Comments By Steve C.

As far as I know there ISN'T a Pleasant Prairie, MI. Do you perhaps mean WI or MN?

I'm in Rolla MO, left Fayetteville AR this morning and I'm headed for Pleasant Prairie MI. Never heard of it, not only that, I didn't think they had prairies in MI. LOL

JJ

This happened to me once. The photo is a couple years old now. I had stopped at a rest area on a tight schedule just to pee and make sure my coils weren't going anywhere. When I got back to my truck this officer decided to park right there to talk to this other driver. I asked him to move and he told me I could back out and go around :|
Luckily nobody else was around so I could do that safely.

I believe Stomper's question is (obviously he can chime in and correct me if I'm wrong) this:

If I kept my CDL updated, but not my medical card, do I need to get my CDL again or is there a way to just get a new medical card and use my existing CDL?

So, Stomper, are you asking what to do now?

It doesn't look like anyone has touched on how shaky a ride in a tractor can be. Even if you work for a company that allows sufficient inverters, you have to worry about parts coming loose all the time as you rumble down the road. In my mind a laptop with a solid state drive is the way to go.

You may want to look in to Roehl if training pay is a big concern for you. From looking at their site it looks like they currently pay you $500/week while you get your CDL.

Roehl Training Pay

Congratulations and best of luck on your new adventure. Not sure what WM starts out at where you live, but here in Central Kentucky, they start out at about $18/hr which is really good for this area.

I would keep my CDL-A if I were you, just because you can drive anything with it and it's such a pain to get reinstated if you relinquish it.

Not to high jack this thread, but you said Walmart pays their drivers 18 an hr in Central Kentucky? Anyone know how much OTR experience one needs before going to work for them?

I believe in this case WM refers to "Waste Management" not wal-mart.

Does it have to be 1.5 - 2 hours each day, or can you average that amount (i.e. 4 hours one day and 0 hours the next to average two)? Some starter companies (it seems mostly flatbed) will get you home for a 34 hour reset each weekend. You might not have much time during the week to study, but you could absolutely make up the time on weekends. Just a thought.

I got home every weekend during training at TMC Transport. They can't guarantee it, but they try to get you a trainer who lives near you and they get all their drivers home every weekend (unless they want to stay out longer). This would be flatbed, not sure if that is something you are interested in. I imagine some other companies do this as well, but I can't speak to them from experience.

TMan you hit the nail on the head. At this shipper they actually give you directions on how to get in and out of their bays, and it is exactly what you said.

Using Steve C's photo.

Bay Two would be a simple back in. From noted "Entrance" Drive up past Bay two on your drivers side, take a right on far side of Bay one building (Left side of property in photo) and pull forward enough to setup trailer for somewhat of a straight back-in to Bay Two.

Bay One, if it isn't too busy a place and there is room, you could drive in from "Entrance" turn right just before building where Bay One is, go forward to straighten truck & trailer and then back up to left bending around building of Bay One being careful of the part of building that Bay Two is in, that juts out, just keep backing until you have Bay One on your driver side and do a drive side back in. It looks like from the angle of the two buildings you have more room to maneuver towards the "Entrance" side of Bay One (both straight ahead and to the side).

And for getting OUT of Bay 2

The Old Serpentine Backing famous at some trucking schools. Pull out to left side of building for Bay One and start the long process of serpentine backing...start looking for a new job after you get out of there.

Hey Mr. M. Old School is right, I'm not driving anymore, but I have been poking around the boards lately. I have nothing but good things to say about them, they just were no longer a good fit for my life. I'll be glad to answer any questions you may have. I don't imagine a whole lot has changed with them since I left.

I would be interested in learning more about TMC. I have been ding research on them and other companies, comparing and contrasting each company and it always seems that TMC comes up as my number 1 pick.

I have heard that they are particular about their trucks, inside and out. I have saw where one driver said that he has to pay for the truck wash out of pocket. Is that true? And I saw another driver say they loose a half a day or whole day of driving/making money just to make sure the truck is clean inside and out. Is that true? When do they inspect them to make sure they are clean? What if I am at home? Do I send them pictures or something?

They are very particular about their trucks, but it all seemed within reason to me. When I worked there they paid for truck washes. They would pay for one each week and required you to get it washed at least every other week.
As for making sure it is clean. If you just keep up on it then it won't take that long to have it clean enough for the terminal. They only (as far as I know) check the truck for cleanliness when you go in for service. When you are serviced at a terminal they just look at it, if you are serviced at a shop the shop takes pictures and sends them in.