WS through my eyes

I finally have some time is I thought I should give an update.

Today marks the completion of my first week. It has been long days, all starting at 8am and ending around 11-12pm. My group came in in the middle of another group who were on their second week so our instruction has been a little mixed up. I would love to tell you how each individual day went but I can't exactly remember what happened on what day. I can tell you that I went and took a drug test, had a physical skills thing like lifting weights and moving my arms for 3 continuous minutes in multiple directions, showed I could back a trailer, drove through town on some pretty narrow streets, drove up and down a hill, watched a lot of videos, took a lot of tests, did (and continue to do) a lot of homework and spent many hours driving around the lot practicing my up and down shifting.

Typical day is class starts at 8 and runs until noon break for lunch which we get an hour then back to the classroom until 5. We then break for about an hour or so and head to dinner. After dinner we hop back in the truck and drive around the yard until 10, then homework and videos until 11 or 12. Rinse and repeat. We also drive for a couple hours in the morning.

Its pretty intense because they have A LOT of info they throw your way in such a short period of time. This company still runs paper logs so that takes time to learn if you have never done it before. It's a lot more detailed than what I was shown in school. Speaking of school, you can pretty much forget what they teach you, it's nothing like driving in the real world. I thought I could shift until I got here and they showed us the proper way. Schools are just there to teach you enough to get that piece of plastic, I knew this going in but again had no idea how little they really teach.

The instructors know their ##### and have an answer for any question you can think of. Most of the time it's "it's in the red book", they're right that book has all the answers.

I think that's about it for now, it's almost 11pm and I have homework to do in the morning then back out to the yard for some more laps then maybe a little laundry.

Oh, I'll answer the question I know will be asked. It's a piss test.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Milktanker, he's a cool dude. As long as I survive through next week I'm sure ill be seeing him again.

 

Just some advice or a personal opinion if you will. When you come for your orientation request to stay at the dorm on site instead of the hotel a couple miles a way. Reason being everything happens here. If you're staying at the hotel, you want to go there after the class day is done and chances are you won't come back until morning, you then lose all that possible driving time or being able to chat with other drivers as they flow through and won't have time to watch all the videos. The beds suck but all the other things make up for it. I have watched a total of 20 minutes of tv since getting here last Sunday there is just so much to do.

I have met about a dozen drivers and not one has had anything negative to say about the company and we all know how drivers like to complain. Most of the gripes are about everyday things just as they would at any other job. They let you run as hard as you want and will feed you loads to keep you going as long as you stay legal.

 

3 rooms just off the drivers lounge, each room has 2 beds a dresser and night stand. There are 2 shower rooms upstairs where the lounge and rooms are, there is also 1 men's room and one women's (which becomes men's after 5 when all the ladies leave). They also have a fully stocked kitchen, pots, pans, cups, plates and silverware, not food. I went to Walmart and picked up a few things to tide me over. There are no places to eat at within a couple miles but they do provide a couple cars for the students to use. Downstairs there are 2 more restrooms that have showers in them but I haven't seen anyone use them. There's also a washer and dryer available free of charge but you need to get some detergent if you don't like Costco brand. No tv's in the rooms, no problem because if you're like me there's no time to watch it, they do have a community tv in the lounge though. There's a couple soda machines (coke brand) and a snack machine full of candy and chips.

make sure you bring your own pillow(s) because theirs suck, they provide a sheet set and a blanket which I find to work since I like things pretty cool at night. The mattress' are pretty much covered springs but like I said before, I would rather sleep on them and have access to everything then be at a hotel where I have the chance to get unmotivated.

Oh, make sure you bring a towel and other toiletries because they provide nothing but TP.

 

You can see the building and lot if you type in watkins and Shepard Missoula mt into google maps. It's the stand alone building on the left.