My Journey With Wilson Logistics/Jim Palmer

I believe they will reimburse up to the cost of the bus ticket, which is about $130.

Dang bro, that sucks. I’m headed up to Wilson Springfield Missouri October 12... greyhound estimated 38 hour trip from South Florida. I might just rent a car....

Estimated 38 hours sounds like an eternity. I would definitely rent a car. Some companies reimburse you up to the price of the bus ticket. I don't know if Wilson does, but it's worth looking into.

Thank you Anne. I am starting to think so as well.

Dang bro, that sucks. I’m headed up to Wilson Springfield Missouri October 12... greyhound estimated 38 hour trip from South Florida. I might just rent a car....

Where at in South Florida? I grew up on the west coast in Sarasota before moving to New Mexico. Best of luck man. Maybe we will run into each other.

Oh cool I have family in Bradenton! I’m in Ft Lauderdale.

Thank you Anne. I am starting to think so as well.

Dang bro, that sucks. I’m headed up to Wilson Springfield Missouri October 12... greyhound estimated 38 hour trip from South Florida. I might just rent a car....

Where at in South Florida? I grew up on the west coast in Sarasota before moving to New Mexico. Best of luck man. Maybe we will run into each other.

Day 1: Today started with an intro presentation and a tour of the terminal. Got to meet my recruiter. Then they took us for our drug tests. After we got back to the terminal we got a little time (about 5 minutes or so each) on the simulator which went pretty well. They had it in automatic mode so no shifting yet. Basically it was a scenario where there are different potential hazards on the shoulders of the road and you have to change lanes, then exit the highway, make a wide right turn and come to a stop. The instructor said I didn't do too bad. Took the turn a little fast and had one spot where I saw an animal carcass ahead on the right should so I sarted moving to the left lane. About halfway through the lane change a car ahead in the left lane started slowing down and pulled onto the left shoulder. So I had to decide between trying to change back (rather quickly) to the right lane or continue to the left. My head told me to go right, but I opted to stay left anyways so as to not make a quick move. Instructor told me ideally the right would have been best, but since I was already heading left and committed that you just have to go with your gut and avoid quick maneuvers. I felt overall it was not bad for my first time with a tractor trailer even if it was just a simulation. After that we watched some videos and had lunch, followed by a PowerPoint presentation on a bunch of stuff like how the training program works, pay scale, and hours of service. Pretty basic. Then the contract signing saying we will stay a year or pay back $$$ for the training. All in all a pretty good day. I'm more convinced than ever I've made a good choice by coming here to this company. Great people and it seems like they care about their drivers. I like the small class size (6 people in my class) and we all seem to be getting along so that's always good. But anyways. I'm going to try and get some shut-eye. Hope you all like the updates. I'll keep them coming daily this week. Stay safe.

Matthew

Congrats on your first day. My son went through there program starting this past Feb, and even with a couple of minor speed bumps, he is doing well and enjoys the company. They seem to keep him moving, and take good care of him. Best of continued success and keep us posted.

Chris

Day 2: Today was a fun day. Spent most of it on the simulator. Did pretty good for my first time. Instructors said I did pretty good. I took a downhill curve a little fast, but was able to recover and continue. The backing wasn't too hard for me either. Found out we won't be getting to use a manual transmission but can retest late to get rid of the restriction. Not too worried since the will be putting me in an automatic anyway. I'm excited to get on the training pad soon. Want to see how much the simulator translates over to real world. Hope you enjoy the updates. Gonna crash out and be ready for whatever tomorrow will bring. Stay safe everyone. Matt

Day 3: Well today started with more simulator. Did ok. Not gonna worry to much. Then we started going over pre-triping and had lunch then more pre-triping. Kept us busy till we left. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain pretty good so not sure what the plan is, but I'm hoping we get some wheel time. My roommate is already leaving tomorrow morning with his trainer so he's pretty nervous since the only wheel time we've had so far is the simulator. I guess that's how it goes sometimes though. Will try to keep the updates coming as much as possible. Hope y'all enjoy them. Stay safe. Matt

Hello Matt, Glad to hear things are going well for you! I am slotted to start with Wilson next month on the 4th. I am looking forward to hearing about your experience. Stay safe out there and congrats!

First off, to anyone who has commented, thank you all for the comments, advice, and well wishes. They are greatly appreciated. Day 4: Wheel time!!! Well sort of. Started out on the pad today. Got to do some straight backing then they had us all pre-triping till the rain started. The we went inside and took a quiz on the Rand-McNally Trucker's Atlas and had lunch. After lunch we went back out on the pad and practiced backing more. This time offsets, both sides and we each did it twice. Then had to go meet with Compliance and go over our information and stuff. Word of advice, if you have had any accidents in the last few years, bring the accident report with you. Luckily I found a copy of the one I had in my email. Isn't necessarily a deal breaker, by it's one less thing to have to take care of at home I you forget it. That being said it was a pretty good day. Ended up going out for dinner with a group from class and a couple guys who are already drivers and a guy who's going into the western 10 fleet. Six of us split the Uber so wasn't bad. We were all going over pre-triping while we waited for our food. Another tip, utilize the other students around you and study it with them. Itt helped me out a lot. I know I still have plenty of time before I have to test, but by the time I'm back I want to make sure I pass on my first attempt. Anyway, hope you are all still reading and enjoying these updates. I will say this. If you have a group of sveral companies that you are looking into and Wilson is in it, I highly recommend them. Most companies preach safety and how they are safety oriented, but Wilson lives it. They e en go as far as giving drivers cones that they wan the drivers to out out in front of their trucks on either side to help prevent other drivers from hitting their trucks. They get on your case for stuff like failing to use 3 points of contact getting in and out. They make it clear that if you don't feel comfortable with road conditions that I is 100% the drivers call and they don't force you to continue. They treat you like family. We will see what happens once I'm out with my trainer, but so far, this is a great company. One old timer told me he was laid up for a while in the hospital, and the company paid for and put his two small dogs in a 5 star dog kennel till he got out and D. W. (Darrell Wilson) the owner/CEO o the company personally called his wife to check on her and ask I she needed anything. That doesn't happen in just any company and it appears to be the norm here. D. W. Likes to meet all the drivers from what I hear and I look forward to meeting him at some point. Hope you like the updates. Say safe. Matt

Thanks for the update. Keep em comingZ