Profile For Sweet Jimmy

Do any of you know how big a deal it is to move your license from one state to another? I am in the running for a great job in Texas, and plan to move there if I get it, but they want you to have a Texas CDL. So I'm wondering if this will require retaking the test or if it can just be transferred. Any help will be appreciated.

As a rookie myself, I just did my first "drive all night". My unrealistic expectation was that when my partner and I swapped this morning, that I'd get in the bunk and sleep my whole 10 hours. That top bunk is NOT the place to get any sleep. Tips from any team drivers here on how to best sleep while rolling will be much appreciated. I think I slept 2 hours, at least I can sleep in my bed tonight.

I emailed my profile pic, it's in the gallery now, I just can't figure out how to make it my profile pic.

I just got home yesterday after my first trip. I caught myself swinging wide in the wife's Altima when I'd turn on my way to get provisions for leaving tomorrow night.

And now our load that was to be ready at 9am isn't going to be ready until at least 2pm, so I'm getting a taste of another problem. Like my trainer said "welcome to trucking".

Hi guys and gals! Day 1 of what I hope will be a long and fruitful career in trucking is over! I don't want to brag, but I've got 620 safe miles under my belt now. From road construction in Birmingham to rush hour in Baton Rouge, back to road construction in Houston. It was a pretty tense day, but my trainer said I did a really good job. And since he's a close friend, I'm sure it pained him to say that. Thanks again for all your help in getting to this point.

I forgot to mention, I start Wednesday on a Birmingham to Houston route. See y'all out there!

I passed my drug test, driving test, fitness test, and safety tests this past week and I'm officially the newest driver for Heritage Freight! Many thanks to all of you for the sound advice, all the way back to before I even started the school. I can't overstate what a help this site and all of you were to me. Thanks again.

Way to go Minnis!

I waited until my youngest is headed to college to start trucking. I worked so much that I don't hardly remember my oldest two being little. But I broke my back when my youngest was less than a year old, and I got to spend a ton of time with my youngest two. I highly recommend doing whatever it takes to be around while your kids are young, you won't get tag time back.

Everyone here has been a huge help to me, senior members as well as rookies like myself. I've always said that almost everyone you come in contact with can teach you something. That said, Errol and G-Town's advice were invaluable to me. I joined about the time Turtle was in training and he did such a great job of presenting the process that it didn't appear as daunting as I had at first imagined. Really helped me decide to enroll in school. And then there was Kori, her positive "can do" attitude gave me a model for approaching school. It was really needed since it had been since 1985 that I last had any actual schooling. Also, thanks to Brett for this site and always being the voice of reason, and to all members, you've all been a help whether you know it or not.

This is interesting to me as we had a recruiter a couple of weeks ago that was telling us all the "great tax benefits" of being a driver.

Do any of you know of a resource for drivers to educate themselves on taxes for drivers?

He was telling us that any clothes or shoes that we had to buy should be bought out if our home state so they'd be a deduction. Is this true? I figured I better double check him as most recruiters came off like used car salesmen.

Great job! I knew you could do it!

Thanks G-Town, you're a big reason that I made it.

G-Town is solid on every bit of advice I've seen him give. And I agree with him yet again, after just going through it, I'm sure nerves are the big deal. Just get chilled out somehow, one thing that helped me was the realization that I'd done the same thing every day for 6 weeks, and the test was just another run through it.

I'll be looking for it Minnis! Good luck!

Most of my class has gotten in a circle and prayed together every morning of testing. On my road test day, I came in totally jacked with nerves, but after the prayer circle, I had a calm come over me and went out and did it. Even with a monumental screw up during my test, I remained calm. Your class should give it a try, but you gotta believe.

Never mind, I saw the other post. You'll get it tomorrow!

Better day today?

Well, I have my class A in my pocket, a certificate showing that I have 200 hours of driving experience, and I just got back from taking my drug test for Heritage Freight! So I think I'll go ahead and change my "in CDL school"designation.