Orientation with Werner. What I have done so far...

No. As far as I know the simulator is in the home terminal in Nebraska. Jave not been there, nor do I have any desire to go

We are done with all the stops (9-10 stops) in Florida, Alabama and we are parked at a small gas station near Hattiesburg, MS. We have an appointment at 8am tomorrow to pick up lumber some 40 miles north in Taylorsville, MS.

So far the training hours are slowly but surely adding up. I have about 60 so far. It would have been better if I wasn't off on the weekends but... oh, well, I am not going to cry about it. Started floating here and there. Still not perfect bu getting there. It seems easier to float the lower gears than the higher ones. I think it takes practice and with time it will get better.

Also, my TWIC card has been ready, I am going home on the 21st and will pick it up.

I also spoke with my SDM about my leave (those of you who have been following the thread know that I will be out of the country in July and August for medical reasons). Here's what she said in regards to that: if I leave for more than 30 days I will have to be rehired - orientation again. She couldn't tell me if I will lose the hours that I will have accumulated by June 21. I emailed the recruiter, see if he will be able to tell me anything more about it. But if I lose the hours it won't be likely for me to return to Werner. As you guys know I am planning on moving to Jacksonville, FL shortly after I return from Europe and from there I will jhave plenty more opportunities. We will see how it goes. I will keep you posted.

Anybody that worked for Werner and had to be away for more than a month and willing to share experiences?

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Another 3 boring days at the hotel in Atlanta. This time the trainer to call Friday off as well so I will be here three days instead of the two days I normally stay. So far I have 80 hours completed out of the 275 training.

I had an adventure on the i-40 going through the Smoky Mountains north Carolina. It was raining hard, there was a lot of trucks, a lot of traffic, it was a great experience for me. There was also a big car accident on the i-40. A car in the oncoming traffic was overturned on its roof. It looked like there were injuries because there were a lot of people gathered around the car. It was scary.

So far I haven't heard anything from the recruiter regarding my home time in Europe. I haven't gotten a response for 4 days now. I emailed him with a copy of my first email and ask him to reply. I'm not sure what else I can do. Very unprofessional.

For now I'm just bored will be watching some movies and probably get some more sleep, there's nothing more I can do here.
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Actually, I was for a day until yesterday I am finally home in Fort Lauderdale, FL for the first time since May 12 when I left for orientation - a little over five weeks away from home. I have 163 hours completed from the required 275. It takes a while when I am at the hotel in Atlanta every weekend, but everything was good! I got the best possible review from the trainer, although I am nowhere near where I would want to be, but it is a learning process. I have to say I have been safe, never speeding, keeping my 7 seconds distance and taking turns with caution every time. Even though I feel a lot more confident than I first started out, I am not being complacent as you have to be alert at ALL times, no matter how much traffic, weather conditions, etc.

I came home because next Monday I am leaving for Europe, and I have to start a divorce before that here in the states.

A little interesting fact for Werner and the bus ride home. I was told I will not be reimbursed for the ticket from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, since this was a personal leave. I understand and have no problem with that. Heck, I am gonna be away for 2 months. The ticket I was requested though was from Atlanta to Gainesville (half the distance) and it was $88 that will be deducted from my next pay - a little steep in my opinion. My brother goes to school there and we drove from Gainesville to Fort Lauderdale. I could have rented a car and with the fuel it would have been less money. Anyways, my advice is don't let the company buy the bus ticket for you. They do not obviously have discounted/contracted rates with Greyhound and that $88 that they paid was a full price of the ticket after a quick check with Greyhound's website. Instead, go to their website and buy your ticket, the "web fare" was only $27! If I knew earlier I could have saved myself some money. C'est la vie

What else is interesting... Ah! My trainer got into a couple of accidents (both not his fault). First one was this past Sunday in Atlanta - he was picking me up after the weekend and as soon as we left, a car had come around us and cut in front of us, we hit it at their right taillight and broke it, nothing wrong with our truck except for minor scratches. The cop said it was the 4 wheeler's fault.

The other time was Tuesday morning, 5:20am, no traffic, I-75 northbound in Florida. We are passing a rest area and another truck is coming out, didn't pay attention and hit us when he was merging onto the highway. We had another truck on our left, so we could not move over for him and at 65 mph there is hardly anything you can do. The result was both mirrors busted on both trucks. We are driving a 2013 Cascadia and it has folding mirrors, so ours folded but the glass still broke on the other side. The other guy's mirror was kaput. The idiot started arguing that we messed up his truck! I couldn't believe it! He is merging onto a HIGHWAY and he thinks it's our fault because "he had his turn signal on" is what he said. I told him he is stupid in his face and called the cops, there was no reason to try to reason with him. The cop was super nice, didn't give him a ticket, but made sure he knew he was at fault (of course, duhh), and he will be responsible for the damages. So we exchanged information and were back on the road.

My trainer said that he is probably cursed - two accidents in two days. He said that he has never had anything like this in the 10 years he has been with Werner. Anyways, we are okay, nobody was hurt, that's the most important thing.