Comments By Phil

I knew there was going to be a physical so I didn't ask up front. I'll know better when I apply elsewhere. My VA doc was faxed forms to clear my medically and those have not been processed. I'm hoping they'll change there minds if my VA doc says I am medically cleared to drive. I take the medication when I go to sleep so it would not make me drowsy when driving.

Sorry to hear that, Philip. Just curious, did you tell them about the meds before you went to orientation?

I attended Werner's orientation in Allentown this Monday and Tuesday. I was honest on all the medical forms and today they sent me home because one of the meds I take for depression is prohibited by company policy. It's a very old medication and I have been on it for 4 or 5 years. I am very disappointed.

I am going to talk to my doc about changing meds to get off that one. Werner said if I were off it for 3-6 months I might be able to come back. Of course, I'd have to do the orientation again! It's mostly 2 days of computer based learning. They run through a ton of material and the equipment liaison said, "You don't actually think you're going to remember all this?"

I earned my CDL on January 2nd through Smith & Solomon in Philly. After a winter of being sick and taking care of my sister and her broken foot I am finally going to work for Werner starting on the 8th of April. I am so excited I want to burst.

I went to Trainco in OH last July for an expedited course paid for by Schneider. It was 120 hours in 2 weeks: 6 ten hour days over two weeks. I did not manage to get the backing down and left without testing. I was nowhere near ready. August and September found me very depressed. Then I went to S&S in late October and 9 weeks later I passed the first time out. I still cannot believe I did it.

Looking forward to reporting from the road.

Congrats. I passed the first try on January 2nd. I still cannot believe I did it so easily. Going to work for Werner on April 8th.

Been up here for almost a month and took my test this morning. I'm now the proud holder of a class A. Was given pretrip B, driver side offset, and blindside parallel. Needless to say I'm proud of what I've accomplished and am very grateful for all the tips on this site

I earned my CDL January 2nd but have been sick with one thing or another since then. One of the things impressed upon me by my instructor while driving on I-95 in Philly was to maintain safe following distance. Although the rule of thumb calls for less he always told me to maintain 8 seconds of distance. Well, driving on the PA turnpike I notice truckers no more than 2 seconds or less than the length of a trailer behind cars and other tractor trailers. This appears to be common. Is it?

My friend is working for Prime EFS in New Jersey and she pulls Amazon trailers. It's all no touch drop and hook. So far, a month into the job and still training, she said she spends up to 2 hours waiting for a load and there is "lots of down time" in her 12 hour days. Will that change in that type of position? I have applied to hiring company, ShypDirect, and all keep you posted on that decision.

Thanks again for the feedback. It is much appreciated.

Congratulations!

Just a small reality check...

At least a couple of times per month I must perform a parallel in order to dock/unload behind another parked trailer.

It’s a necessary skill, please do not underestimate the challenges you’ll be faced with out here. Old School issued several warnings, I’ll offer one...

Your friend claiming his job was “easy”? Take it with a grain of salt. He hasn’t been out here long enough yet...

Keep your eyes and mind wide open.

Good luck.

Congratulations on getting your CDL! Now for a few truths. Alley docking of some sort is how most of your backs will start. Offset is often used to help center yourself in a dock door. Parallel parking is mostly seen in tiny rest areas. All backs end as straight backs. In my opinion, your school did you wrong by not teaching you all the basics. Another advantage of Paid CDL Training Programs, is the one on one training one receives. Good luck. Stay safe. I wish you much success.

THANK YOU

I don't understand why people on this site insist, without knowing me or my skill set, and keep telling me I can drive a manual. I had a hard enough time driving a 5-speed Saturn for the 10 years I owned one. No double clutching or splitter involved while watching traffic and anything else going on within 1/4 mile.

I do thank you for your encouragement and feedback.

Now that I know I can handle a truck, in reverse, I think I will be able to learn and manage to do any backing maneuver. The manuevers in the automatic Freighliner I tested in today was smooth as silk. None of the leg shaking required to keep the yard trucks at a slow enough speed.

Thanks again!

Congratulations Phil.

But...

I "could not" learn to shift a 10 speed. Some people can and some can't. Why go through the difficulty and frustration... manual keeps people from pursuing the life.

That's simply not true. You can learn to shift gears in a big rig. You decided that you couldn't - WARNING! There's going to be a thousand things about this career that you are going to think you can't learn to do. You're gonna have to dig deeper and believe in yourself or you will get completely washed out in short order.

Trainco taught maneuvers as one continuous move. Smith & Solomon teach it as 5 movements. After each movement you stop and turn your wheels in the proper direction. Simple and easy.

WARNING! That method is designed only to help you pass the test. It will never work in the real world.

instructors have told me the offset backing and parllel parking will never be used in the real world

WARNING! I use those maneuvers frequently.

Hang in there. The real world isn't so kind, but you can do this.

I passed my CDL exam today! I failed to manage the maneuvers at Trainco in July and quit on the last day (two-week course 120 hours total) because I was nowhere near managing the manuevers. I kept going and went through Smith & Solomon in Philadelphia. I qualified on an automatic. I mentioned back in August the I "could not" learn to shift a 10 speed. Some people can and some can't. Why go through the difficulty and frustration when all the companies I am applying to have mostly or all automatics anyway (Werner Enterprises is now 100% auto, Schneider at least 70%, US Xpress either all auto or transitiong their fleet to auto. Werner spenty $500 Million to switch.) Auto is the way of the future. No clutches to replace and manual keeps people from pursuing the life.

Trainco taught maneuvers as one continuous move. Smith & Solomon teach it as 5 movements. After each movement you stop and turn your wheels in the proper direction. Simple and easy. Besides, instructors have told me the offset backing and parllel parking will never be used in the real world even though I see situations where they might. Parallel might be used in areas where truckers park along the side of the road. Trainco teaches alley docking but Smith & Solomon does not. They say the company we hire on with will train us 90 and 45 degree docking.

The instuctors at Trainco were awesome as were most of the trainers at Smith & Solomon (Philadelphia campus). The yard instructor is a bit gruff and not always "instructive." I was doing offset backing and he looked at me from 200 feet away and raised his arms as if to say, "What are you doing." None of us in the cab knew what he wanted. It turns out I had turned the wheels in the wrong direction but we, new students, had to figure that out. He showed me offset once and said, "You got that or you want me to show you again?" Uh, yes please.

Trainco instructors (Perrysburg, OH campus) taught the whole class the straight line and offset backing at the same time. They demonstrated and told us how to do it. Once we mastered those we would ask to be shown parallel parking. At S&S you had to ask to be taught everything. Students were frequently training students, unlike Trainco where instructors made sure we knew that was no legal and they stopped it every time they saw it.

That brings me to a very important point. Trainco has more instructors and they are mostly on hand on the range. (There were times, not often, when only one instructor was covering the range. At S&S there is just one constant yard instructor, previously mentioned as gruff) during the length of the work day (7a-3:30p but ended earlier if he wanted to leave earlier). When I class is not in the classroom (first week) the classroom instructor comes out to the yard. Great guy, lots of fun and easy going and helpful.

I am considering a Werner and a Home Depot Mid-Atlantic regional lane, Roehl, and an Amazon contrator dropping and hooking Amazon trailers in Southeaster, PA, NJ and Delaware. My former classmate works for them and said, "It's so easy." Twelve hour days but easy.

I'll keep you all posted. Phil Nahrgang

Today I made plans to attend Smith & Solomon in Philadelphia. This is my second attempt at getting my CDL. In July I did not finish school at Trainco in Ohio. I walked away a few hours from finishing because I had not even gotten parallel parking done with alley docking yet to learn. They would have handed me the paper but I don't believe I would have been ready for testing successfully. I have decided to keep trying.

One important difference here is that Trainco had old Schneider automatics. S&S, like all the other schools I checked, only trains on 10-speeds. So, while I am still anxious about my ability to drive a manual I will give it my best and finish this time.