she definitely gave me some motivation to make it happen for me too. So... I guess I will go thru everything today through this weekend and get the earliest shuttle out here to Celadon to try to practice.

We aren't allowed to use any of the cheat sheets during the actual test, are we? Stupid question... but I had to ask it anyways.

Yeah, I'd say that you and your husband just need to take a step back and look at more companies before choosing either of those. For example, you and your husband could choose a company like Celadon (no, I am not recruiting or anything lol). Celadon will train both you and your husband in their company sponsored training program . They pay 18cpm to start, for all miles your truck turns. If you pull 17k miles in one month, you get a 3cpm bonus for all those miles in that month. Their commitment is 240k miles and I am personally still unclear on how that requirement is broken down, but I am going to take the time to talk to someone here to get decisive clarity on that topic probably on Tuesday.

There's many companies out there that you can choose from and this site has an awesome section that outlines several major companies including their benefits, whether or not they permit pets, etc. And, if i am not mistaken, Celadon does allow pets but please do not quote me on that.

One of the recruiters here wants to talk to Brett to give him all of the information that he needs for the company sponsored CDL training schools page of this site. We need to make it happen :D

I'm in Celadon's company sponsored training program and they require doubles/triples, HAZMAT and tanker endorsements. We don't have too many of those types of trailers, but Celadon has been growing at a pretty good pace lately and after my research last night, Celadon will enter further into many different types of hauling if the demand/money is there.

I'd like to know if any of you came up with any sort of special system that you used to help you pass the pre-trip inspection etc. It's a lot of material to cover and I spoke with a driver who is finishing his third week and he said that while our driver trainers will help you out the first few times you get out there, they pretty much leave it up to you and I am not wanting to waste my life away failing pre-trips. I can deal with having to learn how to back etc, but knowing the pre-trip, in-cap, and 4 point brake inspection and passing it all on the first shot is really going to be a bit tough. It's my goal though, so c'mon guys - talk to me!

It's surprisingly hard to sit here knowing I am done with the tests and am stuck in class for the rest of the week when all I want to do is keep moving forward! I came here with one goal: get in, get out, get rolling. So far, my plan's executed itself pretty well, but the pleasure of abiding by laws keeps me in the classroom for the rest of the week.

@Brett - It feels great to have that weight off of my shoulders. Thanks for the compliments! I was out on a break earlier and our instructor came out too. I told him "now... I'd love to know... were the tests the easy part or the hard part?" lol.

I know it's not really comparable, but I was able to back 18-foot trailers without trouble, but the 53' billboard is a different story.

I went to go get the rest of my CDL permit processed earlier (needed a signed form from the school) but didn't bring my proof of residency... they reminded me to bring everything that was already in my wallet. Guess I was excited. The instructor just asked me why I forgot it when he reminded me (as I'm typing this), and I told him he reminded me about everything already in my wallet lol. My fault, though.

So, back to the BMV after lunch. Yay.

Do any of you know what it's like to hold your breath for over an hour and a half? I do... now.

I passed all 7 tests in one shot today. Only one in the class of 30+ to do it. When they asked me how I managed to pull it off, I told them all about the high road program and will actually be going out into the hotel lobby to see if anyone's using it or has questions. I noticed something our instructor started saying when half the class was asking me about TT, but I choose to not divulge that story.

What I WILL tell you guys is that when I go into class tomorrow, I'll take a pic of what I took liberty of doing - I wrote "TruckingTruth.com" on the whiteboard today and I'll be removing truckerscountry and thetruckersreport or whatever that site is... the first for misinformation and the second is due to the site's negative demeanor and blatant attempt at discouraging new and aspiring truckers from touching the industry with a ten foot pole.

Back to passing all my tests...

Indiana Operator's License

CDL General Knowledge

Combination Vehicles

Air Brakes

Doubles/Triples

Tankers

HAZMAT

I passed the Indiana Operator's License first shot, and they say it's pretty hard compared to most other states. The other 6 of the 7 tests named above, I passed almost solely due to TT. And yes, I'll take that to my grave. The intense beating of the correct answers into my head for over a week straight, and over 1600 questions worth, was enough to make me successful with the tests.

Now..... for the fun part... lol. Actually handling the truck. Backing, parallel parking, blindside parallel, etc etc. Oh wait! Can't forget pretrip!

I sat here all morning in class using the review questions here to make sure I can pass my endorsements etc. I'm pretty confident I'll pass the tests I'm going for today, but only time will tell. We are waiting on transportation right now, I'll update later.