Profile For BK

Chris, TMC is flatbed only, as you probably already know. If you go with Roehl, you could switch to pulling a van if you decided you didn’t like flatbed. Just gives you more than one option. I’m not at all familiar with Keller.

Good luck.

Davy, can you elaborate about those loads to Philly and what made them difficult?

Also, as I understand it, Hummer does about 90% dry and 10% reefer. Dry freight is taking the biggest hit in the trucking recession, so how does Hummer keep everyone busy?

Haha! Studying for the drug test was a good one.

Looks like you are making steady progress. Keep up the good work at training.

Hello Dan,

You are kind of between a rock and a hard spot. The only thing that I can think of is to start beating the bushes and hopefully find a company that will accommodate your circumstances and needs. It’s very hard and expensive to just secure a truck for practice unless you are going to be starting with the company that owns the truck. You really can’t just rent a truck and go practice. If you get a starting job offer somewhere, the company will put you with another of their drivers and train you. Good luck, man.

I heard that Sygma (a Sysco company) trains new drivers or they did in the past. I have no idea if this is accurate information, but it might be worth a phone call.

Hello BK, At the time I was totally ignorant as to the procedure and repercussions with regard to DOT testing refusal. I had back surgery and and was diagnosed with prostate cancer back in '19 and since then have had issues with urinating . I'd like to be able to maintain just in case (Plus it cost $2000 for school) If I understand correctly I'm able to downgrade to a class B? Thank you so much for your feedback

Gordon, I was a resident of Wisconsin when I downgraded to a CDL B. I don’t know if it is the same in all states. You would need to call your state DMV to find out. I hope it all works out for you.

Thanks James for the info. I checked on the prescription bottle and it’s Oxycodone, not OxyContin. I have to check and see if they are two different drugs. I think even if I take some of that, it should be out of my system before I go back in the truck. Just want to be safe and not sorry about the meds.

Just had surgery and was given OxyContin, (maybe called Oxycodone) at the hospital. They sent a supply home with me to use as necessary. Is the use of this pain killer going to be a problem for me when I get back to driving? What if I get a random pee test right after I get back? This is prescription stuff, of course. Is this something I need to talk to my safety dept. about?

Wondered what happened to you.

Good luck with the WE program!

Hello Gordon.

With a CDL that old and never been used, you will be required to start from scratch at most, if not all, companies. So giving up the CDL might be a moot point. What are the chances you will use it in the future? Can you just let it downgrade to a class B and keep it? I did that once and when I was ready to get back in a truck, I just had to pass the DOT physical and pay a fee to get the A back again.

Just curious about your refused test because of not enough sample. Weren’t you given a chance to stay at the testing location and pound down water to produce enough sample? Not that it matters now, I’m just curious about the circumstances. .