Been A Bit, Update On My Status!

Hey guys,

It's been a little while sense I last posted here. I thought it would be longer, because I couldn't find any other way to get my CDL then paying out of pocket for it (4k to 6k here in Oregon generally). I tried going to CR England, I had everything setup and was read to go. I went to a friend of mine who has a setup and he told me to do the agility test on his to see if I could do it, this way I could save some time if I knew I couldn't do it. Now, I want to stress that I'm nearly 7 foot tall, and I'm overweight. I'm not overweight to the point that I can't move, bend over or crawl around if need be. The trailers are 42 to 43 inches tall, and you can't touch anything when you go under it. You can't touch the back of your head, your back, nothing like that. I measured my buddies setup and it was the same height. I tried a dozen different times and ways, trying my hardest to get as low as I could, but it wasn't happening. I tried squatting down and waddling under it, that wasn't happening at all. I can squat down, but once I'm down there is no waddling. I'm kind of locked in place :P.

I ended up not going to CR England, because of this. I was given the number for the doctor they use, and I spoke to him a good 2 to 3 times. He said that there is no failing the agility test. You fail it and you're out, it's something they stick by. I tried talking to my recruiter to see if she could maybe work something for me, because being as tall as I am did put me at a big disadvantage. No go, she said you pass it or you don't. I ended up not going because of this, because I knew for a fact I wasn't passing it. I couldn't find another company that would train me and pay for it, so I tried the community college route. Only thing in Oregon that I found is through a community college that works with financial aid is a Diesel Mechanics program, and it was towards the end of that. Then I took a job working as a Staw Bailer for 2 to 3 weeks. The guy I was working for was talking with me, and asked me why I don't just check craigslist for people needing farm drivers that are willing to F Endorse.

So I did, and I looked into it a bit. I found a farm that is looking for a driver, and they're willing to work with someone with little to no experience. So they gave me the paperwork to get my F Endorsement, and I get that tomorrow. I start riding along and learning Monday or Tuesday. I don't get paid for this part of it, but I'm fine with that. He told me he could set me up with everything I need to pass my CDL test at the DMV , let me use one of there trucks, and give me some experience to make sure I pass. I'm kind of happy I waited, instead of going to the school. This way, I'll have nothing against my credit if I don't stay or complete it. The job is literally 20 minutes down the road, and I'm home every night. Thought I would give you guys an update on my situation.

Wow, sounds pretty cool! It's kinda similar to how I landed my dedicated gig--just started talking to somebody and, boom, an opportunity opened up.

Congrats, I wish you the best!

Thanks!

I'm looking forward to it. I wasn't a big fan of being away for long periods of time, and this makes it a lot easier. I've looked around, there is a ton of work locally that allows you to home at night, a fair amount of them will work with you with the experience. Outside of this, I had one other company that was willing to do the same thing, but they're a logging company. Kind of scared me a bit to start off driving like that on those spooky log roads O_O. They offered to help train me and help me get my CDL , and to use there truck to test in. Those roads just scare me too much to start learning that way.

Yeah I totally hear you on that! Just be sure to keep us updated!