Orientation w Melton March 2014 (Tulsa, OK)

Discussion in 'Melton' started by bnrobot, Mar 19, 2014.

  1. bnrobot

    bnrobot Light Load Member

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    Jan 17, 2014
    So. CA
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    Hello everyone

    First off I finished school in Feb, Melton was not my first choice and the industry is new to me. There is so much varying info out there and to a newbie its a lot to go through. My school had me apply to the usuals; Swift, Prime, Werner, CRST etc. I got accepted to all of them, my DMV report has pretty much nothing on it, no misdemeanors in my life, no reason to not be hired.

    After reading all the crazy stories, I decided to apply to Melton from reading about them here. I have zero flatbed experience, but I thought it would be fun to learn.

    My application was accepted pretty quickly. They did a BG check and DMV check, which took about two days, :biggrin_2553:then I had a phone interview with a recruiter for about an hour. Every question I asked was answered truthfully, I was not lied to, and going through orientation everything about pay (lets be honest thats the most important) was true! They bought me a Greyhound ticket and off I was to Tulsa, OK for orientation.

    I was put into a hotel about 8 or so miles away from Melton. It was pretty nice, the beds were comfortable. A shuttle picked me up from the bus, free of charge. The shuttle was available to take during the week, to wal-mart or any other place you wanted to go to eat, as long as it wasnt crazy far.

    Hotel offered breakfast to their guests free of charge every morning, however Melton visitors got a 'bag breakfast' from the hotel... consisted of a danish half the size of my hand, or muffin just as small, 4 oz milk or orange juice, and small orange or yogurt sometimes. The free hotel breakfast buffet had pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, juices, coffee and all the above for free to hotel guests but Melton visitors were supposed to get charged if you wanted it. The bag breakfast was a joke really, so i opted for the hotel offerings. They wont charge you if they dont know youre with Melton. Just walk in and get it!

    Day 1:

    Arrived at the office around 645am by shuttle. Orientation started at 7am every morning. First day consisted of paperwork, paperwork, some short videos on computer, drug testing (pee & hair) and more paperwork and going over whats expected of you, powerpoint presentations. Fun stuff.

    Lunch was provided from a sandwich place called McAlisters. You get to choose what you want, sandwich, salad, and a side like chips or potato salad. Sandwiches were ok, however combined with that bag breakfast... bring snacks or food with you, because it did not fill me up whatsoever. I only weigh about 160, im no huge guy but itjust wasnt enough.

    After lunch we did a test drive around the block, see if you can drive. Nothing too crazy, about 15-20 mins each person, and a backing between some cones. Pretty easy. The truck was a 10 speed kenworth. It was an older model, cant say what exactly since i dont remember.

    By the way most of Melton has 2012 or newer KW 10 speeds. I pretty much think all of them are, since thats all i saw. All the trucks at the terminal were pretty new, and they tell you this also.

    Day 2:

    Consisted of powerpoint, videos, and SAFETY. Big thing around here is being safe, and how to do it! We were then issued safety protection; hardhat, leather gloves, safety glasses. If you can get these cheap then bring with you or they make you buy them (taken out of check) it wasnt much though, about $20 for these.

    We then did hands on securement! Explained how to secure a suicide coil, shotgun style coil, multi layer securement, eye to the sky, pipes, and steel plated. After explaining each, broke up into teams of 3 or 2 and start doing each one. Once you finished, switch with another team and do each one. Only secured one thing before day was over.

    Get assigned homework! Felt like i was in high school again. So much busy work. Quizzes, questions on what you learned that day, log homework based on different scenarions, and trip planning. Be smart and just do the homework with your classmates when you get to hotel, goes much quicker when everyone does it together. You have to wake up and be ready by 615am, and you get to hotel by 4pm each day. Not much time in between to do much else, so finish homework quick.

    Day 3:

    More safety, hands on securement rest of day. Powerpoint on benefits, and the 'smith system' aka dont drive like an idiot and drive safely as possible! Not too much here, most of the day was spent securing the course.

    More homework.

    Day 4:

    Signing up for benefits. Have a couple people from terminal come talk to you. Talk about health and wellness, benefits, driver managers. Pretty easy day.

    If you are straight out of school, you meet your trainer today. Training is a minimum of 3 weeks. Everyone else gets their truck assignments on this day. Everyone gets a Melton ID badge, and your comdata card. Exciting for everyone.
    Tour of terminal and meeting everyone, fun!

    I met my trainer Friday, and got told wouldnt leave til Monday. All trainees had similar. So we had a weekend at hotel to ourselves pretty much.


    Put my stuff on my trainers truck Monday morning. Hes a nice guy, I can tell we will get along. Consensus among all trainees is trainers were all cool easy going non smelly people. Great!

    First week on the truck is going smooth! Got a load monday pretty quicky, out and rolling quick. Crash course into everything you need to learn. Ive already had to tarp a load, secure a load. A lot to learn.

    Its only been 3 days and Ive driven almost 1000 miles. I wont mind if it keeps up this way!

    Will update when I can, but so far im liking this. Ive never driven for another company, this was the first one and i can say i think ill stay for a bit.

    See you on the road
     
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  3. Gunner75

    Gunner75 Road Train Member

    5,701
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    Mar 17, 2014
    Jackson Center Ohio
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    Thanks for this, A LOT. Melton is one of those that I am considering. I spoke with a recruiter the other day and they said the same thing others have said. "We will bring you out once you get through your class" Im going to subscribe to this thread. Id like to hear more about your experience with Melton.
     
  4. bnrobot

    bnrobot Light Load Member

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    Jan 17, 2014
    So. CA
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    Will do !!
    Currently northeast now, as i said ill update when possible. Getting used to the lifestyle and i dont have service everywhere.

    Forgot to say,


    When you get on trainers truck there is no teaming. You are driving the whole time. All trainer does is watch you and teach you the melton way. Only time they drive is if you run out of hours and need a reset. However they dont want you to have to take a reset. I drive about 8 hours a day so far, we are ahead of schedule so today we stopped about 4 o clock since we are ahead.

    Pay was told .33 for new guys, raise at 3 month, 6 months, year. Also bonuses like fuel, being safe, referrals, etc! Tarping is 40$. It may seem hard but it isnt. If there is another driver around they will help you. First load had to be tarped, a driver came over cause he wasnt doing anything and helped us out. General feeling is if they are around, theyll help you!


    So ill update as i go! So far so good. Trainer had points and let me use them for a shower twice already, also signed me up for my own cards. Life is good...
     
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  5. solomon

    solomon Bobtail Member

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    Mar 20, 2014
    Denver Co
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    My experience Melton really was bad and the biggest reason was the trainer
     
  6. jcoop

    jcoop Bobtail Member

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    Feb 19, 2014
    Alamogordo, NM
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  7. bigred81

    bigred81 Medium Load Member

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    Aug 5, 2013
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    I see Melton trucks in the mid Atlantic often, always wondered what's under those tarps.
     
  8. bnrobot

    bnrobot Light Load Member

    278
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    Jan 17, 2014
    So. CA
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    Well i made it to our second location. Truck stop is less than a mile away from my drop, and doesnt get delivered til tomorrow morning. We already have another load set up to pick up after, and the trip is 1600 miles total.

    It seems that we get load after load without waiting so far. Ill have to see if i get the same experience myself when im in my own truck...but so far they are keeping us busy.

    Melton told our orientation class average length of haul is 700 miles. So far that seems to hold true.

    Also I would suggest getting your TWIC and passport if you decide to drive for Melton. They said they have loads going into Canada, not too many but if you dont want to get passed over waiting for a load and youre the only one around that has your passport guess what? You get the load. My trainer suggested I get both, which i will once I go for home time. I was told you get paid more per mile for Canada and Hazmat, however my trainer suggested hazmat isnt worth it since they dont get too many hazmat loads, up to you to decide if its worth it.

    I forgot to mention, on thursday after orientation we were paid 200 in cash, with 100 more going to our first paycheck. They also gave us 200 cash advance to make sure we had money once we go out on the road. If you are not good with money, i suggest putting that away.

    For my first week this wasnt a bad experience. Im learning a lot, my trainer doesnt get upset when i occasionally grind gears or any of the usual rookie mistakes. He tries to help me not make the mistakes. I dont have very many complaints really so far. The weather sucks sometimes, but I dont mind that.
     
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  9. Flatbedn

    Flatbedn Road Train Member

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    Nov 12, 2012
    Missouri
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    I think I might have met you guys robot. I was there Friday when you guys were all at the lounge area.
     
  10. Army91W

    Army91W Heavy Load Member

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    Nov 3, 2006
    San Antonio, TX
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    FYI for future students Melton is changing orientation to 8 days. That is for students only. Experienced drivers still will have a four day orientation.

    Sounds like my experience. For some reason tarping was never very difficult till I got my truck and had to tarp a load.
     
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  11. Ford L8000

    Ford L8000 Medium Load Member

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    Oct 9, 2013
    Blacksburg, VA
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    Why the change to 8 days?
     
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