My Schnieder Adventure starts on the 7th!

You need to have a screwed up life to be a truck driver? Never heard that before. Different people like different jobs and there are plenty out there to choose from.

I want to be a truck driver because I like to travel, I want to go out and explore the country with one of the biggest machines on the road at my control. I'm single, no kids, no loans or credit cards to pay off. It has nothing to do with 'having a screwed up life'. I don't even care about making a lot of money.

If anything, the only screw up was waiting so long. Even when I was little I remember marveling at the huge trucks driving by on the highway. I have always had a lot of respect for truck drivers, especially the ones that have been in the industry for decades.

 

woo, a month has passed, I've had the first doctors appointment on the 15th and had blood work done. My A1C was 9.6. Doctor said type 2 diabetes and prescribed metformin, 1000mg twice a day. Also was limiting carbs to 30-40 a day.

Was a bit rocky at first, my blood sugar was yoyoing regardless of what I ate and I had a few unpleasent side effects from the meds. But after 2 weeks the side effects were gone and my blood sugar stabilized and has been staying between 80 and 120, even with occasionally eating more carbs. Had a 2nd doctors appointment on the 29th and the doctor was satisfied with how everything was going, so no more appointments for 3 months. Will have blood work done again in Oct to get a new 3 month average to see how much of an improvement there has been in my A1C.

Called up Schnieder again.
Had a new drug test and got a new DOT medical physical (sucks, only 1 year at a time now due to diabetes), and I am returning to orientation this Tuesday to try again

 

I really wanted to update this topic on a daily basis with exactly what we did everyday, but my cell phone sucks so barely visited any websites.

Anyway, 1st week went well. Had to take a new DOT physical before even heading to orientation so didn't have to get one there. Did paperwork that first Tuesday. Wednesday was half class stuff and half trucks. Thurs to Fri were all trucks out in the training yard and on the roads. Friday was an eval day and we all got tested. On Sat it was classroom, trucks, and we got info on our TEs.

On Sunday the 16th I drove to Gary Indiana with another guy to meet our TEs. Mine was a great guy that has the nickname Turtle. We got along great and had a great time that week. Between driving and chatting with him I learned a lot about the job and had a great time. I really did not want to leave at the end of the week, I wanted to get more loads and drive more. But the time had come to head back to Carlisle PA.

Class resumed on Monday the 24th with trip planning and Qualcomm stuff. Tuesday we took a drive in the training trucks again (those Freightliner Columbias really sucked compared to the TEs new Cascadias). Wednesday was another day of trip planning and Qualcomm. Yesterday and Today were the final testing days.


I PASSED MY FINAL TESTS WITH A SCORE OF 95!!
Road test and backing were nearly perfect. I'm still sloppy with the clutch but people keep telling me that it will take 3+ months to master that. I had lost points on the trip planning portion of the test due to some stupid mistakes that I overlooked. I had entered the correct stuff in the qualcomm, just had the wrong times copied down in a different area of the worksheet and forgot to change them before handing it in.

On Monday I have to call my DBL to find out where I get to pick up my truck to start my OTR career

Out of my class, 4 didn't make it to the end.
2 were gone first week.
Somebody quit on the 24th since he was "tired of the BS and didn't get paid on friday"
Another person quit on the 26th because he "didn't want to deal with trip planning and had better offers elsewhere"

 

ugh, truck still isn't ready yet.

DBL might be sending me and another guy to Indianapolis via rental car tomorrow to pick up our trucks. And, they might end up having to be heavy haul cabs until some other trucks are available.