Got approved by Crete today.

It wasn't too long of a wait, about a week, but I was also calling in regularly to make sure they knew I was ready. Not with annoying frequency, but about once every 3 days and I sent one e-mail.

And yeah, the $140 is for the orientation at the end of training. Pre-qual stuff isn't paid at all, but they will take care of you -- hotel, transportation, meals, etc.

The work-well test was as follows:
I started out with a milk-crate sized box, having to lift it from the floor to a shelf about waist high. You do 5 reps with 25 pounds, 5 reps with 50, and 3 reps with 75 pounds.

Then you lift that box from the waist-high shelf to a shelf that's about as high up as your nose (I'm 5' 11"). You do the same reps with the same weights as the first exercise.

Took a break from the box, did some pushing and pulling exercises. They gave me a little handlebar with a gauge on it that measures the amount of force for either pushing or pulling. First you push against a wall and must be able to push until the needle hits the desired amount of force. After that, the bar is hooked to a chain and you do a few different pulling tests. One is with the use of your entire body, pulling back, the other is from a squatting position, pulling up with your knees, and the last test is with your arms slightly above your head, pushing upward. All of these require that you hit a certain mark on the gauge.

Back to the box. I was instructed to carry the box in my arms while walking. I did 3 laps around a table, which was probably equivalent to about 52 feet. You do 3 laps with the 25 pound box, 3 laps with the 50 pounder, and 2 laps with the 75 pounds.

Last part of the test was simply pulling yourself up a ladder 5 times with one foot planted on a step and both hands on the railings.

There was no time limit for any of this, you were free to go at your own pace. They did not take my blood pressure or pulse afterwords. I'm assuming they may do that if it looks like somebody is struggling or if they showed a high blood pressure reading prior to the test, not sure though.

I'm not in any kind of great shape, I don't work out, but I'm in pretty good health not overweight. I don't think the test would be a huge challenge for most people, but if you have some joint or muscle issues, it could be more difficult. Just take it slow if you find yourself getting worn out during the test.

Hopefully heading out with a trainer tomorrow. Went up this morning, handed in my insurance and 401k forms, received my comdata card and medical card, then sat around the driver's lounge waiting to be assigned to a trainer. At around 4:30pm was told to go home and wait for a call the following morning.

While it's nice to be able to get home with the family one last night before heading out, it's costing me a bit in fuel to get up there and back each day (45 miles each way), on an already very tight budget. I'll have to see if there's some reimbursement for this. If not, it's definitely going to be written off.

Of course, I'll update some more when there's more to share.

 

Yeah, I'm not a smoker and I told them I would much rather go out with a non-smoking trainer. I don't mind being around smokers, but spending that much time in a confined space with all that second-hand smoke, I don't think I could stomach.

As I was typing this I got a call from the terminal. Seems as though they found a trainer. He's not in the area yet, so it looks like I'll be going out tomorrow. Looks like he's coming up from Georgia.

And yeah, that hazmat stuff isn't exactly fun. Just a lot of crap to remember. Once you get to pre-qual you get to take another hazmat test! It's nowhere near as long as the state test though, and it's open-book accompanied by a silly dvd. They just wanna make sure you're paying attention, I guess. There's a Security Awareness dvd and test as well that's part of the hazmat training in pre-qual.

You'll probably have to watch all of it again in orientation after your 8 weeks, too.

 

Yeah man, was scheduled to go out on Wednesday, but they hadn't found a trainer for me at that point. So Friday it is. Should be out of there by 10 or 11am tomorrow.

I'll definitely keep you updated.

Guitarman, thanks for the helpful advice. I plan to get as much out of this 8 weeks as one possibly can.

 

First week down and finally got some internet access at the Lincoln terminal.

Trainer picked me up last Friday, ran a short load up in PA then went back to the terminal in New Kingstown for a B service, which took 7 hours to do. So, it was a slow start the first 2 days, but we eventually got a load to Salem, VA, drop and hook, then a load of gatorade out of Wytheveille, VA heading for Grand Prairie, TX.

Ran around Texas for a couple days then got out of that with a load up to Ft. Collin's, CO. to the Budweiser brewery. Once we dropped that, we got a load of beer out of the same place which was bound for Coon Rapids, MN. Stopped off at the Cheyenne terminal this morning for a shower, then took off for Lincoln.

That's been the last week, as far as locations go. We got in here to Lincoln, hours ago, to get another shower, spend the night, and swap trucks.

We turned in the new ProStar for a brand new Cascadia. ProStar was nice, but the trainer had been trying to get back into a Cascadia and figured this would be a good opportunity to do so. So we cleaned out the International and now we've got everything in the Cascadia ready to go for tomorrow.

So now I'm gonna have to get used to another truck, just as I was getting the feel for the ProStar. Not a huge issue, still 7 weeks left.

Trainer's a great guy, really laid back and we get along just fine. It's basically not even work. We just drive and b.s. the entire time. Gonna be bored once I go solo, lol.

We've been running fairly hard, which is ideal of course. Basically putting in full days -- We had over 3000 miles this past week. Trainer doesn't screw around, as laid back as he is about everything, he's on the ball.

I'll update more when I get some wifi access once again, hopefully at the end of this second week.