The Truck Stops Here

I haven't updated the blog in a while and wanted to let everyone know the latest.  After driving numerous miles across the USA and back, I realized that flat bedding isn't for me.  It is extremely demanding.  I associate it to waking up, putting on your clothes and having an extreme work out for three hours.  You hear stories about how heavy the tarps are....multiply that times 2 and then think about climbing the side of a house while carrying one.  If they are wet or have ice on them....even heavier.  It took my back several weeks to quit hurting enough to tie my shoes.  I'm not exaggerating.  Driving the 379 Peterbilt was a blast.  Wish I could afford one myself and start my own company.
I spent several weeks after I left TMC looking for my next ride.  Word to the wise!  Do your homework.  A lot of companies want new drivers.  They aren't willing to pay you anything.  And...they will keep you out for 3 to 5 weeks at a time.  Always check "Truckers Report" on any company you are considering.  You need to do the math.  If you are getting paid 30 cents per mile (which seemed to be the max newbies are getting) and you drive 11 hours per day in a truck that is "usually" governed @ 65 mph....you aren't making very much money per hour of work.  Then, you must also add in the time you are just sitting there in traffic, or waiting to be unloaded.  You aren't being paid anything during those times.  You will average 6 hours of sleep a night...the rest of the time you are driving, eating or waiting around.
My latest quest is to get on with a car carrier.  They make the most cpm of any drivers.  It is hard to get into the car hauling companies with no experience.  Most want 5 years experience for insurance purposes.  Then if you can get on with one of the unions...you really make the money and you get plenty of hometime.  One friend is making $1.03 cpm.  You do the math.

Back from Bootcamp

After 12 intense days of orientation and additional training, I arrived home at 8:30am Saturday morning.  We drove 1,000 miles in 18 hours to get back here.  They (TMC) place three to a rental  car.  Our first stop was Mississippi to drop the first one off.  Then on to Anniston, AL.  I was the last stop in Douglasville, GA and was responsible for the car and handling the gas money to get home.  I'm now about to leave for my first week of OTR with my next trainer, tonight at midnight.  We are heading to Tampa and then, who knows where.  I wanted to update this before leaving.  Don't have much time these days and can't update this on the road right now.  I'm including a photo of my first day in Iowa 14 days ago.  It was taken right before the weather turned rough and the average high was in the 10s.  Did I mention it snowed almost everyday?
Till next time,

Dano 

Off to Boot Camp

Well, the time has finally arrived for me to leave for what I've dubbed "Boot Camp".  I'll be gone for two weeks for orientation and then 5 weeks for "on the road" training.  I don't know yet if I'll have any time off between the orientation and the road training.  I'm hoping I'll get at least a day between the two.  Since I won't have my computer with me, I'm not sure I'll get to post any new blogs so this may be the last blog for a while. 
My new employer (TMC) has been good about letting me know what to expect in orientation.  I'm still a little nervous about making changes in my life, but I'm also excited to start something new and turn the page on this chapter of my life.
I'll update you if I can.
Until then,
Dano

Show me the Money

I wanted to start this entry by saying how much I appreciate the Katlaw driving school for providing me with everything required to get my CDL.  They truly care about you learning not just how to drive a truck but how to do it safely.  They were always willing to spend the extra time with Students that needed a little extra coaching.
Now, onto the company I chose to work for.  I basically had five companies that interested me.  I looked at pay, benefits, hometime and newness of their equipment.  All five companies were pretty good overall.  Some paid more than others, some only had automatics (not for me) and some put you on the road for long periods of time.  I wanted to be home majority of the weekends, so the extended OTR companies wouldn't work for me.  Here is a list of companies I looked at:  Werner, Stevens Transport, TransAm, Shepard Watkins and TMC.  Of those five I chose to go with TMC.  They are a "flatbed" only company that offers majority of weekends home and they offer "cent per mile" or "percentage of load" pay.   Lastly, they drive new Peterbilts!  Check them out on the web.  I'll update once I've started orientation after the Holidays.  Merry Christmas and Thanks for following my blog. 
Dano

Proof is in the Certificate

As stated, I graduated and received the "Top Dog" award for having the highest GPA for my class.  I wasn't trying to win an award.  I just wanted to do the best I could and make sure I learned everything being taught.  The award is just the "cherry on top" for me.  One thing to remember is that every prospective company wants to know what your school grade was.  They don't care what you made when you took the State exam (just as long as you pass), but the school grade is very important.  My next blog will cover the companies I sent applications to and why I chose the company I decided to go with.  Until then,  Dano.

Graduation Day

After two more days of practice on Monday and Tuesday, we were ready to head toward the State DDS testing ground at 4:30am on Wednesday.  I was scheduled as the third person to test.  My nerves were stressed to the max.  To make matters worse, it poured down rain the whole day.  That made the backing skills portion of the test more difficult because the mirrors were covered in rain drops.  By the grace of God, I was able to pull it off and passed without any problems.  The icing on the cake here is that I found out I'm receiving the "Top Dog" award as having the highest grade for this training session.  I'll update the blog with photos after I receive my award and certificate today.
Until then,
Dano

Pre-Trip Inspection Test

Friday was day 7 of my training and we were tested on the Pre-trip inspection list.  I lucked up and made 100 on it.  It is funny how nervous you get when someone is standing there with a clip board grading you.  They told us on day one of class that people usually mess up because of nervousness.  I believe it now.  My advice is to take deep breathes, think about what you are doing and go slow.  You will have plenty of time to perform what they ask of you. 
Monday and Tuesday are the last two days of class and then we leave @ 4:45am Wednesday to head to Dalton, GA to test.  It is going to be a long stressful day.