Comments By Kramer

I hope that I'm not... counting chickens that is.

Although graduation is not until tomorrow and I don't attend orientation until January 3rd, I have passed all my exams for school and my tests at DMV. I also have my temporary Class A CDL (with endorsements!) and my license should be arriving by mail in less than two weeks.

I have therefore taken the liberty of updating my status from "In CDL School" to " Company Driver in Training".

This may be a good time for an anecdote. Here is what I wrote about my first day driving (on my second day in the truck) on a closed course within the campus where our school is located:

On my second and third laps, I was instructed to shift through 5th gear, select the high range and continue to shift into 6th and 7th gear. It is amazing just how frightening it was the first time I added fuel to accelerate the tractor to just 10 mph in 5th gear! It seemed as though we were plummeting down the highway at warp speed! Strangely enough, once I shifted into 6th gear and accelerated all the way up to 25 mph and up to 7th gear, everything seemed much calmer. Until I started accelerating again after slowing and downshifting to 3rd gear. Then the terror returned once more, only to again be replaced by the excitement of switching into high range. Overall, a highly entertaining experience.

...

Let me emphasize that on my first lap I never shifted beyond 5th gear and drove no more than 10 mph. At no time did I ever drive faster than 25 mph in 7th gear. Once you realize that your neighbor's kid could have passed you while riding his skateboard, you'll be able to reign in your concerns.

Patrick said,

I guess the biggiest challange i have now is figuring out how hard it is to drive something that big

Actually Patrick, that is the last thing that you need to worry about. No matter where you go to train for your CDL, your instructors will teach you everything that you need to know and help you develop the skills needed to safely operate that big truck.

Brake a leg, Robbie!

Sharron asked,

what are some good, important questions newbies should ask??

Your already asking them. I always find it amusing (and less than helpful) when people ask me if I have any questions. That typically happens when your talking to someone whom you are expecting to get guidance from. I usually reply that, "I'm sure that I should ask some questions, but knowing nothing about the topic, I don't know what to ask". I then follow with the same question that you asked of me.

Now in the way of an answer I'll offer the many resources that Brett and the members of this website have provided. Make sure that you've clicked all the links on the top of this page. Leave no page unread. Brett's book (that he has so kindly provided for free) is also linked and is very informative.

Another helpful suggestion (although you will need to filter the results) is to spend a day (or even several days - just not all consecutively) at a nearby truck stop. I bought several cups of coffee for several drivers over the course of several days (I just like saying several... and using parenthesis) and asked them questions, or asked them what questions to ask.

If any of the companies that you are considering have terminals nearby, you may want to arrange a visit with a recruiter there. If you are able, be sure to ask to meet with one of the driver managers, drivers, mechanics, or anyone else who may be available.

Information is power.

Also: remember to write things down! Anything that isn't written, never happened. And anything that you remember (because you didn't write it down) you will remember wrong. At least that's the way it works for me. Your mileage may vary.

Now is the best time to apply.

Get as many pre-hire letters as you can get - think dozens or better yet, several dozens - make a list of them and the benefits of each one.

When you have so many that you are overwhelmed, then you can start to par down the list. Do this slowly, and be sure that you have a good reason to keep, or remove, a company from your list.

Finally, you should have a short list of no more than six companies that interest you. Rank them from best to worst and you'll be set.

Some recruiters may not be very helpful knowing that your planing so far in advance, but most will work with you (and perhaps even try to convince you to start sooner, which simply means that they want you - not a bad thing...)

Your distance to any particular terminal is not important. All they are concerned with is if you are in their hiring area.

Are you looking for company sponsored training? Or will you be training with a private school, community college, or vocational school? Are you familiar with your training options?

Those are important questions to ask, now is the time to ask them, and you can find the answers right here on this website.

Keep asking questions and good luck!

I'd recommend applying to 10 or 20 more companies in hope of getting no less than half a dozen more pre-hires.

Then you can par that down to a short list of four or five potential companies before selecting your top two.

Right now its like your trying to pick the best ice cream flavor - remember that Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors... not just two

The cynic simply defines his or her self as an optimist who tried to practice what he or she was preaching.

But then again, the same cynic defines a bachelor as a man who thinks before he acts -

- and then doesn't act...

Start sending out applications now. You could easily have several pre-hire letters in you pocket before your training begins. That will be one less thing to distract you during training and help boost your confidence (we all need some of that from time to time). Plus, it will allow you to have a firm start date (and place!). You will also be able to minimize the time between graduation and orientation (if that's important to you).

I'm a big fan of getting most of the hard work out of the way early in the game. It allows you to coast to the finish line (which appeals to my inherently lazy instincts) while everyone else is huffing and puffing under the heavy load.

Give it a try, you won't regret it.

Lisa said:

My point with her learning to drive a stick is only so that she would be less nervous when learning to drive a big rig.

Lisa,

More than half (perhaps as many as 75%) of my classmates never drove used a manual transmission before. I think that most of them learned to operate the big truck faster than I did, simply because they did not have to unlearn any techniques they knew from driving cars or pickup trucks with manual transmissions.

The best thing to do to remain calm or avoid being nervous is to remember this:

Your instructors know what they are doing. Students that came before you have already made all the same mistakes that you will, so your instructors know how to deal with them. All you have to do is trust your instructors; listen to them and do what they tell you, when they tell you to do it.

I saw my classmates struggle the most when they failed to listen to our instructors. Some even tried to negotiate with them to explain their errors. You don't need to do that... Everything that you need to know and everything that you need to learn, they can and will teach you.

I was not born a truck driver. I had no a priori skills for operating the truck or maneuvering a combination vehicle. I watched, listened, and learned from my instructors - that's how I passed my exams and obtained my class A CDL.