TDI Driving School
Topic 14177 | Page 1
Day 2
Lost another one today. Now we're down to 4 in class. Another one has to take a stress test tomorrow, if he fails that he fails his physical.
So, today was all about the book. Learning the manual. Very long day to say the least. I did get another prehire today from Boyd Brothers. That was awesome. That's about all that happened today. So far I have the only prehire letters and I have 2. Kinda jazzed about that. Clp test tomorrow. See ya'll then
Prehire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
CLP:
Commercial Learner's Permit
Before getting their CDL, commercial drivers will receive their commercial learner's permit (CLP) upon passing the written portion of the CDL exam. They will not have to retake the written exam to get their CDL.
Good luck on the test! I am so stoked for you right now!! let us know how it goes.
Day 3
Started out with an "old timer" telling us stories from the road. He was funny as hell. Then the Smith system. After that was a open book test from the safety regulations handbook. Then went to take my permit test. PASSED on the first go. Had a recruiter from H.O.Wolding come in. And Boyd Brothers. I was testing when Boyd Brothers came in so I didn't get to hear their stuff I already have a prehire from them anyways though. That's about all for today. Looking forward to getting into the trucks now. See you tomorrow.
Prehire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Day 4
Another bites the dust. The older dude with the heart problems has to go for the stress test tomorrow at 8 a.m. If he gets past that I guess he'll be back next week. Now we're down to 3 n.a. The youngest e r failed his p e emit exam again today, so only 2 of us has passed out of this class. Sounds like more seat.time to me Haha. We did logbook today. That's about it all day. Different exercises and quizzes. Watched a terrorism movie, that was hard to stay awake for. Got another orientation letter wanting me to set a date with them. Not too crazy about their training though. 5000 miles with a trainer, then 40,000 miles with another rookie. How smart is that? Put 2 brand new drivers in a truck together then watch them on satellite and get a good laugh. Hey, hey , watch what they do now. They'll n we ever figure this one out. Damon, the phones ringing, I'll bet ill bet it's them...lol well aback again tomorrow to finish the first week.
Logbook:
A written or electronic record of a driver's duty status which must be maintained at all times. The driver records the amount of time spent driving, on-duty not driving, in the sleeper berth, or off duty. The enforcement of the Hours Of Service Rules (HOS) are based upon the entries put in a driver's logbook.
5000 miles with a trainer, then 40,000 miles with another rookie. How smart is that? Put 2 brand new drivers in a truck together then watch them on satellite and get a good laugh. Hey, hey , watch what they do now. They'll n we ever figure this one out. Damon, the phones ringing, I'll bet ill bet it's them...lol
That's hilarious, thanks for the visual! Good luck on the rest of your CDL training!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
I miss yesterday so here it is
Day 5
Did maps and HOS all day. Watched a couple videos on pre trips. Only 2 of us advancing to the range on Monday. I have 4 prehires now and am pretty happ with that. That's about it for day 5. On to the range and industrial park Monday. Later!
Prehire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Prehires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Day 6
Today started in the truck at the industrial park. Apparently we did ok because we hit the town right away. There is only 2 of us left in my class, so we got a good bit of seat time. After lunch we hit the range for backing. We both did well at straight backing and moved on to offset and parallel. I didn't get to the parallel, but will be doing it tomorrow. The instructor said he doesn't usually get to that til Wednesdays. So I guess we're doing good. Then we spent the last bit of the day going over the pretrip, then left for the day. Oh got frustrated a couple time with the offset, but I just got out of the truck for a few minutes, then went right back at it. More tomorrow.
Day 7
Started the day driving around town again. Broke the cardinal rule of not impeding traffic. Wasn't my fault though. Tie rod fell of the truck while I was driving. Not an everyday experience for people learning to drive these big monsters, but it was an experience. After the other truck got there and connected to the trailer, we were off again. Tow truck showed up same time as replacement truck.. good timing there. Back at the yard my backing is getting a lot better. Doing offsets a lot better and almost got the parallel down now too. Straight backing is good. Thunder storms cut the day short. They won't let us on the range when there's lightning. All in all a good day. Even the tie bar thing..... haha
Day 8
Not much happened today. More road and range driving. Didn't break anything today, that was good. Can't believe how difficult down shifting can be in these things. At least I know what I'm doing wrong, but it's still a task to fix. Now I know why it's easier to train someone that has never driving a standard shift vehicle before. I gotta stop pushing the clutch in so far. Like I said, at least I know.
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Day 1
It went a lot like I have read about all other schools. A lot of paperwork at first. Then we went and took our physicals. After lunch we started going over the cdl manual. They gave us about 8 apps to fill out. I turned in two. Did some follow up phone calls to companies that I had already applied with from here. Already got an invitation to McElroy orientation for the Monday after graduation. That's freaking awesome, to me anyways. An orientation invite on the first day of school! I am so stoked about that. Does anyone even say stoked anymore? Lol
Just goes to show that applying early does pay off. Thanks for the tip guys. Started the day with 7 students. One walked out early, before we did anything.. Another went to the clinic. He was in the waiting room when I came out. He never came back to the school. I wonder if he failed the physical. Oh well, we got 5 now in the class. More tomorrow. Later folks.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: