Comments By Rick C.

The offset is challenging at my school. Unlike the generous 140' of room from the cones to the boundary, as shown in all those youtube videos for CDL tests, we are given "a truck and half" length, which is about 110' iirc. That 30' makes a difference! You cannot simply crank one way until you see the far side of the landing gear, then crank the other way until the unit is lined up with itself and the target hole, you'll run over cones before the unit aligns. So a pull up is required. Since I am using different trucks at times, I have learned that the "count to 3" or "count to 5" method is not a consistent winner, so I have started using the angle of the tractor:trailer. For consistency I rely on how much of my landing gear is visible in my mirror. That's a big part of my system. And I believe a system is important because you need to be able to reproduce success on test day.

For example, my system for a left to right offset is: 1) Drive out and put the nose of the tractor right on the boundary. This is where the test starts. 2) Crank the wheel all the way to the left. 4) Start backing and continue until the far side of the landing gear just comes into view. Stop. 5) Crank the wheel all the way to the right. 6) Back until I am out of room at the cones. Stop. GOAL if you think you might have more room to back. Use it all. My tractor:trailer are never in line here, because of the limited room. 7) Turn the wheel back until you're steering a bit left. 8) Pull up to the boundary, adjusting your steering to get the unit straight. This is where the art comes in. You want to use left and right to get both alignment of the unit, and get the lowest entry angle to your target hole. An ideal. 9) You should now have a good view of your target hole, at least the inside cone, on the driver's side (which is why I'm picking L to R for test day), and have a rather shallow angle straight back to do from there.

Of course it's all different out irl, because so many other variables are often present, cars, poles, etc. But at least out there you don't have to count your pull ups!

TLDR: use the same steps throughout your tries, evaluate what went wrong, and adjust the steps until you have a working system. It's all geometry.

I read recently, probably right here, that freight bookings are down 6% year over year, and they say trucking is a leading indicator of the economy...

I am a 57 yr old female with a class B and am ready for a driving job, doesn't matter the long hours, do care about Health Insurance. I am seeing some Ready Mix driver jobs needing drivers around my home state. I don't have any experience, but I am a fast learner, not afraid of driving a big truck. I want to land this job that wants experience drivers but also said they will train. I have had to self teach myself online to get my class b and it took me less than a month and received my class b with air-brake and passenger endorsement. I have my medical card that is still valid. What can I say to this company to give me a shot?? I have driven a dump truck for about a month, but that was about a decade ago. I drove for UPS as a package car driver for over 10 yrs that required airbrake and medical card (DOT) I owned a 40 ft bus and drove it for my business for 3 yrs. I have driven a 27ft straight truck from Omaha Ne to Elpaso Tx and pick up a load of outdoor items and drive the load back too

If you're sending resumes I suggest you write a cover letter with an appropriate rewrite of what you've written here. It shows passion.

Having left Schneider more than two years ago, I offer this:

1. I left because I could make the same money while getting home more often. At the time I was getting home twice a month. If I would’ve had to take a pay cut to get home more OR if I’d have had to stay gone more, I would’ve stayed with Schneider. As much as I loved Schneider and would go back if needed, I made the right decision.

2. Sometimes the grass is greener because of a septic issue. No matter where you go, there will be differences from Schneider. If you like a structured, corporate environment, I doubt most trucking companies do that as well as Schneider.

You’ll likely make the right decision. It may take some time and seek advice from those who DON’T stand to profit from your decision.

Good luck!

"Sometimes the grass is greener because of a septic issue."

Lol, that's great. :)

It always amazes me how many big fish in tiny ponds there are on the internet.

That's another reason why I don't want to get my CDL thru a company. Yes, I understand that's a great option for someone who wants to get a CDL (and a job, carrier) and doesn't have the money for school, etc.. but we are not on the same boat here. Between my towing company, dealership and a few other things that I do, I'm doing pretty well. As I'd like to say I'm 5'11" but when I sit on my wallet - I'm 11'5"! So I definitely don't want to be working for someone else making 31 cents per mile !! You feel me? And be tied up with an year or two contract. Hell to the mutha trucker no!   I don't know why you keep pushing that option?! It's definitely NOT the only way to get a CDL... Kickbacks, bonuses, free advertising?..I would never know I guess...

I'm with you (but not OO). I'm in the last third of a private CDL school, and I'm glad I went this way. It's true their equipment is not the latest, but five years old is the oldest, and they maintain their trucks regularly. As for their having "no incentive, none" to teach me right, that's simply not true in the internet age. They have competition here, and the reviews and ratings are right there for all to see and compare. One bad review that discourages even one student is $9k (CDN) they're out.

I'm learning on a variety of trucks, manual and auto, loose and tight clutches, etc. I don't have a pickup and trailer so I can't jump into hotshotting in the Permian just yet. That's the big article on LinkedIn today. :)

My experience suggests you take the one with the more normal working hours. It is possible to harm and even ruin your circadian rhythm, the so-called biological clock, for life. Once you've done that then consistent, uninterrupted, restful sleep may become rare for you. And once that's the situation, blood sugar control and weight gain follow for most. To a young man those things might seem "far off, if ever"--they're not, time goes by fast.

Your body and brain don't care about the extra hundred bucks. Besides, I think you're going to work your way up the pay scale because it's apparent you think about things.

Thanks for the paystub pic. It looks like you might make closer to 50k your first year. How many hours are you usually home on weekends? What’s the over $3000 employee expense reimbursement all about?

Thank you!

I started in mid January, and was with a trainer until 3/22.

My check stub as of 9/6

I am hourly, northeast regional, home on weekends.

If you could put together two back to back jobs at a mere $12.50 per hour each, say one job during first shift and one job during second shift, you would make roughly $52k per year and be home every night, and have weekends off, too. Naturally any improvement you could make on your pay rate at either job would increase your annual pay or allow you to cut some hours at the other job. Sure, this plan is initially 80 hours of work a week, but as you are considering truck driving anyway...

;)

Because your repetition spacing is longer, it is important that you take written or dictated (say, into your phone) notes of the mistakes you make after every session, and review them once within 24 hours of the training session, and again three days later. When stepping through your notes, close your eyes and attempt to recall from memory the note first, then open your eyes and read to confirm your recall attempt.

Using this method it is quite possible that you will retain, i.e. learn more than a "lazy" learner who merely shows up for rote repetition and hoping "something sticks".

"Where's the transportation spending bill we were all waiting for? Waiting so long that many have actually forgotten about it because it's not in the headlines, or the lead story on the news."

Shot down by Congress last year--no money to pay for it. With the corporate tax cut and discretionary spending increases of the past two years the federal budget deficit has exploded and the debt has resumed ballooning.