My experience with USA Truck

Alright so everyone seems to have a blog so here is my take. I have had a B CDL since 1999 after starting with a Miller Brewing distributor. I have had different jobs driving these "straight trucks" and gained a lot of valuable experience such as floating gears, traffic and city driving with a commercial vehicle, being on time to a location and general experiences with a vehicle much larger and harder to negotiate than a 4 wheeler. It has served me well as I now have a A CDL achieved at C1 in Ft. Worth. I scored a 98 on my DMV test so i felt good about that.
After my school was over, I had a week off before heading to Vandalia, Ohio for orientation. Anxiety is getting the best of me at this point as the unexpected always does to most of us. After a drug screen and a "range test", there was a ton of paperwork, videos and boring lectures about safety, hazmat, rules of the road, logging, etc. Then there was a log test to determine if u understand completely the Hours of Service regs. the DOT has in place..ie the 11, 14 and 70/8 rules.An interview with the director about past employment, issues with traffic violations and misdemeanor or felonies if any. I found out that anyone who misled USA on past history of any kind were sent home on a bus. That means ANYTHING!!! I had no problems with anything really and got through orientation fairly easily. The long arduous lectures are a drag but u have to sit through it. Went to hotel(which was a Days Inn) and waited for your assigned Training Coord. to call for your training truck designation. I got a 34 hr. restart(logged orientation week per instructions) sitting in the hotel for a day and a half and got the call to be at terminal Monday morning.
So off I go to Vandalia terminal to meet my trainer. Her name was Vanessa and it was odd at first to have a female as a trainer b/c normally its guy/guy and girl/girl as I found out from her. But as we talked more it became obvious she knew her stuff. As I began that day I got comfortable with shift points(and am floating already) and no issues. She seemed to like the fact I could float as most drivers will tell you. You probably wont double-clutch again when u learn this. I had no problems "keeping it between the lines so she told me and so on I drove. Again with my previous experience of driving large commercil vehicles, I was ahead of the game so to speak. Logging not difficult for me as I have done this previously but USA teaches straight logging. In other words, drive within your 11 hours and 14 hours and take 10 off. Keep track of your hours on your recap(which is also on right column of each log). If u do this every time u stop and fuel, stop for lunch, dinner or shower, and stopped waiting on a load assignmentyou will always be in compliance with DOT hours of service. Simple! Not hard if u just do it EVERY time.Save all u can on "on duty-not driving" as this eats into drive time and 70 hr. clock. Ok, so far so good. Qualcomm is a little more technical at first as I am still not satisfied I am completely understanding of what Macros to use for certain things. I am sure it gets easier with time and experience so I'm ok with it.
Now as the week(8 days) goes by, I am driving through rush hour in Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Shreveport, and Dallas. Now I have driven in big cities before but its a whole new ballgame in a TT. Unbelievable how navigating big city traffic can wear you out mentally and physically. You are white knuckling all the time and your butt cheeks are sucked up to your throat. Its a serious job driving a TT and its not just about driving around. Skill, knowledge and experience are the key here. I did manage to get through it with a big sigh of relief and I finally exhaled. Its not easy in these situations but with time and experience my trainer said it will get better. Fueling at designated truck stops not a problem as long as you plan your trip. Reading an atlas is important as u will be planning your trips to dtermine the quickest and safest route and not taking a restricted route which will normally have low clearances. This is a little difficult in the beginning as my trainer knew the route she was taking based on her experience. I still need to work on this.
In all, I drove for 63 hours in 8 days from Ohio to Georgia to Roanoke TX(above Dallas/Fort Worth)then to Laredo, TX(on Mexico border) and from Laredo all the way to Kissimmee, Florida. Left Kissimmee for Augusta, GA . we loaded at International Paper for a load to Joplin, MO but my time with Vanessa was up as I had accrued over 50 hrs. driving at this point. First phase of training involves at least 50 hours. It is determined by that trainer if u are ready for the next step. The next step is with a different trainer and truck and is supposed to be a team driving environment. I was cleared to move on to 2nd truck by Vanessa as she gave me high marks on driving, safety, backing, shifting and general understanding of driving reponsibilities of a USA driver. That was a big relief as well. So on our way to Joplin, MO I was informed we would be going to USA home terminal in Van Buren, AR for my next step. Normally they put you in a hotel until they get your trainer there but when I arrived all the hotels are booked. So here I sit in Van Buren blogging away waiting on my next trainer(probably on Monday) and they put me in a sleepin room here at the terminal. Not too bad. Well so far my xperince with USA has been good although the unknown will mess with your head. I need 112 more driving hours to be ready for upgrade test to get my own truck so I am ready to get through the training and get going on my own. I will try to update as much as possible as Pilot truckstops have WiFi but its 19.99 a month so until next time, keep it between the lines and stay positive all the time!