Comments By Griffin

So yesterday was my last day of orientation and the whole day it was pouring snow. I was informed the day before that I was going to be heading out with my trainer Charles Friday night and needed to go and check out of my hotel room (YES, I was excited for that of course until later in the day when conflict happened). We got the opportunity to drive the truck out of the lot and around the neighborhood for the first half of the day along with getting a chance to couple and uncouple a trailor too which was nice to offset the bookwork. We ate lunch at a place called Roosterloo out here which served some pretty cool soup and sandwiches (which came in handy because it was stupid cold out, so I got a meatball sub) and after that it was more backing work. I was a little shocked we didn't learn anything about chaining the tires while it was pouring snow but I understand we didn't have much time so all is fair. Towards the end of the day I was informed that my trainer actually wasn't going to come and get me until today 2/15 so after I checked out of my room and hauled all my stuff over to the facility assuming a late pickup from there... I had to get another room booked back out for me again and then haul it all back into the room for one more night (a little irritating but still, i'm cool headed so no biggie). Now today, I have met my trainer Charles who is a cool relaxed individual similar to myself and learned that our first load is a bunch of newpaper rolls that need to be in Burlington, Colorado by the 20th so due to his good planning we get to make our way down 1,000+ miles at a slow pace. Till next time!

Orientation Day 4: Beware of the Backing Today was awesome. We started off the morning by looking over the pre-trip booklet they gave us with some having the opportunity to go out to the truck again to practice whatever they felt was needing to be practiced (I just sat back in the class and read the book while watching YouTube videos, I study kind of weirdly and book work oddly works best for me so). This was pretty much the first half of our day before being wrangled up to go eat lunch with our Ryan. Today we went to Taco Bell which, eh.. food is food right? Now after we got back we got our shot at trying out some coupling and uncoupling techniques along with backing the truck up (90 and straight back). Since there were four of us we had to do alot of waiting around for the others to finish their moves but I didn't mind too much as I was still learning away from being in the drivers seat. Once it got to my turn, I climbed up to the wheel, sat my butt down in the seat, and performed my first 90 back with only 2 or 3 pull ups! Backing doesn't seem to be hard to me personally, it's more about being aware of and knowing how to fix your mistakes if one occurs so that was pretty neat. Like I mentioned before, all of our trainers are either en route or stationed here in Missoula just waiting for us to start riding the open roads so tomorrow is (at this point) truly a blur depending on where I end up landing (hopefully out of the snow and into some sunny weather like i'm used to but we'll see). My trainer is based out of San Diego luckily so I suppose it's safe for me to say I will NOT be minding taking home time out there with him if I must.. Nothing like a shot at some good surf!

Orientation day 3: So today was a far better day for us all then yesterday. My three colleagues and me have officially ALL passed the required Montana Tests and have received our Montana Permits!! Yesterday when I took the test I was hurdled onto a computer that operates totally different than how the Nevada CDL test worked (the Nevada test shows you when you’ve gotten something right or wrong while the Montana test waits till the end to tell you if you’ve gotten a question correct). Today I was given the option of a paper version of all three tests and I passed them all with minimal errors! The paper option is a BREEZE because you can actually look back on what you might have missed and keep record in case they come back up haha. The coolest thing about us all passing today was that, our trainer Ryan decided to start working on the pre-trip portions with us on an actual truck which is arguably one of the hardest things to grasp when you’re a rookie so we all were grateful for the tutorial. After lunch at Jimmy Johns we spent the rest of the day testing each other on where things were and the right acronyms to say for each discovered part. We also took the time to all go grab dinner after a long day at work to celebrate which was cool because we all seem to have similar personalities which makes us all pretty good friends I’d say (training is that much more easier when you enjoy the people you’re learning with). Tomorrow we take on a new task along with more pre-trip help... practice on our BACKING. This should be good! PS: Ryan told all four of us today who our trainers are gonna be and it appears that three of our trainers (mine included) will be here this Friday to pick us up! The other guy has to wait till Sunday for dispatch. Till tomorrow..

Orientation Day 2 So today was DMV day for the four of us in my class with one guy passing all three tests on the first go around while the remaining 3 of us (myself included) just missed the mark. Because we did not pass, we three spent the bulk of the day studying and ate pizza for lunch from Costco up the road (the guy that did pass got some complementary pre-trip help from our trainer in the mean time). The Montana DMV is super small and intimate, so there isn't any kind of a waiting period which is nice and they make the whole process that much more smoother. Short post tonight, I need to brush up on the handbook before returning again tomorrow for another go.

My bad for the two orientation day 1 recaps, they both are identical in text but I thought the first one didn’t post

2/10- Orientation Day 1 Well today was surprisingly more interesting than I thought it would be. The Wilson shuttle with our trainer Ryan in it came and picked up myself and three other classmates of mine promptly at 7 am which gave me enough time beforehand to grab some delicious continental breakfast from the buffet bar downstairs around 6:40 ish (seriously if you're considering coming to Wilson's CDL school you will be staying at the Days Inn and they have some decent options for breakfast so plan to get up for it daily). The weather in Missoula for this week is between 28-39 degrees with clouds that ooze snow at their own convenience, which apparently according to my trainer Ryan is " on the warmer side" whatever that means (the Vegas native in me screams silently haha). Once we arrived at the facility which is up the road from the hotel, we all piled into the training room and proceeded to take a building tour which yielded some friendly interactions with the wonderful folks of Wilson's recruiting, IT, and fleet manager crews. Mr. Wilson himself was in the building with us today, but for some reason we did not get to meet him (understandable, but definitely adds to the small family feel knowing that all the staff and the man upstairs is aware of your arrival and welcomes you to the team on a first name basis). 8 AM came and went as we all piled back into the shuttle van with Ryan to go take our urine drug tests up the road, it took no time at all for all four of us to finish and soon enough we were back on the road riding through snow to get back to the facility. Once we arrived, we all filed into a small classroom and proceeded to start handling the "adult" portion of the week which was the paperwork/contract signing. Wilson is pretty generous with what they're asking for out of you assuming you follow through with staying the year requirement as payment for obtaining your CDL through them. In the event that you wish not to however, they will bill you about 3,500 if you do not stay for at least 6 months and then about half of that if you leave in say like 8 months or so via weekly $73 deductions. Once all the paperwork was nearly done, we got the chance to do our JHA's which required us to head back out onto the lot and into a fresh sheet of snow for exercises that included: 3 points of contact with the truck, trailer inspections, drop and hook instructions, and some cooler things like checking out the inside of the truck and learning how to lower and raise the top bunk which we'll call home during our 2/3 week individual training sessions (fun fact: the beds in their specific trucks are full sized, I had a hell of a time trying to pre-buy sheets for a bed I never knew the size on so FYI in case anyone was curious). After we completed our JHA's, Ryan took the four of us to lunch at a place called Tacos Del Sol out here in Missoula which wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either (I had a steak burrito in which the tortilla bottomed out before I could eat half so it turned into a taco salad which no big deal... free food is free food). After lunch, we made our way back to the facility and spent the rest of the day studying for our Montana permit tests (which we take tomorrow morning) along with reviewing some online training videos. Class ended at about 4:30pm and we were dropped back off at the Days Inn at which time I decided to walk across the way to the McDonalds/Gas Station combo to grab some dinner. Not a bad first day..hopefully all four of us can pass our permit tests on the first go tomorrow because if we do, we all get to go out with our trainers by this FRIDAY instead of next Monday which is pretty sweet! Till next time.

2/10: Orientation Day 1 Today was actually surprisingly decent (I don't know what I was expecting but I had a great time despite all odds). Class starts at 7 am sharp and by that I mean the Wilson shuttle bus scoops you up from the Days Inn lobby and drives you up the road to the facility for the grand tour. I decided to take advantage of the continental breakfast the hotel offered and i'm happy to say I will be visiting downstairs every day for the next week as the little buffet is fantastic (waffles, different cereals, oatmeal, you name it they have it). The weather in Missoula currently right now is between 28-35 degrees with snow covering every surface of every surrounding area (which i'm told is on the warmer side from my trainer but with me being from Vegas i'm unfazed to hear that haha). Once my small class of four people arrived to the site (6 was the magic number for this week but 2 somehow never made it), we were settled into a training room with a bunch of computers along side our trainer whose name is Ryan. The first thing we did was tour the site and were welcomed by a bunch of friendly staff members who really put their own personal spin on how they got to know each of our first names (nice touch in my opinion, really adds to the small family owned feel). Mr. Wilson himself was in fact in the building today, however we were unable to meet him but I heard good things about him and his methods from Ryan who seems to be a nice dude who means well. After the building tour, we rejoined Ryan in the shuttle van around 8ish and at that point it was off to take our drug tests (urine only) up the block. The drug test for four took next to no time and we were soon back at the facility inside of now a smaller classroom reviewing the binder full of required paperwork like the 1 year agreement that many seem concerned about. Ryan made sure to read verbatim every single page of the contract along with... well.. every single page of every single document in the binder which I didn't mind seeing as we had nothing but time to spare for the rest of the day. In my opinion, Wilson truly does want you to complete the year of schooling/working with them but if that cannot happen, they make it very easy to pay them back the 3,500 or so that you will have to pay if you leave anytime before 6 months (after 6 months you pay half that amount if you leave in $72 weekly deductions). Shortly after signing on the dotted line, Ryan then took us out on the yard to perform some JHA's that included things like: 3 points of contact getting out of the truck, drop and hook procedures, and we even got to check out the inside of a reefer trailer which might I add is kind of hard to climb in and out of when you have snow up to your ankles but we all got through it with no complaints. Lunch time came quicker than I envisioned after a little more desk work and we all hopped back into the shuttle van and headed to a place called Taco Del Sol out here in Montana. The place is alright, I had a 14" steak burrito that bottomed out before I could finish it so it turned into more of a taco salad than anything. After lunch, we all returned back to the center and continued to work more on various things like studying for our Montana permit tests (which we take tomorrow morning) and training videos which take up a good 2 hours as well. If everything goes according to plan with all four of us (if we all pass the written stuff tomorrow), then the day should consist of some pre-trip help and we all will be out with our trainers by this FRIDAY! The day ended around 4:30pm for us and as we all returned back to the hotel for the evening, I took the time to walk over to the McDonalds/ gas station across the way to grab some dinner for the next few evenings while the sun sort of peaked through the clouds (once it gets late out, you're probably not going to want to head out as its kind of dark on the roadways surrounding the hotel). All in all, no complaints here.. tomorrow's another day!

Welp, I’ve made it to Montana after a few rocky Alaskan Air flights and managed to check myself in to the Days Inn that Wilson prearranges in advance. Hotel is about as average as it gets but it serves its purpose for the week (breakfast bar looks good however). It also appears that I may be lucky enough to not have a roommate for my time here so that’s always a nice little bonus to offset me having to order something for dinner via DoorDash which took about an hour to get to me. Tomorrow’s the first day of orientation so it’s time to call it an early night, till next time!

The time has finally come for me to trade in the comfort of 70-degree sunny Las Vegas weather for the start of my CDL training with Wilson Logistics in 24-degree snow filled Missoula, Montana. To say that I am excited is an understatement however, I do feel a bit uncertain of what is to come as anyone would be considering I’ve been born and raised in Vegas for the last 25 years and know fairly little of the world outside of everything being open and at my disposal 24 hours a day. To kind of give some background on how I arrived at this, I know my way around the world of electricity and throughout adversity within the field I decided that change is good and trucking could be the calling that I've been dreaming of so here we go. As fun as it may seem, I am fortunate enough to be taking an 8 hour flight out to orientation instead of the coveted 33 hour Greyhound bus ride that is offered as an alternative so that within itself already gives me some hope that i'll be fresh enough to meet the rest of my peers with a decent attitude bright and early on Monday morning. I'll update again once I've actually reached a point where I've got some good stuff to share, i'm sure my Las Vegas-Seattle-Missoula travel plans will yield some "interesting" occurrences