Whidbey Islander starting 4/17/2014

I'm scheduled to start orientation in Springfield on Monday, April 7th (I hope! And I hope this optimistic thread doesn't jinx it...LOL)

I'm at that "what have I done" stage! I just made flight reservations on Southwest Airlines from Seattle to Saint Louis on Friday, April 4th. I made a reservation at a nearby hotel for that night and I've made reservations on Greyhound for the trip from STL to Springfield on Saturday (leaving at 9:05 AM and scheduled arrival is 1 PM). It's much (much) cheaper flying to STL, then catch the dog to Springfield, than it is to fly direct to Springfield (like $200 less). Even just the trip from STL to Springfield on the Greyhound should give me an incentive not to leave Springfield on the bus!

My recruiter tells me that they just (this week) made the change from paying .10/mile reimbursement (if you don't take Greyhound all the way) to paying the actual amount the Greyhound ticket would have cost (had you taken it). It may end up costing about $125 more to have flown, stayed in a hotel, and taken Greyhound from STL but man, I couldn't imagine riding the Greyhound from Mt. Vernon, WA (closest terminal to me) to Springfield, MO. I'd still have left on Friday morning (8:45 AM) and wouldn't have arrived in Springfield until Sunday (12:50 PM). Holy sore butt Batman: 2 days, 2 hours, and 5 minutes on a Greyhound bus. I can hardly imagine the shape I'd be in...yikes!

I planned on going to the Social Security office (about 25 miles away) to get a hard copy of my card since I haven't had one for years. While I was on the phone with my recruiter this morning I asked her if the hard card was really necessary. She said no, that's been changed but to bring a Passport or my Birth Certificate (certified version). I have both of those so I'll bring both...just CYA.

I downloaded the Washington State CDL manual from the WA DOL site online and I'll probably take the test next week in order to have my permit in hand when I arrive in Springfield; one less thing to worry about.

Everything has gone smoothly so far and the recruiter at Prime has been really nice to work with. The only potential speed bump for me is my blood pressure and I'm going in to see my doctor on Monday morning. The BP cutoff at Prime is 140/90. A number I can beat most days but not all. I'm going to let the doc know that I must consistently be under that limit. I'm doing my part; I've cut out caffeine, I'm walking in the evenings, I've cut out the "goodies" in my diet to lose a few pounds (10 ought to be pretty easy for me before I fly out), and I'm taking some garlic capsules (thanks for the suggestion). Fingers crossed, it would truly suck to fly (and bus) all the way to Springfield and have to go home because I'm not under the BP limit.

Once I get all my training done (PSD and TnT) and upgrade my wife will join me on the truck full time. She's thinking about becoming a driver but she wants to ride along first to see how she feels about the driving aspect.

For the moment anyway, I've confirmed with my recruiter that I'd like to go to the flatbed fleet. I'm sure when I'm in Springfield and get to talk to a lot of drivers already out there I'll have much more information with which to make the final choice.

Anyone else planning on the 4/7/14 class?

Les

 

Thanks very much for the well wishes guys.

I've been reading your thread FMJ and it's been fun; thanks for posting.

I ran as an o/o for NAVL from late 1993 though 1996 so the tucking life isn't completely new to me but it's been quite a number of years, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to getting back out on the road with a company that seems to understand drivers are human beings (not machines and not just food for the system) and I also think having e-logs in the trucks is great. When I first drove the safety department told you to always abide by the rules and to run legally, just before your dispatcher got ahold of you and pushed like crazy to have you run anything but legally. What a fight that usually was if you wouldn't fudge the books for them.

Les

 

dgarricksr,

Thanks for your reply and your thoughts. I'm actually in pretty good shape overall. I've been taking a very low dose of BP medication and my BP has typically been hovering right around the 140/90 mark; some days a little lower, some days a little higher. I saw my doctor today and she added another low dose med that works very well in concert with the med I'm already taking. My BP was managed well enough for her to be comfortable with what I was taking previously but she added the second med when I told her about needing to come in under the Prime BP limit. I already eat a pretty healthy diet and she said exercise would be a good thing for me and it would probably result in lowering or eliminating my BP meds.

One of the reasons that I'm thinking about flatbed is because of the work involved as it will keep me physically active. That said, I take your point seriously and will keep that in mind. I'll make the final choice in Springfield but if there's not a FB trainer available when I'm ready for that phase it sounds like I'll end up running refer until I upgrade to my own truck anyway. By then I should really know.

Les

 

According to the Washington Department of Licensing website a medical certificate is not required for the CDL permit (the requirements are to pass the knowledge test, provide your SSN, and pay the $10 fee).

If I take the permit test here and get my permit, then I get my medical done at Prime when I get there (this close to the first thing done, correct?), why wouldn't I be able to drive with my instructor with my WA state permit? I think lots of folks get their CDL permit before arriving in Springfield and I haven't seen anything mentioned (yet) about them having to transfer the CDL permit to MO (I do understand once I have a MO CDL that I will need to transfer that to WA).

So now I'm confused since I was going to get my CDL permit here at home (without a medical since it's not required) before heading to Springfield.

Les