CFI Training Through Trainco Trucking School

Excellent read, Nathan.

Those safety / trafficking videos (as painful as they are) should be shared around to the general public, as well .. "more often."

Kudos to YOU, good sir!

Enjoy your 'day off' tomorrow, and rest up for the "Big Time!!"

So happy for ya; best wishes!!

~ Anne ~

ps: Say hiya to Scott for me! :) Pix if you've got any!!

I did get to meet Nathan yesterday. We sat and talked for a few minutes while I was waiting for my FM to call. Had plans to take my FM to dinner. He chose a great local joint. Had a great burger. Hope to see Nathan some more today. We have free breakfast at the terminal and then I am going to work with my student, who upgrades tomorrow morning.

Start Of Driving Finisher Training Day 1 and 2

Man, I can't believe what a whirlwind the last few days have been. So I didn't get that extra in-between day I was expecting. My finisher trainer showed up a day ahead of schedule. So to catch everyone up, here is what has been going on.

So Thursday morning at 9:00 AM we signed our paperwork to become CFI official. We all met in the cafeteria and went through the paperwork one page at a time. Very organized and that went really fast. Now, earlier that morning I was informed through text that the trainer was on his way to Joplin and would arrive that day. I didn't know it would literally be by 11 am that he would be at the terminal. I had a load of laundry going and literally all my stuff was in the hotel room a few miles away. So I scrambled as best as I could and got onto his truck by 1 pm. We already had a load headed down to Waco, TX.

Now the ELD (electronic log book) that drivers use to track driving time through the DOT and Federal regulations wouldn't allow me to sign on. It was as if, the computer system didn't know I existed. So we made a bunch of calls and were informed: "they were working on it". So basically I wasn't able to drive at this point. As we headed down through Oklahoma towards Texas we still hadn't heard anything back. So the first day went by with no driving by me. We stopped about 340 miles from Waco for the night.

I will say that being on a truck, and at a truck stop for the first time in my life in a place I didn't know, with a person I didn't know was extremely daunting, to say the least. My first night I can't lie, I asked myself many times what had I gotten myself into? I eventually slipped off to sleep after succumbing to fatigue.

Friday morning (today) we woke up and still no login. Made so many more phone calls and still no resolution. So trainer drove the rest of the way to Waco, TX for our delivery which was due at 1:30 pm today. We got our trailer dropped and picked up our next run. Now we are headed to 2 locations with this load. First Monroe, LA, and then off to Nechaz, MS (Mississippi) both Tractor Supply Company stores. As we left the pick up still no resolution to the computer system and my trainer had enough. He pulled over on side of the road and raised a little hell with the people at CFI. By 3:00 Pm we had resolution and I was able to log in to the computer system and I, for the first time, pulled us out of a TA rest stop and headed to the Louisianna state line. Pulled us into a Loves around 6:30 pm for the night.

We are only 2 hours away from our first delivery and it isn't due till Sunday morning at 6:30 am. That means we have some time to kill tomorrow. Maybe we'll practice some backing at a truck stop.

Well, I'm pretty tired and now that I'm more comfortable with my surroundings and my trainer, I'm headed off to dreamland.

The next update will be as soon as I can find time and wifi. Have a great night and be safe!

Start Of Driving Finisher Training Day 1 and 2

Man, I can't believe what a whirlwind the last few days have been. So I didn't get that extra in-between day I was expecting. My finisher trainer showed up a day ahead of schedule. So to catch everyone up, here is what has been going on.

So Thursday morning at 9:00 AM we signed our paperwork to become CFI official. We all met in the cafeteria and went through the paperwork one page at a time. Very organized and that went really fast. Now, earlier that morning I was informed through text that the trainer was on his way to Joplin and would arrive that day. I didn't know it would literally be by 11 am that he would be at the terminal. I had a load of laundry going and literally all my stuff was in the hotel room a few miles away. So I scrambled as best as I could and got onto his truck by 1 pm. We already had a load headed down to Waco, TX.

Now the ELD (electronic log book) that drivers use to track driving time through the DOT and Federal regulations wouldn't allow me to sign on. It was as if, the computer system didn't know I existed. So we made a bunch of calls and were informed: "they were working on it". So basically I wasn't able to drive at this point. As we headed down through Oklahoma towards Texas we still hadn't heard anything back. So the first day went by with no driving by me. We stopped about 340 miles from Waco for the night.

I will say that being on a truck, and at a truck stop for the first time in my life in a place I didn't know, with a person I didn't know was extremely daunting, to say the least. My first night I can't lie, I asked myself many times what had I gotten myself into? I eventually slipped off to sleep after succumbing to fatigue.

Friday morning (today) we woke up and still no login. Made so many more phone calls and still no resolution. So trainer drove the rest of the way to Waco, TX for our delivery which was due at 1:30 pm today. We got our trailer dropped and picked up our next run. Now we are headed to 2 locations with this load. First Monroe, LA, and then off to Nechaz, MS (Mississippi) both Tractor Supply Company stores. As we left the pick up still no resolution to the computer system and my trainer had enough. He pulled over on side of the road and raised a little hell with the people at CFI. By 3:00 Pm we had resolution and I was able to log in to the computer system and I, for the first time, pulled us out of a TA rest stop and headed to the Louisianna state line. Pulled us into a Loves around 6:30 pm for the night.

We are only 2 hours away from our first delivery and it isn't due till Sunday morning at 6:30 am. That means we have some time to kill tomorrow. Maybe we'll practice some backing at a truck stop.

Well, I'm pretty tired and now that I'm more comfortable with my surroundings and my trainer, I'm headed off to dreamland.

The next update will be as soon as I can find time and wifi. Have a great night and be safe!

Nathan~!!

Wow, just WOW!!!

Nothing like 'being on your toes' out the gate~!!! (AND a day early, omiwow!)

Mad respect for ya, man. Kudos!! You are ...OFFICIAL ~!!!!

Hopefully this finds you fully rested, and ready to nail it AGAIN, come the sunshine hours; hope your dreams were all happy and successful as YOU are!!

Best always,

~ Anne ~

I will say that being on a truck, and at a truck stop for the first time in my life in a place I didn't know, with a person I didn't know was extremely daunting, to say the least. My first night I can't lie, I asked myself many times what had I gotten myself into?

We all know what you are feeling. Stay the course. You will have many more doubts. Cast them aside and keep you eye on the prize. I must have thought about quitting a thousand times while I was in training. I am extremely glad now that I stuck it out. I hope you will too.

Believe it or not I think your trainer was called about the login issue while I was sitting there. There were major IT issues at CFI the last few days. Many students were unable to log in on their trainer's trucks.

Glad it all got worked out.

I hope all goes well and he had you sleeping at the first stop.

Read the load notes in the workflow.

Keep up the good work. Two TSCs for your first load, great backing practice.

Finisher training first-week recap

So yeah...I've been awol for a few days. All I have been doing is driving, eating, sleeping..lol Little to no wifi makes updating this more frequently very difficult. But here is some of what has gone on since my last update.

I can't believe how many ups and downs I've been through. In full disclosure, I was 90% done on day 4. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever attempted in my life. Living on the road, with a stranger, trying to drive for 11 hours a day, and being awake for FAR longer than that is INSANE!!! The stress of going to businesses with a 70 ft truck and having NOWHERE to maneuver and then failing to be able to get into the dock broke me. My first two deliveries were at Tractor Supply Comp and both those locations had the "space" but filled that space with hundreds and hundreds of pallets that weren't being picked up. I tried and tried on both but couldn't figure out how to work around the available space and ended up having the trainer finish them for me.

I haven't been this homesick and lonely ever. I miss my daughter and family so much. I knew this would be difficult and I KNOW it will get easier but man everything is attacking my brain all at once.

I spent the first 3-4 days absolutely drenched in Mississippi and Louisiana. Water up over my boots kind of drenched. But the clouds broke yesterday. Literally and figuratively. We finally got away from the constant TSC and Waco, TX distribution center cycle we were stuck in. They routed us back to Joplin and got a load to Kent, WA which is just outside of Seattle. I'm currently done with my first of a four-day drive. We are in Odessa, Nebraska and tomorrow hope to hit Salt Lake City, but I don't know if we will make it that far. As long as I hit 500 miles per day we should make our Monday morning delivery.

I feel a lot better today. I've had numerous successful backs now and even though I haven't had to do anything super difficult, having a few successful ones make me feel better. More like I might actually belong out here. I know that there will be tough days ahead, and I know that more challenges await me, but I have to stay strong and positive. Enjoy the road ahead and look forward to home time when it comes around. I don't want to make it sound like I'm whining or can't handle this but the mental fatigue and stress are messing with me harder than I was prepared for. It's a day-to-day situation but I fully plan on pushing through and going to make this work!!

Thank you to all the people that have supported me and encouraged me along the way!

Have a great night and stay safe everyone.

Hang in there. It will get better. It can be stressful, but its also like playing pool with a 73 foot cue and a 20 foot cue ball. I just recently finished training and I think our brain is our own worst enemy on a lot of this stuff.

Hey Nathan, it sounds like you're doing just fine. TSCs are some of our hardest backs, however, they are great backing practice.

If you need any coaching or moral support feel free to call or text.

This is what we all go through when starting out. This lifestyle takes some getting used to. Enjoy the scenery.

Hi Nathan, I've been following your journey . I am interested in CFI. So have been following closely. It sounds like you are doing fine. Keep I up.