OH YEAH OH MY WORD!! This Was Honestly Beyond What I Thought Would Be Possible But This Has Just Blown My Mind........

So I don't know if I have ever said how Great Our God is!. I have probably applied to at least 14 different carriers and have followed up and even left messages and I have got to be honest I was really, really discouraged almost ready to let all hope go and go and apply to Amazon Warehouse and local companies near me but this just got REALLY good now!

So I then I called Warner Enterprises and was interested in applying for their carrier. I called safety but was informed that safety does not actually make the final decision but that the recruiting office does. Well, the man that I spoke with said that I should consider calling Western Express and give them a try; given the fact that they are a lot loser of a company and are usually more willing to take people who are in my situation or similar. Well I called up Western Express and got a recruiter named Connie Maynard. I naturally went into my accidents and termination with Swift Transportation, and told her I that I took all responsibility and that the inadequate training was my fault. Well at the end of that phase of the conversation, she told me " Well we can take you on, but we are going to want you to do 240 hours with a trainer and then spend a year with us afterwards." I was like " I will take it, I will take it! I want to get back into trucking and if your willing to do that then yeah I will take it." Then she said "okay so when would you like to start?" I said " On Monday next week would be best." She says " Okay I am going to send you an email with the application and you really need to get it in as soon as possible so we can secure your spot in next weeks orientation." I said " Okay, and I got a question can I do flatbed?" She says " You want do flatbed?" I said " Yeah I would love to, I always have wanted to." She said " Okay you can do that." Then we made an end of conversation and I waited for the application, got the application and then filled it out and sent it in and then a good while later she sent me a number to send pics of both sides of my CDL A. I called cause I was a little startled that I got a copy of my DAC report from hireright, and was not sure if it was bad news but it was not. I could hardly believe my ears and eyes like this is YES YES YES!

I have ALWAYS wanted to do flatbed and now after being good and by the grace of God, I get to have a chance to do flatbed at Western Express! What is so neat too, is that Old School who I regard so highly, a father in the trucking industry and quite honestly a friend had his start right here at Western Express. My goodness I am excited.

Major Kudos and CONGRATS, Victor J. Jump on this like a hot tamale. I've known many a great man raised at WEL. Flatbed, even better. Avenues will open tenfold; yet who knows...you might get your stirrups in a fond place.

Wow! Congratulations Victor!

Okay, let's be serious. You already know how many rejections you were getting. These guys are going the extra mile for you. Don't mess this up. Make every effort at getting this right. You already know how easily you can mess up a trucking job. You don't want to learn how easily you can mess up a trucking career.

Get in there and show them how a professional does this. They deserve that from you. Congratulations Victor!

Thank you Old School! I certainly will do that, yes they do deserve the best I can give, especially because I am at least for the time an extra risk for them so this is a major risk they are taking. I am so grateful for their help. This time I am going to make sure my trainer and I are on the same page and if not I am calling driver management because last time I did not and it almost ended my career in trucking. This time I am also doing flatbed which gets more technical so I might even ask for even more training than 240 hours because of just that it is more of a risky business. I just read though that flatbed is really picking up lately. I am excited about that. I always wanted to do flatbed because it is easier to stay healthy burning those calories. What makes me even more excited is that they have Internationals and Volvo's and those two trucks are very spacy and I can really start cooking stuff in the crock pot as I am driving. Thanks so much for being right up front and truthful even when the truth hurts. You were spot on about Pam . God is so good!

Wow! Congratulations Victor!

Okay, let's be serious. You already know how many rejections you were getting. These guys are going the extra mile for you. Don't mess this up. Make every effort at getting this right. You already know how easily you can mess up a trucking job. You don't want to learn how easily you can mess up a trucking career.

Get in there and show them how a professional does this. They deserve that from you. Congratulations Victor!

Annie A. (G13MomCat), thank you so much. I will certainly jump on this like as if I was running towards a death by chocolate desert! I am so excited. Like I was saying to Old School I am just going to have to make sure I get the training necessary but 240 hours is quite a lot, 6 weeks worth but again I might be asking for even more training cause its a pretty serious and technical part of the industry and I want to make sure I do very well. Thank you so much again!

Major Kudos and CONGRATS, Victor J. Jump on this like a hot tamale. I've known many a great man raised at WEL. Flatbed, even better. Avenues will open tenfold; yet who knows...you might get your stirrups in a fond place.

Victor, you are misunderstanding that 240 hours of training. Look, I'm gonna be real with you. You've had all the training you need to go backwards in a truck. What you need is practice. You have a CDL that means you passed the tests. That means you understand the basics. You need to practice, and you need to Get Out And Look. You lacked discipline, not training. That statement is meant kindly. You've got to get to the point of understanding what you're real issue is. That's the only way to resolve it.

I believe that 240 hours is going to be you and another driver in a situation similar to yours. They will have a CDL but either they've been out of trucking for a while or they got fired like you did. Western will put you two together and run you as a team. They want you to help each other and prove to them you can do this job. Then they will issue each of you your own truck.

This is crunch time for you. You are being put front and center on stage. You are no longer a trainee. They are hiring you to evaluate you, not to train you. That's an important distinction, and you need to realize it now before you get there.

It's time to take the bull by the horns Victor. I'm being honest with you. This is your new reality. This is a serious endeavor. You've got to drop that idea that says you don't have the training you need. You screwed up man, not your trainer. I'm not trying to be critical. I want to see you get this.

The thing you've got to come to grips with is how it's all on you at this point. You need discipline and practice. Western is putting you into a team driving situation for practice not training. You need the discipline to make sure you get it right.

Get in there and do it right this time. I know you can.

Thank you for your honesty I really appreciate that and I will remember that it was my lack of discipline that screwed me up and put me out of the trucking industry for two and two months. It was my own foolishness that did it not my trainers. I have been playing the victim when I victimized myself by not living by what I already knew how to do. I think that this is exciting to be able to get my practice in with another team member and to be able to help him. I am praying that God would help me be confident in what I already know how to do and to remember all of it because it has been so long. G-Town has said it before that I am underconfident in my abilities and that it is that that is the cause of my screw ups. I know he is right about that, because I am so afraid of failure and afraid that I won't be good enough and then when I do get into situations like the slanted parking spots which I just realized was a 45 degree angle offset I become timid and afraid of parking in them and then I end up failing anyways but I must fight that fear. We did not learn the 45 degree in the school I went to but you know I could have done it if I would have just slowed down and got out and looked. It was a total lack of discipline and effort that caused that second accident and I take FULL responsibility for it as well as the others. I must learn that in order to be successful I have to take responsibility and take this bull by the horns and thrash him back and forth till he has no more say in the matter cause I won't let him take me down again! The bull I would say would represent laziness, no discipline, fear, lack of confidence, and misguided blame. I will in Gods name defeat these tyrants.

Victor, you are misunderstanding that 240 hours of training. Look, I'm gonna be real with you. You've had all the training you need to go backwards in a truck. What you need is practice. You have a CDL that means you passed the tests. That means you understand the basics. You need to practice, and you need to Get Out And Look. You lacked discipline, not training. That statement is meant kindly. You've got to get to the point of understanding what you're real issue is. That's the only way to resolve it.

I believe that 240 hours is going to be you and another driver in a situation similar to yours. They will have a CDL but either they've been out of trucking for a while or they got fired like you did. Western will put you two together and run you as a team. They want you to help each other and prove to them you can do this job. Then they will issue each of you your own truck.

This is crunch time for you. You are being put front and center on stage. You are no longer a trainee. They are hiring you to evaluate you, not to train you. That's an important distinction, and you need to realize it now before you get there.

It's time to take the bull by the horns Victor. I'm being honest with you. This is your new reality. This is a serious endeavor. You've got to drop that idea that says you don't have the training you need. You screwed up man, not your trainer. I'm not trying to be critical. I want to see you get this.

The thing you've got to come to grips with is how it's all on you at this point. You need discipline and practice. Western is putting you into a team driving situation for practice not training. You need the discipline to make sure you get it right.

Get in there and do it right this time. I know you can.

I will in Gods name defeat these tyrants.

Now, that's the approach I love to see! Go get 'em Victor. I love your name - hopefully you make it come true!

When you are "defeating the tyrants", make sure to not become your own worst enemy.

Congratulations! Maybe a few years from now YOU will be the guy people are looking to for advice. 😎