MTI & Schneider Advice Or Tips?

Greetings. I am exactly 6 weeks away from the day I'm scheduled to arrive at Midwest Technical Institute to train for my CDL before going on to West Memphis for orientation for Schneider. Any tips or advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. I'll be 45 by the time I get there, and I've read a lot of outstanding information on this site. So, if anyone has any tips or advice...suggestions I'm very much interested. I'm talking both the School and Schneider.

Thanks in advance & God Bless.

Welcome! The most important thing is going into both with an open mind. Do as your instructor or trainer tell you to and then if you don't understand why ask for clarification after doing as your told. You may want to repost this in the "general discussions " section of the forum, there is much more activity over there. Please stick around here and keep us updated on your journey and feel free to jump into the discussions.

Welcome! The most important thing is going into both with an open mind. Do as your instructor or trainer tell you to and then if you don't understand why ask for clarification after doing as your told. You may want to repost this in the "general discussions " section of the forum, there is much more activity over there. Please stick around here and keep us updated on your journey and feel free to jump into the discussions.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm already taking advice. This is something that I definitely don't want to fail at because this could provide my family with a little more financial security. So, any advice I can get...even posting in the general discussions...is advice I'm not going to overlook. And, I will do my best to keep posting as I can.

Thanks & God Bless.

Welcome to the forum.

Not sure if you had an opportunity to read and study these links, if not; a great place to start. Brett’s book and the Career Guide will help set realistic expectations. The High Road is an on-line Training course designed to enable expedited success in passing the permit tests.

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

My suggestion is to consider all of your options, not just one. Schneider is a great company; however their road training is by far the shortest in the industry. You might be okay with that, you might not...

Please take a look at this link for other possibilities: Paid CDL Training Programs.

Good luck.

Thank you, G-Town.

Because of a crappy job history and a not so good criminal history from 20 years ago Schneider was the only company willing to take a chance on sending me, and so I guess at this point it's going to have to work for me. I am really looking at this from the standpoint of Schneider getting me started in the industry. I have a couple other companies that would've brought me on, but they were more concerned about my work history than my background check. One even came out and said they want me to keep a job (any job) for a year, and then come back. So, I am really looking at Schneider as an introduction to the industry, get some experience, and hopefully take that to one of the other companies. Of course, I could also find out that I'd be better off coming home and driving a straight truck for the rest of my life. The main thing, is I need that CDL license, and I don't have the credit or the $4-6,000 lying around to pay to get it on my own. So, that's my honest answer to your reply, and I have been reading a ton on this site. I spent all day reading posts and watching videos on YouTube on various things from the Air-Brake test to learning how to adjust the tandems. I am also taking the practice tests, and I'm using the reviews to think about where to go from Schneider.

My ultimate goal is to be good enough and safe enough within the next 3-5 years to be able to get hired on by Walmart (I mean I live 10 minutes from one of their main DC's in Bentonville, Arkansas.). There's also a few others around here that will take me once I get a year under my belt. So, to me Schneider is a stepping stone that will hopefully help launch me into a pretty good career that will enable me to help provide a better living for myself and my family.

Thanks for taking the time to respond, and in advance for any other suggestions or thoughts or advice you may have.

My ultimate goal is to be good enough and safe enough within the next 3-5 years to be able to get hired on by Walmart (I mean I live 10 minutes from one of their main DC's in Bentonville, Arkansas.). There's also a few others around here that will take me once I get a year under my belt. So, to me Schneider is a stepping stone that will hopefully help launch me into a pretty good career that will enable me to help provide a better living for myself and my family.

I have been a Walmart Dedicated driver with Swift almost 6 years now, running on a NorthEast regional account delivering dry and perishable groceries to stores and Sam’s Club. Schneider is a good choice for you since they have many Walmart Dedicated accounts. The absolute best path for landing a future job with WMPF is to work for one of their transportation partners (like Schneider, Swift, USX, Crete, etc.) assigned a Dedicated Account at a DC.

That said, IMO it's best to get several months of OTR experience before committing to a Walmart Account. It’s a very challenging job for an entry-level driver; requiring frequent close quarter maneuvering and 5-7 backs per day (I average about 1600 backs per year). I happen to love the work and the job, but it’s not everyone’s cup-of-tea. Not trying to discourage you at all, just offering a reality check.

Here is a link to a piece I wrote 2 summers ago about my adventures... A Day in the Life of a Walmart Dedicated Driver. This will give you a good thumbnail of what it's like.

Good luck with your quest to be a Pumpkin Pilot!