Profile For Jim Hendrix

12/26/2016 - Road trip to Des Moines from TN. 11.5 hours. Rental provided by TMC for a 19 day stay at Baymont Hotel owned by TMC. Left out 6 am , picked up another passenger in Midwest around 1 pm and got to hotel on Monday night at about 9pm. Long day. Filled up rental at an on property pump and returned it to Airport with a TMC / Hotel shuttle. In a room with another student. He s cool. He s mid 40'S and professional previous vocation. I wore a suit and tie for the last 10 years and was in Sales. We have some things in common. Bed. Got to be up at 5:45 am for a 6:45 am bus to class. 12/27/16 - 1st day. Met other students that were a week into the CDL training. They were doing yard training and driving. My class contains two, my roommate and I. Awesome for us because we get a lot of focused training. Not many people willing to come out on the day after Christmas except for us two. There was another new group as well in a separate class. This group already had CDL s from other schools and were, generally, inexperienced. About 20 of them. At about 9 after a bit of computer room paperwork we loaded on bus for a DOT physical and urinalysis drug test only. I did a hair follicle for Roehl aND passed on 12/17 but chose to do TMC instead because of better home time options and pay. CDL 1 year contract was also better at TMC and far less debt if I break contract than any other school or CDL company sponsored training. TMC awesome. I'm sure we lost a few due to drug tests but not sure how many. 50% of these recruits have military background, but not I. Every trainer here is previous Marine, I believe. Stay off the grass! They don'the fire you but they,stringently, warn you. If you do it again and caught by same instructor then I bet you would go home. After DOT and drug test then we went to physical trainer who taught us how to bend and squat properly and prep us for 14 ft ladder climb and the 120 lb tarp lift. Thankfully he warms you up before 120 lb try. Start with 20lb for form training, then 2 tries on the 80lb for form training then the employment test. 120 lbs to shoulder then walk 30 ft put on trailer then hop onto 5ft trailer surface from the ground then pick up tarp again, onto shoulder and push it onto 40,000lb coil which is about 6.5 feet high. Push over the top and climb around to other side, pull it down to trailer surface and then get down off trailer safety and pull it to ur shoulder and lug it 30 ft away to drop where you got it from. Had 1 guy who barely passed. He was 50 years old and about 145lb man. But he wrestled it and strained and got it up and it almost pull him over onto his back but he just managed to gain forward momentum and get it done. Another older man went home when he couldn't manage it. He actually had 20+ years CDL express in Van but couldn't handle the physical side on flatbed. Lunch time. Fed like kings for lunch. 1 hr generally but can be less. Free lunch for all. Carbs and proteins. BTW CDL students (not paid) get free breakfast at hotel. CDL holders (paid $500/week) do not get free hotel breakfast $3.25/ cost. Also CDL students get 5 nights of dinner vouchers a week for local on site restaurant. 80% of persons go for TMC Burger 2 1/2 lb patties 2 slices of chz and 2 strips of bacon and full lb of fries. Like a 2lb meal. It s a heart attack. I never can finish it. CDL holders have to pay for their own dinner. Average $7-8 at on-site restaurant. Their is 2 nights that students must find their own meal. No car so order in or the hotel has it own convenience store with kitchenette. I bought a frozen Pizza and baked it in oven and took to room for under $6 bucks. It was two meals.