Scheinder National (Van) Gary OC Orientation.

Hi everybody,

Although i posted a week ago that i was going through orientation last week that class was overbooked so tomorrow it is. They use the Best Western in Hammond, IN for the duration but since i live about 40 minutes Gary i will be driving nice hotel you eat Breakfast from there and then the shuttle will take you to the terminal. So far the process with the company has been very smooth no problems with anything. Everything moved really fast 2 months ago from tomorrow i was getting my DOT physical and trying to figure out when i could start CDL school. So id say that was a fast transition. I will try and get a post on here everyday about how it went and will be as descriptive as possible. Feel free to ask any questions.

Hi everybody,

So today was DAY 1 of orientation. As you can imagine most of the day was paperwork, and Schneiders Company Physical which i want to cover because it sent 2 guys home today. Day started with Breakfast which is good had multiple cooks working. From there a 7 AM was off to the classroom. Class of 10 was broken up into two groups 1 went right into the company physical other started paperwork. NOW look into the Company Physical there is a full video of it on youtube. But the main purpose of it is to first check your blood pressure and then have you do multiple physical activities to get your heart rate up and then check it again right after. 2 brothers showed up who were all set to team but were sent packing because there BP was to high. They said they even had doctor's notes for the BP but no go. So make sure your BP is good. Anyways from there back to the classroom for more paperwork, W-2 etc. Had lunch which was again good. Had a few higher ups introduce themselves. From there met with our Training Engineers for the week and went over expectations it will be just you and that TE or maybe one more person max. After that got a pair of leather non slip boots for 35 dollars and a safety vest. All in all great day and look forward to tomorrow.

Welcome to the Big Orange. Gary OC is one of my favorites because Driver Services is always super nice. Good luck!

First week of Schneider orientation done had really no time to post at all everyday I wasn't getting home till 8 at night and was just to busy. I am going to post the whole week throughout the day today. But so far everything has been a blast.

Awesome! Looking forward to hearing the details.

Day 3,

Bright and early arrived at the the terminal at a little after 6 AM shuttle for everybody staying at the hotel arrived shortly after which is nice because i beat the line everyday for breakfast. It is a cafeteria set up and the food for both breakfast and lunch is good. A three egg omelet, toast and coffee every morning it does take sometimes awhile usually only one cook but all the support staff at the OC are very nice and helpful. After Breakfast we had a 2 hour class on log books to use for the week yes Schneider uses Qualcomms but not in the first week of training. Around 9 AM we went out with our individual road instructor i started the day with Pre trip and backing from there hit the road for the initial evaluation. Came back for a post trip and went over the day and how everything went by now it was about 530 6 o'clock. Finished up the log book and headed home for the night. At this point i was very overwhelmed gotta remember CDL school was just what you needed to get your CDL now its they show how they want you to turn, shift etc. And they are also HUGE on safety. IF they do not feel you are safe you will not work for the company. Day 4 to come.

Thanks for the information, I'm on my last week of cdl school at Driveco in Gary. i will probable start my orientation at Schneider van division around Sept 14th in Gary if all goes well with taking and passing my state cdl test . Thanks again and looking forward to hearing more!

Day 4,

Thursday was a long day at 7 am sharp we were outside starting Pre Trip. We used whatever truck our Road Instructor has which are the Freightliner Cascadias 10 speed. Study that pre trip and learn everything that is under the hood. Won't be like the CDL test where you will just talk about the tires learn where the A/C compressor, Water pump, Turbo charger etc are. Anyways after Pre Trip and pump down right onto I-80 it was drove for about an hour went to a Pilot for something to drink. Going in and out of those for the first time can be extremely nerve racking i was going in at about a mile an hour probably and had maybe 2 trucks behind me laying on the horn, not that i let it bother me. Drove for some more after that and went back to the terminal for lunch. 2 half of the day was slow maneuvers which i am not a fan of haha. More backing for the rest of the day after that. Knocked out post trip and then back inside for CBT and some Hazmat courses which are both easy just time consuming. Left at about 730 i believe it was. At this point i was just completely overwhelmed but knew thats how it was suppose to be and that these instructors are not there to send anybody home. So far besides the 2 that went home from the company physical everybody is still present.

Also i just realized Day 3 was Day 2 and Day 4 was Day 3

Alright so now this will be Day 4 which was Friday. Friday is testing day which really they knew the first time you went if you were going to be moving on. Day started as every other day with Breakfast and from there did a pre trip, pump down, and the road test. all the results of these are for the TE so if knows where you are at for the following week. After the road test it was time for lunch and than went over the procedures for next week. Some students left Saturday, some today, myself tomorrow. After the briefing it was back out in the yard for some more backing and then drove to a pilot. As we were exiting the pilot a truck broke down in the middle of the entrance/exit talk about being put to the test. Trying to see around the blind spot on the left, and hurrying up to grab gears and get out of there glad it was the weekend at that point. Got home somewhat early about 530.