Profile For Top Llama

Yesterday it was -10 in parts of Idaho, but today I'm hanging out in warm 44 degrees of Las Vegas!

That sounds nice!

. How's winter treating everyone today?

Like I owe it money

Ha! I know that feeling.

There's a lot of people heading to Prime recently or soon, me included! I head out next weekend. Good luck!

As far as winter treating me, it's FINALLY cold down here in south Louisiana. Luckily it didn't affect my driving test today.

Good work on the drive test! I think that means you'll be fast tracked when you get to Springfield. I'm starting off fresh, maybe we'll sync up!

Buck 110 buy it for life.

Waiting on a 4 hour bus layover and holy cow are my butt cheeks cold. These metal waiting chairs are the worst. How's winter treating everyone today?

Hi Wiseguy!

I'm headed off to Springfield and start on the 9th! We might just see each other. Fresh to the scene and wet behind the ears as well. Looking forward to a new chapter in life. Hope yours goes well!

As I understand it from looking at various employers recently, it seems most companies have the stipulation that you must have at least 5 years between now and when you failed or refused a drug screening. You mentioned 9 years in your post so I'm going to assume you're going to be all right but Brett is right, there is a distinct possibility that you'll need to look elsewhere. This is one of those situations where you need to be up front with your employer and see how they operate, there's no reason to keep yourself in the dark if they're going to be seeing 9 years of medical history.

To celebrate your passing I officially put in my application earlier today. I had been debating on whether I should put in my application now or later because I'm waiting on some medical paperwork to process before I can hold a CDL but you've inspired me to get a head start on it. Really hope you continue to write out your adventures for us to read. Drive safe Aaron!

That's awesome to hear Aaron, congratulations to you!

Appreciate the advice you two! Definitely holding off on getting a dog right away just kind of considering my options and getting the information I need together.

Hello everybody!

I was thinking about adopting a dog for when I get in my truck and I was curious how everybody went through that process. Any advice on what age to adopt and maybe good ways of getting them settled into the trucker lifestyle? The more I think about it the more the idea of having a guardian with me and a companion to keep me exercising while out and about is more appealing. Would love to get your thoughts on the best way to go about doing that.

Appreciate all the replies, hope you're all safe and having a great day.

~Top Llama

I'm not on the road yet but I've been compiling a little Amazon list for myself as ideas pop into my head. Right now I've got my sights on trying to do some whittling, picking up a gopro and learning to edit videos to keep my family with my travels, and I've even contemplated bringing some paints along with me and painting some miniatures. That last idea might not pan out so great without going through a ton of water. Either way, really looking forward to connecting my PSP via aux cable and playing some Final Fantasy Tactics with some surround sound in the truck lol!

If you're looking to fill a gap I would suggest writing about insulin dependent diabetics in the trucking industry. There are very few resources or literature to assist insulin dependents in getting and maintaining their CDL. I just recently went through the whole process myself and it's kind of inspired me to start a youtube series about how to go through the process and what to expect.

my recruiter who btw is awesome and her name is Alex.

This makes me feel a bit better, I had originally reached out to Valerie but since she's out of the office for a few weeks I got passed over to Alex. I haven't responded to her yet as I've been gathering some questions I want to submit about the company but knowing you're satisfied with her as your recruiter that really makes me want to get this list compiled quicker.

You won't necessarily need an APU to run a refrigerator. I always had a refrigerator and never had an APU. You can idle the truck when necessary and otherwise let the refrigerator run off the truck's batteries. So don't limit yourself to companies with an APU.

As far as scheduling doctor's appointments, that should not be a problem. You'll just request home time for a day or two (probably two) before the appointment so if you get delayed you'll still make the appointment. That's a common thing in trucking. No big deal.

Here are some great resources we have for choosing the right trucking company:

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing Your First Truck Driving Job
• Article Category: Finding The Right Truck Driving Job
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Trucking Company"

Thank you for the links Brett, I'll be combing through those tonight after work. I also appreciate your words on home time, in the end it makes the most sense anyway. There's no reason to schedule it to start the day of an appointment, that smells like a good way to mess things up! haha

I do not know how often you need to schedule a doctor's appointment. How about as frequent as once a month? You could probably swing that without a problem. As Brett said, schedule home time to be a day or two before the appointment. You schedule your appointments and your company works around them. With the amount of notice you can give them, you should be fine. Just make sure you let the recruiter know what you have coming up in the next few months already so they can make sure that any training/schooling time will work with it and then double check once you actually get started to make sure the recruiter didn't screw anything up... ... ...

I know you said you wrote a bit longer than you planned but honestly this is all spot on information for me. Thank you for taking the time to write that all out, it gives me a lot to chew on. Full disclosure from the beginning is definitely the route to take, I didn't really think otherwise but your advice about home time and knowing who to speak to and how to impart to them the importance of specific home times is golden. I also hadn't considered the use of a cooler, it kind of makes me a bit anxious honestly. Insulin likes to spoil in the high 80's and if it does spoil, the idea of getting Insulin on the road is a bit intimidating not because it would be hard to get, but because a walmart or pharmacy might not be easily accessible immediately or even within a days drive if I'm headed west coast.

This forum is amazing, you all are really friendly. I appreciate the banter you guys, I have a lot to read through!

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate you writing out your day to day here Aaron. I'm just now starting to look into companies having never held a CDL before and Jim Palmer was the first one I reached out to. Being able to read about what you're doing and how the staff are has really helped me better understand what I'll be getting into. Thanks man, you're a great writer too you should maybe continue past just your training! I would definitely read that.

Hello everyone!

I've been a type 1 diabetic for 23 years and I just mailed in my paperwork to get my medical waiver earlier this week. So now that I've got that out of the way I'm at the exciting part...scoping out a good company that will fit my particular needs. That's what I'm hoping to talk with some of you about. I know I'm going to need an apu in the truck from the beginning so I can get a fridge setup to house my insulin but outside of that I'm not sure exactly what the right questions to ask a recruiter are. Would a company take it upon themselves to schedule doctor appointments for me? That's the part that kind of has me nervous the most. Is making sure the company I go with understands that if I'm requesting home time to attend a doctors appointment that if I miss that appointment it may mean that I lose my CDL for a number of months. This is even more true considering it's generally not possible to reschedule an endocrinologist appointment within a week, let alone a month.

I'm kind of rambling at this point but I've started my search with Jim Palmer and have reached out to a recruiter there but any advice from anyone who may have familiarity with my particular situation would not only be welcome but also greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys & gals.

Side note, I do not have my CDL yet nor have i held one previously. The medical waiver is needed before I can take that step. Any company I reach out to would also have to accommodate that which I know greatly shortens the list.