FINALLY...I Am Moving Forward!!

Thanks Davy, I gotcha..success is an inside job and I am up for the challenge. I'm just excited to finally get going after pacing in my house for 4 months. Zero concerns on staying clean. No party stimulant is EVER worth risking my family's future (much less the public's safety). Regarding the hair test, only a laboratory error on either my private test or the carrier's can present an issue. Considering they can only goes as far back as my hair is long (1/2 inch increments = 30 days) I removed everything but the eyebrows at Thanksgiving which was about 40 days after last use. Since then, my beard is about 2 inches long my hair is still short. Nonetheless, I do appreciate both your and O.S.'s concerns and hold your comments with very sincere regard. Thanks man!

Hopefully it goes well and you do well. I know you have put in tge work on keeping clean, Hopefully you keep that up as well. Remember that no one specific company will define your success, rather your attitude and performance will. As OS points out, Hopefully also that the tests work out in your favor but keeping in mind that there is inherent risk there.

Good luck and let us know how everything is going!

Just signed my offer letter with Veriha. Company pre-employment physical and drug tests next week. Training starts on March 6th. Will start my training diary in the next 2 weeks. Thanks everyone for all the support and help!!! More updates to follow.

Great news! Best of luck! Looking forward to reading about your journey.

Great news!!!

Wishing you all the best!!!!

That's awesome Zen.

I seriously considered Veriha myself. They were actually @ the top of my list of companies that offer CDL training. The long time away from home and the unsure routes in the eastern part of the US is what made me decide it wasn't for me. I think I would have been gone like almost 6 weeks total before going solo and possibly heading home with my first load. I like the class structure though. The fact that they are big into Canada crossings which I was interested in. I already have a passport and TWIC card.

I liked everything I read and heard about them. I'm still kind of twisting that around in the back of my mind. But right now if I do go with a company for CDL training Rouel is ranking first for me. However, I'm really leaning more towards getting my CDL from a private school that is just 3 minutes from walking distance from me. Many companies offer tuition reimbursement with the same contract terms as if you got the CDL from them. So I don't think that's an issue. I would be nice to not have to put all that money out upfront though.

Please keep us updated as I'm very curious how Veriha turns out. Good luck with it and be safe.

Thanks Lance!! I will be starting a training diary after my company physical is done next week.

If I may insist, you may want to give strong consideration to company sponsored CDL training. A lot of carriers will say "We wish you would have come to us first, now we need to untrain you to train you" AND you are guaranteed a job upon graduation. The consensus in here is company sponsored. If travel is an issue, I'd recommend finding a large carrier. It's 1-2 months of your life and some will pay for your travel. Please consider this.

Best of success to you!

That's awesome Zen.

I seriously considered Veriha myself. They were actually @ the top of my list of companies that offer CDL training. The long time away from home and the unsure routes in the eastern part of the US is what made me decide it wasn't for me. I think I would have been gone like almost 6 weeks total before going solo and possibly heading home with my first load. I like the class structure though. The fact that they are big into Canada crossings which I was interested in. I already have a passport and TWIC card.

I liked everything I read and heard about them. I'm still kind of twisting that around in the back of my mind. But right now if I do go with a company for CDL training Rouel is ranking first for me. However, I'm really leaning more towards getting my CDL from a private school that is just 3 minutes from walking distance from me. Many companies offer tuition reimbursement with the same contract terms as if you got the CDL from them. So I don't think that's an issue. I would be nice to not have to put all that money out upfront though.

Please keep us updated as I'm very curious how Veriha turns out. Good luck with it and be safe.

Lance, I recently went through Veriha's training and am a (very) rookie driver for them.

Just to clear some things up for you: They focus on the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast. The only way to do all lower 48 and Canada is to be on the Entertainment Fleet which isn't offered right off the bat. Having the TWIC and passport are big plusses for whatever your future holds though.

As for time out, I saw very different things just in my small class. One student from the east wanted to get everything done as fast as possible so he didn't go home maybe until after all his training was done. We could go home on the weekends if we wanted, you have your car there in training. I live about an hour from where I did my first phase of road training and went home on the weekends. In my second phase out of the same place, some times it just worked out that I was home multiple times a week even though it was considered regional. Just depends on how you want to play it and circumstances such as where/when your loads take you and how your trainer operates. Good luck in your decision-making, and remember, you can be successful with any company if you put in the effort.