Here We Go Again...

About a year ago I signed with a trucking company in Montana for training, I obtained my permit, went out with a great trainer for three weeks. The training went very well, and I feel I was a good driver however my backing skills where non existent !

This was communicated to the company by both myself & my trainer. ( I made it VERY clear my backing was weak & needed work back at the depot before going for my CDL driving exam.

Long story short... I arrived back at the yard on a Friday, and was told I was testing on MONDAY ! Expressed my concern about my lack of backing skills & was told "well at least you'll get the Pretrip out of the way"

Needless to say I completely failed the backing portion of the skills exam & was unable to take the road test.

In Montana you only get three chances to take the exam, I was ****ed, and felt I was forced to basically **** away one of my three chances.it really It ate away at me, I felt abandoned, and was missing home.

There was no mention of getting more practice, or when I would test again. The negative thoughts & feelings got the best of me and I just up and left !

So.. here I am a year later, I just started a great warehousing job.. but I miss the road & I'm seriously thinking of giving it another chance. OBVIOUSLY with a different company.

Thoughts ...

I am one of the people that will always chase my dreams and encourage others to do so as well. If you want to do it, I say go for it. I will always be the one to encourage someone to better themselves and chase your dreams.

If you can, research a call school that's maybe longer so that you have more time. My school is five weeks long instead of the normal three.

That should read," research a cdl school."

I'm guessing this was Jim Palmer. And I'm guessing you had a contract which you did not complete. Different company contracts say different things, some make you pay only if you pass the CDL. Others make you pay regardless. It is quite possible you have been put in a collection agency and could receive a bill in the near future. We just saw this on another thread with another driver and company.

So take a few things into consideration: 1). Do you still owe company 1? 2). Are you ready to stay the whole contract at a different company? 3) do you truly have what it takes to make it in trucking?

I ask because I was in the exact same boat. My trainer decided to leave my company and he wanted me to test before I was ready. I failed my first backing test. He refused to let me talk to other trainers for a different explanation. Then I refused to test until I got more backing. After talking to the dispatch manager, I was evaluated and given the backing time I needed. I passed the backing test with zero points. Got my CDL and kept on trucking.

Moral of the story, you quit and gave up. I kept at it and got what I needed. Some companies may frown upon that. This career takes persistence, decision making, problem solving, and determination. If you were in a bad situation out on the road, would you just get out of the truck and leave it? If you couldn't get in a dock would you fly home? We have to do problem solving on the road.

Be prepared to answer these questions to the next company. Be prepare to explain why you left and what will make this time different.

Some people will tell you it won't be on the DAC cause you were never hired. True. But, trucking companies find things out. If you try the "they were a bad company and its all their fault" route they will expect you to do the same with them.

You need to take responsibility for the situation and your decision to leave and demonstrate a willingness and determination to complete the contract.

Good luck

I had just written an article about this kind of thing on Thursday, so take a look:

Drivers Are Losing Money By Taking The Wrong Approach

One paragraph from the article describes your situation exactly:

One of the biggest problems rookies face is that they come into the trucking industry with their own expectations of what they need to learn and how the training should be done. This causes a ton of grief, and in fact needlessly causes the end of a lot of careers before they even get off the ground.

That pretty much sums it up I'd say.

I don't think the same company is going to bring you back anyhow, but it's worth a shot. They rarely bring in people who have started their schooling somewhere but haven't completed it.

Rainy summed it up perfectly. If you're going to take a "my way or the highway" approach then you're going to be walking home every time you make a demand. You don't come into an industry telling everyone how things should be done. You talk things through with people. You work through problems.

You have it in your head that they were a "bad company". Funny thing is, they're one of the largest, most successful companies in the nation and you've never even had your CDL. Doesn't it seem a little premature to be placing judgments on companies that have been successful for decades at the highest level?

Take another shot at this if you like, but you'd better take a very different approach this time or you're going to get the same results.

First and foremost, Thank you for the honest replies. Not what I wanted to hear, But definitely what I NEEDED to hear !

That being said, I have to ask Bret where he got his quotes from ? I NEVER Badmouthed the company, I have no Ill will towards them whatsoever. It WAS my actions and I fully take responsibility for it. in fact I will always regret burning that bridge.

As of now I'm planning staying with my corrent job, and taking a CDL course at a local community college. Much like obtaining my GED at the age of 40, The CDL is just something gnawing at me to accomplish.

I never said you badmouthed the company. I said that you decided they weren't doing things the right way so you left. You said you were going to try again "obviously with another company".

And that quote I gave was from an article I wrote this past week which describes your situation perfectly.

Bret, My apologies. I didn't realize you where quoting your article. Dan

No worries.