Hello Again!

well it looks like my truck driving career just got moved forward a couple of years. I WAS looking to retire from school teaching in two years and then maybe go into the driving career ... however events conspired against that plan. I am now on paid leave (in other words my school is paying me to NOT come to work) until the end of August 2014. I'd rather not talk about why that happened other than to say that I am not entirely blameless ... long story short, I'm having trouble finding another teaching job (which I think has mostly to so with my age and position on any district's pay scale than anything else), and if I don't teach I need another job for three years before I can get my teaching retirement. Which brings us back to truck driving ... oh and the events that led to this situation will in no way prevent me from being able to get a job driving a truck (no drinking or drugs or criminal activity etc etc).

ok ... so now I need some advice. I've already applied to Central Refrigerated and been accepted into their school for May 16th. I've also called Prime and talked to them and was told that I need to apply 30 days before I want to go to school. Prime seems like it pays a little better than CF at least in the training phase, but from reading on here it seems that they are much tougher as to physicals etc. I don't think that'll be a problem ... but I do have high blood pressure which I control with medication. So I guess my first question is about that ... the DOT physical. Will they simply measure my blood pressure and if it's within the acceptable range (which it will be so long as I take my meds), then I'm ok? I understand that I'll have to report that I'm taking medication to control my BP, but surely that's not uncommon ... any comments or information about that would be great.

I've also recently looked into TMC and they actually look very interesting. I have no problem with the physical aspect of flatbedding and the pay looks very good as well as the commitment to home time. Home time is not any kind of deal breaker for me really ... in fact part of the attraction of this job is the opportunity to be out on my own for long periods of time. But I do have a son still in high school (who plays football) and I would love to see him play at least a couple of times in the fall. I also have a girl friend in a different state (son's in southern Missouri and GF is in Michigan) who I would like to see occasionally too. TMC sounds like they may be more accommodating than either CF or Prime. Any comments or advice about that? Oh yeah I don't quite get the TMC school thing ... they don't have their own school but then put you through training similar to what Prime and CF do when you sign on? Do I need to go through an independent school to get my CDL before going to TMC for training? Any help on that?

Thanks a bunch guys. I wouldn't be able to do this without this resource. And yes I AM working through the training materials as we speak! So thanks again!

clif

Clif, I don't have any experience with the trucking outfits you mentioned (except I'm heading for the Prime training at the end of March and was also accepted by Central & Stevens) but I do have a comment on the BP part:

So I guess my first question is about that ... the DOT physical. Will they simply measure my blood pressure and if it's within the acceptable range (which it will be so long as I take my meds), then I'm ok? I understand that I'll have to report that I'm taking medication to control my BP, but surely that's not uncommon ... any comments or information about that would be great.

I was concerned about BP because I ditched my medication for 8 mos and it got kinda high. I plan on getting my CDL-A permit and what endorsements I can before I go to their school AND my DOT card. Just to try to insure my BP and blood sugar are in the "good" zones, I contacted a lady who is a nutritionist and sell "essential oils" as well. I have read a lot of good things about using essential oils as a supplement to make both BP and blood sugar behave. I will meet with her today at 5:00 PM and results are supposed to be fairly dramatic and fairly quick. I'll post as to whether they actually turn out to be worth while or just a form of "snake oil." Hopefully, all the anecdotal info on the web about them isn't total BS but I'll just have to see. Good luck in your endevors,

Stephen E. Birch