I Did It - I Got My CDL!!!
Topic 22759 | Page 2
I passed all of my tests today and got my CDL!!! I'm in line at the DMV right now.
Orientation with C.R. England is tomorrow at 6am. I probably leave with my trainer on Friday.
I can't say enough about the trainers and training program at C.R. England in Fontana. They saw that I was working hard, but struggling with backing, and got me the help I needed.
I'm not sure when I'll have time to finish my diary, but I will finish it as soon as I can.
A huge thank you to Brett, Old School and everyone else here for your encouragement, advice and support. You are all a big part of why I was able to do this.
Best Regards, Colin K.
Congrats. Im looking forward to reading your diary and/or experience what went well and wrong with the classes, but I want to ask what was the difficulty rating (in your own opinion) of obtaining CDL from 1 to 10. (1 being the easiest ever to 10 being absurdly hard)
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.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
Well done Colin. Congratulations!
Congrats Colin! I've followed all your posts and look forward to more (time permitting).
Congrats Colin, way to persevere.
Thank you for the kind words, everybody! Eri S: Other people will probably have a different perspective than I do, but I rate trucking school a 9 out of 10 in terms of how hard it was for me.
There are many reasons for this, including what Old School covers in his latest article https://www.truckingtruth.com/truckers-forum/Topic-22756/Page-1/riding-the-emotional-roller-coaster-of-paid-cdl-training-article-by-old-school
Other reasons:
The instructors at my trucking school (and I expect others) are not PC. You will get yelled at, and sometimes even cursed at. One instructor told me, "You'd better hope that you get tested in the morning because you aren't worth sh** in the afternoon."
I guarantee that you will have at least one instructor, and one fellow student, (maybe more) who will rub you the wrong way. I was polite and professional with these people but I avoided them whenever I could. One of my classmates would repeatedly yell and make fun of people struggling to learn various backing skills.
New information comes flying at you daily. Your evenings are spent doing homework. You will have days when you think you got this and others when you feel that you'll never get this.
On a personal note, I had to constantly battle the demons of self-doubt and low self-confidence. It was a constant battle for me and one, quite frankly, that I wasn't always sure I was going to win.
It's been a whirlwind and C.R. England moves fast. We spent the morning in new employee orientation and the afternoon at the DMV doing our final paperwork. I just finished folding laundry and packing as I meet my trainer tomorrow morning at our yard in Colton, CA. I'm not sure what kind of route he has yet. I'm excited but tired and it is after midnight.
Thanks again, everybody! Colin K.
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.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
Colin
Again, Congrats on your journey thus far. I am sure the ups and downs will continue to a degree. I see CR England trucks a lot here in New England, and they always look nice, clean and well kept.
Safe Travels Chris
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Brilliant stuff!! Big congrats!! And of course....