Profile For Whitewolf

Thanks for all the replies. Big Scott will check out the link. Thanks.

We refer to the hours you get back as recaps. I save my clock for driving. At the end of week when you start recaps you will get it back if spent on duty at customer or driving. If you are pulling refer and you have 6 to 8 hour load and unload times, you may want to master the 8/2 split. Here is a link to my thread, Recaps explained in pictures. I hope that helps.

After doing some research on the web I discovered you get back all on duty time (driving, not driving) for back time. For example you drive 4 hours to customer and spend 2 hours loading/unloading in on duty during day 1 on day 9 you get 6 hours back. When I mentioned this to my old trainer he said not to use on duty but instead stay in off duty. His words, when you use on duty you will notice towards the end of the week you have less hours to drive. Online I was not able to find any information to confirm this. Obviously if I had more driving to do on day 1 I can place myself in off duty for 30 min and use that as my 30 min break. When sitting at a customer site is it better to use off duty instead of on and is there any truth to what i was told? Going on the assumption I still have time on my 70 come day 9. Thanks.

Yes. Stafford is around the corner from Prime and Wil-Trans. You may have passed it on your road driving. I think they road test in the areas TDDA takes students for road driving. By the way is Jay still there? Keep us posted.

I have my email in my profile. Feel free to contact me. I have a small group of CFI drivers who are very helpful. I will also help you as much as you can.

Yes. Jay is still here and a new instructor by the name of Perry. They do take us along a similar route the DMV does. Oh, I passed my cdl test. Cortney at CFI is calling me the prodigy student as I passed my test in 15 days of starting school with 0 truck driving experience. Have to stay at school for the rest of this week and start orientation Monday. Looking forward to working at CFI.

Are they taking you to Carthage? If so, ask them to tell you about the small traffic light. Good luck. Pass the pretrip and the rest you have time for.

They are taking me to Strafford. I believe its off of exit 84.

So i signed up with CFI and they are having me train through Truck Dynasty Driving Academy in Springfield, MO. I am going into my 4th week, though to be precise tomorrow is my 15th day of training. Have never been behind the wheel of a big rig. My only experience in shifting is from racing motorcycles which was fairly evident my first time behind the wheel. lol. Picked up my pre-trip quickly enough and have practiced my test maneuvers over the last 2 weeks. Tomorrow 6.11 I head to the DMV to test for my CDL. My only concern is I have a whole 3 hours of drive time behind the wheel. Half of that is highway miles. The instructors have said I picked up driving quickly and feel I am ready to test. Only issues I am having during driving is pressing the clutch in too far, have been getting better, and not revving the rpm high enough when downshifting. Needless to say, I am on the occasion still grinding gears. Have not stalled and know how to keep the truck from rolling back on a hill, which I know are automatic fails. I would feel better had I more time driving but I am confident enough to give this a go and do my best. I will get to drive to the dmv which will help. Understand what are automatic fails and the things like grinding the occasional gear which will count towards points. Will be testing out at Strafford. Any advice is much appreciated.

It was a long time in the making along with lots of patience but is finally happening. Received my diabetes waiver in the mail Monday. Went to the DMV this morning and passed my tests for my clp. Big Thank You to the High Road CDL Training Program. Spoke with my recruiter at CFI and start training this Monday May 21st. Just as I look to this forum and the people that are part of it for knowledge, i hope to one day be able to bestow my own knowledge to the vast pool. Thank you all.

White wolf, I'd suggest creating a thread in the general category section in the forum titled something like "homeless trucker," or "living out of the truck". You'll likely get much better answers.

Rob thanks for the suggestion. Have been looking through threads having searched for homeless trucker. Reading through those and will start a new thread should I have questions.

Jmart am I correct in assuming orientation in paid and the rest of training is not until you start driving with your finisher?

They provide transportation, housing, and meals. After, school you go to orientation and are paid $100.00 cash. While out with a trainer you are paid 26 CPM. They will also reimburse you for the coast of your permit, DOT medical exam, endorsements, HazMat background check, and CDL. Just get receipts. Hope that helps.

Thanks Jmart and Big Scott. Tells me how much money to have with me, for things i may need and to get ahead on rent for a month. Does any one know if CFI has dorms a trucker can stay at during his off time? Have no family to come back to and paying rent for a room I will only see 3 or 4 days a month seems wasteful. If I have to so be it, just looking for other options.

It sounds like your going the "homeless trucker" route. If I didn't have a wife and kids at home I would love doing that. Not sure if you're aware, but Brett (site creator) has said numerous times that the vast majority of his 15 year career he lived in the truck. He was able to go to numerous NASCAR races, and other sporting events. He took plenty of "hometime" in Las Vegas, and New Orleans. If you ever want to get out of the truck for a couple nights you can always get a hotel somewhere. As long as your company has freight going to an area, taking hometime there won't be a problem.

Thanks for the info and this is certainly an option. A few logistics questions for any truckers who travel the "homeless trucker" route. 1. If you purchase online, what do you do for shipping options? Perhaps ship to a friend or a location you plan on being at a few days out. Or do you not online shop and purchase locally. 2. What address do use when renewing your cdl? My rent is fairly inexpensive for the austin area and wont have a vehicle to worry about. If I have to pay rent im ok with that but rather save the money. It would be cheaper to get a hotel (if I wanted a break from the truck) and rental car (to tour the area) once a month, if that. One of the several reasons i want to get into trucking is to tour the country, see the sights and find a state i want to settle down in years down the road. Not that i expect a lot of time to "tour the area" during down time. We work with what we got, right.

Jmart am I correct in assuming orientation in paid and the rest of training is not until you start driving with your finisher?

They provide transportation, housing, and meals. After, school you go to orientation and are paid $100.00 cash. While out with a trainer you are paid 26 CPM. They will also reimburse you for the coast of your permit, DOT medical exam, endorsements, HazMat background check, and CDL. Just get receipts. Hope that helps.

Thanks Jmart and Big Scott. Tells me how much money to have with me, for things i may need and to get ahead on rent for a month. Does any one know if CFI has dorms a trucker can stay at during his off time? Have no family to come back to and paying rent for a room I will only see 3 or 4 days a month seems wasteful. If I have to so be it, just looking for other options.

Jmart am I correct in assuming orientation in paid and the rest of training is not until you start driving with your finisher?

The information you have provided has been very helpful. Thank you. Hope you are doing well on your journey. I to am looking to start my training through CFI and currently reviewing the study guides on this site. As soon as i receive my exemption from the FMCSA I can start orientation. Driving otr has been something I have wanted to do for awhile. Good luck with your ventures.

What exemption do you need? Have you spoken with CFI yet?

The exemption i am looking for is the diabetic exemption. Currently waiting on approval from upper management. Have been told by another FMCSA associate in their program that my application is straight forward, no vision or blood sugar issues, and shouldnt have a problem. As far as CFI goes have already been accepted into their training program pending my exemption.

Currently studying for my clp and plan on getting all my endorsements while I'm there. Figure it cant hurt. Using the high road test on the site. Real good study guide.

Hey Whitewolf...

I so feel your pain! I've posted a little about it on this forum before--sorry you weren't able to find it. I also have type 1 diabetes and I've been driving now for a little over two years. Getting the exemption was a pain in the butt, but it gets a tad easier once you have the exemption. Don't get me wrong--it's still a major inconvenience, but nothing like all the trouble you have to go through to get the dang thing in the first place.

I don't have much time right now, so sorry I don't have more to say at the moment. Just wanted to let you know you're not the only one on here with type 1. Glad you were able to find what you need, and don't hesitate to ask me any questions you may have about the process. Best of luck, although it sounds like you won't need it :)

In planing for trucking i have been trying to put together a good meal plan. How many meals do you have through out the day? Also what types of food do you find work while otr? Right now the meals i eat are prepackaged and may not be possible to continue while driving. As far as the process i have read others that have had a more difficult time. Usually they were required to see more doctors due to eye or organ damage. I consider myself lucky in this. Of course my doctor has been a great help. She is behind me 100% in wanting a career in trucking. Hopefully the FMCSA is able to change the rules to make the process easier. Guess we will see after August if anything changes. Thanks

Hello all, Have wanted to get into trucking for almost a decade and only recently did the opportunity present itself. Now that my situation allowed me to get into trucking, i found that being diabetic and on insulin placed a road bump in my path. So I scoured the internet and forums on trucking sites looking for an answer. At first I was told that it was against regs or only type 2 diabetics not on insulin could get a cdl. I'm glad I didn't let those answers deter me. To quote another gentleman on your forums one must have "patience and perseverance." Those i have. One of the reasons I am writing this is so there is updated information out there to be found. Rules have changed over the last 10 years. In fact the FMCSA is trying to change the rules again to make things a little easier. More on that later. So how does an insulin diabetic get into trucking? The answer is easier than the process. To begin one must download the diabetic exemption form from the FMCSA website. I will list all links at the end. The exemption consists of 3 main forms. The first and most obvious is for the DOT medical examiner to fill out. He examines you the same as everyone else except for insulin diabetics he checks off the box that basically states you are certified but must get a diabetic waiver (exemption). The 2nd form is filled out by your optometrist.

The last form, and i use the word form loosely as its more a section of the exemption form, is for your endocrinologist to fill out. This is probably the most important part. The FMCSA guidelines state you need to have an a1c between 7 and 10. I know what some folks may say to that, "but that means my average bg (blood glucose) needs to be between 150 and 240." For those who are not aware a normal bg range is 80 to 120. For comparison a non diabetic a1c is around 5.7 or lower. Anything higher up to around 6.4 is considered prediabetes. To get back on track the FMCSA wants to know from your endocrinologist that you have your diabetes under control. Your daily bg is not all over the chart and that it's been maintained for at least 2 months. Also your endocrinologist and optometrist needs to provide some of their information on paper with the company letterhead. All of this information is provided in the exemption form.

Once you have all that completed you must also send a picture of your license (front and back) along with a certified and seal driving record history. Then the next process begins. Yay. (Sarcasm) To start all original documents are mailed to the FMCSA. Address is provided in the form, along with a fax number (to get things moving, and a number to contact them for questions. There is a 3 step process once they receive your papers. The first group enter your information into the system and make sure everything is correctly filled out. A bit of a warning. If there are any mistakes or something is not filled out properly they will mail it back to you asking you to correct it. The process with the FMCSA can take up to 180 days and that time does not start until the form is complete and correct. Anyway, as i said, this first group makes sure everything is correct and then moves you to upper management. This is where I am currently having called the FMCSA and asking.

If upper management approves you your information they send you a letter to notify you are being placed on the FMCSA regulations website for 30 days for comments. This time is included in the overall 180 days. I am not sure what comments can get you denied at this point but saying there are none, after the 30 days your exemption is approved and you receive your medical card. Fingers crossed. Things I know from my phone call to the FMCSA. The process can slow down if you are applying for multiple exemptions. For example if your applying for a diabetic exemption and also applying for a missing limb waiver. Something else that can slow the process down, that i was told, is if the medical examiner has passed a large number of people in a certain time frame. I am not sure about the specifics but they said in this particular instance they had to verify each person individually which took a long time. It seems the less issues you have reported from your doctor's, the faster you get through.

My process started 2 weeks ago. Will see and update everyone as to how long it takes me. The person I spoke with said my information is pretty basic and she saw no reason why i wouldn't be approved. As we were talking i mentioned I was on a pump (which is called an omnipod). Having heard this i was told they have the least issues with those drivers that use insulin pumps. I also use a dexcom unit which takes my bg every 5 minutes and gives a fairly accurate visual as to where my bg is and how fast or slow it is rising or falling. This has made a world of difference for me.

Lastly, once approved i must see my endocrinologist quarterly and reapply for the "waiver" on an annual basis. The FMCSA does send you the forms for this but it's up to you to get it done. None of this has discouraged me from becoming a trucker. I'm close to my maximum character limit so...

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/medical/driver-medical-requirements/diabetes-exemption-application This link is in regards for the new rules that the FMCSA is trying to put into effect. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/07/27/2017-15835/agency-information-collection-activities-information-collection-revision-request-medical

Whitewolf signing off

The information you have provided has been very helpful. Thank you. Hope you are doing well on your journey. I to am looking to start my training through CFI and currently reviewing the study guides on this site. As soon as i receive my exemption from the FMCSA I can start orientation. Driving otr has been something I have wanted to do for awhile. Good luck with your ventures.