Comments By Liahos I.

I would urge you to rethink this...

Tankers, especially smooth-bore (food grade) are not something a rookie should be pulling.

Get some experience with dryvan or reefer before attempting tanker.

Thanks to TT forum advice I am not going for the tanker right away, starting dry van OTR ... it was fortuitous that the DMV clerk messed up my MVR so the tanker and HME endorsements didn't show up and I was delayed ...

Why have you waited 2 months?

Any company is going to evaluate your skills as part of their orientation and determine if you are a good risk. They might also require an abbreviated refresher course. Depends.

We graduated mid-Feb, 2020, but since my HAZMAT security clearance letter TSA had not come in yet, I waited to go to the DMV office and get my CDL issued, just so that I don't have to spend yet another $66 to get the endorsement put on the CDL ... yes, I was being cheap, but I was told it's just a matter of a couple of weeks. So when the letter came I went to the DMV and got the CDL ... At this point I was interested in joining Schneider's tanker division (5-week training in Houston) ... all went well and I was to begin by late March, but then s**t happened. Schneider called and said they pulled up my MVR from the Alabama state and that I have neither tanker nor HME on my MVR ... I called Montgomery and when I finally got this nice lady and explained the situation she said that my endorsements were all valid and in the computer ... "But Schneider says they pulled my MVR and the endorsements are not showing on it," I protested. That is when she tells me that, oh, someone forgot to key them in, and that it's an innocent error which will be corrected in two minutes. But she said that only the DMV office from where my CDL was issued can make the change, she couldn't ... well, that meant I was S.O.O.L. -- Corona virus madness had closed that office and I'll have to wait until life gets back to normal -- which it still has not to-date (mid-April, 2020). Thus I had to go back to Schneider and request a transfer to their dry van division, thinking that it will be faster than applying at a new company from the start ... after all, everything at Schneider was already a done deal ... but no. Now they were staggering the schedule to accommodate the smaller class sizes for their training sessions ... and this, my friend, is why I ended up "waiting" for two months. The blessed data entry clerk at Alabama state DMV office who forgot to key in my endorsements has inadvertently cost me time as well as money, which the poor chap will never know about or even realize.

But anyway, I thank you for answering my inquiry and appreciate the encouragement.

This a wonderful site ... a great resource for someone clueless like myself who can get much needed advice... THANK YOU very much for the founders and site admin and to every one who contributes. I was reluctant to stick my neck out at first but after reading the posts I am greatly encouraged and feel like I can ask questions without looking too stupid. So here goes one more question that is making me a bit nervous.

I start training with Schneider in two weeks as an OTR company driver-in-training. Got my CDL from a community college, two months ago and have not had any hands-on experience since then. I am 66 years old and although reasonably fit for my age, yet, learning new motor skills takes me a bit longer than your average 20 or 30-something. I had never been inside a truck before CDL school. I had to work really hard and apply myself in CDL school to get all the skills down which the younger guys seemed not to have any problems learning. The instructors granted me special permission to come one hour early every day and leave one hour late after class ended in order to do extra yard exercises practice. There were three of us old foggies who were struggling. In the end we did manage but only because of the extra time and effort that was put in.

Now here is my concern. Since it will have been over two months from the time of passing CDL exam, what if I am again so rusty that at the end of two weeks of training (Schneider only gives last 5 days of on-the-road training) they don't pass me? Will I be able to go to SWIFT or PRIME or someone else who have a 4-6 week training with an instructor? Or will I be considered "damaged goods"? I'd appreciate if someone has a real insight into this matter.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Thank you both, Kurt /Old Sch, for your input ... I'll soon find out and perhaps could give more accurate feedback then. Reading Code Red's diaries was very illuminating, even if I am 4 years late ... It has been making me wonder if a mere one week OTR with the trainer, aka, Engineer, are going to give me enough experience to be let loose on my own... but as I was advised in an earlier exchange, that in the end each one of us has to get baptized by fire and we either sink or swim. So be it. I am not going to let it worry me and do what I can do. If they flunk me, I'll go to another company that takes 4-6 weeks OTR training before cutting a rookie loose. But if they pass me then I'll slug it out the best I can. Either way I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I even drive my car like an old granny now, so I'm sure gonna be very slow and deliberate about everything. I may not rack up too many miles that way, but hopefully I'll also be able to avoid any sudden and premature meeting with my maker.

While we are talking about Schneider, I would appreciate if someone could tell me WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE between their OTR and regional? I'm confused because they seem to have the exact same terms... the recruiter tells me home time is once every two weeks ... same pay, same everything else, only thing is with regional I won't go any further north of Penn, wheres OTR is 37 states "east of the Mississippi" (Alabama based -- dry van training center in Atlanta) ... There are only 26 states east of the Miss, but that's besides the point because I'm assuming the 11 states west of the Miss (two deep) were also lumped under the 'east of Miss rubric' ... So in terms of the actual nature of work and schedule what will be the difference? The recruiter couldn't give any satisfactory answer... ???

Gentlemen (Rob & Old Sch) thank you very much for your perspective. I really appreciate your input.

I've noticed there is a considerable variation in the type and duration of driver training offered by different companies. Some (for example Swift/Knight) offer a couple of days of orientation followed by sending you on the road with a trainer for anywhere from 4 weeks to 3 months. Others (for example Schneider) do 3 weeks, first two weeks in-class and yard training then only one week on the road with a trainer. My question, therefore is this: how can one company let a driver loose after only one week while another requires 4-12 weeks? Is one doing too little training, or is the other doing too much?