Truckers Report Jobs

Find Trucking Jobs

Company Driver Company Driver Dry Van Dry Van Flatbed Flatbed Refrigerated Refrigerated Specialized Specialized Owner Operator Owner Operator
More Trucking Job Searches ⌄ Fewer Trucking Job Searches
⌃

Beginning the Long Awaited CDL Process

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Wedge, Oct 14, 2010.

Page 111 of 148
  1. Aug 20, 2011 #1101
    sammycat

    sammycat "Oldest Hijackerette"

    3,150
    4,438
    Apr 11, 2010
    Rochester, NY
    0
    Wedge
    sounds great and like you are fitting right in and it helps your FM is helping you!

    Johnston no idea where that is?
    Rochester is western NY.....up on Lake Ontario...but I have the coffee ready!!!
     
    sammycat, Aug 20, 2011
    sammycat, Aug 20, 2011
    #1101
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Aug 20, 2011 #1102
    Wedge

    Wedge Road Train Member

    1,831
    1,583
    Jun 20, 2010
    Griffin, Georgia
    0
    Typo......my bad. I mean Johnstown, on 90 between Utica and Albany.

    It's a moot point because the pre assign is no longer available. :biggrin_25510:
     
    Wedge, Aug 20, 2011
    Wedge, Aug 20, 2011
    #1102
  4. Aug 20, 2011 #1103
    sammycat

    sammycat "Oldest Hijackerette"

    3,150
    4,438
    Apr 11, 2010
    Rochester, NY
    0
    Well that bites!!!
    that's pretty far from Rochester anyways Utica is about 2 hours east
    so did you get something else?
     
    sammycat, Aug 20, 2011
    sammycat, Aug 20, 2011
    #1103
  5. Aug 23, 2011 #1104
    Wedge

    Wedge Road Train Member

    1,831
    1,583
    Jun 20, 2010
    Griffin, Georgia
    0
    Ended up not getting that pre plan because of a delay with the load I had.

    Right now I'm half way between Indianapolis and Chicago heading to Minnesota.

    Still have problems recharging my laptop in the truck. I asked AT to give me his thoughts on the problem. It charges fine on household A/C but not off of the inverter in the truck.

    I'll do better at posting once I get this recharging situation sorted out.
     
    Wedge, Aug 23, 2011
    Wedge, Aug 23, 2011
    #1104
    blktop-bucanear and sammycat Thank this.
  7. Aug 24, 2011 #1105
    BigJohn54

    BigJohn54 Gone, but NEVER forgotten

    1,972
    1,599
    May 13, 2011
    SW Missouri
    0

    I'm no expert on the charging thing but I would want an inverter that would provide a pure sine-wave for any electronics that I had. The charging adapter may not like the dirty power and shut down.
     
    BigJohn54, Aug 24, 2011
    BigJohn54, Aug 24, 2011
    #1105
    Wedge Thanks this.
  8. Aug 25, 2011 #1106
    NewNashGuy

    NewNashGuy Road Train Member

    1,616
    752
    Jul 27, 2011
    US and Canada
    0
    Yay I finally caught up! I have been reading all 111 pages of this topic! I have been a member of all kinds of different forums due to all of my hobbies, and this topic is perhaps my all time favorite. Reading this topic is like reading a good fictional book, only this is real! I have been routing for you the whole way Wedge and I was really sad when I thought you had to give up trucking!

    I had a feeling this would be resolved as I would imagine all you would need is more amplification on your hearing aids? Or is hearing trouble based more on deciphering certain frequencies? I actually had a fully deaf girlfriend once, best gf I ever had I might add! She worked with me and was always hard working, so happy, and always wanted to "chat" with me by writing me questions about what I was doing that night.

    Anyway, I am really glad that you are out on the road now Wedge as I will hopefully pass my CDL test next week and attend trucking school. Could you please tell us if trucking is what you expected it would be? I feel that your story relates to mine as I have been a successful programmer for many years but want to have a job that is more in demand. It is also ironic that your first test stop was in Nashville, TN as that is where I live! I hope you will always update us on your journey as I will read every post. I wish you the best Wedge!

    Oh I almost forgot, to solve your laptop problem try buying a DC charger with the cigarette adapter. Your laptop uses a DC current so you are going from DC to AC back to DC again. A direct connection to a DC power supply may solve your problem. I used to have an Acer Netbook and loved it. However the lack of a DVD player (even though I could get the external DVD USB addon) and the lack of power for more things that I wanted to do, I upgraded to a nicer 17" HP laptop. At first my plan with the netbook was to have some temporary access to do a few things, but I fell in love with it and use it as my primary now so I had to upgrade. I never thought I would be playing videogames on my laptop so now I may need to upgrade again to a laptop with a nice Geforce videocard that can push high end graphics.
     
    NewNashGuy, Aug 25, 2011
    NewNashGuy, Aug 25, 2011
    #1106
  9. Aug 28, 2011 #1107
    Wedge

    Wedge Road Train Member

    1,831
    1,583
    Jun 20, 2010
    Griffin, Georgia
    0


    Thanks NewNashGuy. Pleased to meet you. :biggrin_25514:

    I can hear everything associated with driving, all sounds and road noises. My hearing exceeds the DOT minimum. The problem is discriminating certain sounds where speech is concerned. I have difficulty passing a whisper test if it's administered by a woman. Men's voices are not usually a problem. In this case with USX, I passed the whisper test because it was administered by a man. It has been a challenge. I'm now on the road and adjusting to the life style.

    There are many things one needs to be prepared for when jumping into this business. The most difficult of those being the time away from home. Many have difficulties with that.

    The next thing is you must keep the left door closed and keep moving. When your truck sits it earns you and the company no money. There is plenty of money to be made if you work hard. The first few weeks are the toughest, but it passes. I would say the hardest part of everything I've endured up to this point has been being on the road with a trainer. But if you focus on your training, the time will pass quickly.

    Overall I don't regret this change in lifestyle. It would be nice to be home more often, but for now, this is what it is.

    It's fun. I enjoy it. As my skills improve, so will my satisfaction in having made this choice.

    Good luck with your training. I'll be happy to hear all about how you're making out.
     
    Wedge, Aug 28, 2011
    Wedge, Aug 28, 2011
    #1107
    mtnMoma, NewNashGuy, blktop-bucanear and 1 other person Thank this.
  10. Aug 28, 2011 #1108
    blktop-bucanear

    blktop-bucanear Medium Load Member

    510
    247
    May 23, 2011
    transition
    0
    sounds like you are adapting well:biggrin_25525:
     
    blktop-bucanear, Aug 28, 2011
    blktop-bucanear, Aug 28, 2011
    #1108
    Wedge Thanks this.
  11. Aug 28, 2011 #1109
    Wedge

    Wedge Road Train Member

    1,831
    1,583
    Jun 20, 2010
    Griffin, Georgia
    0
    Pretty much. USX has a somewhat complex system which takes a little getting use to. But once you do, you can move from load to load much faster. Only complaint would be not being under load on a weekend. I don't care much for sitting around. But so far, I've been kept pretty busy. They seem to have a lot of freight available, regardless where you end up. I've been treated great and have a great fleet manager.

    Here's something I found to be amusing, to me, anyway.

    My very first load assignment was a short hop to Continental tire. Being my first official dispatch, I was a bit nervous. I make it to the receiver with out a problem. I go in and see the guard for instructions as to where to drop the trailer.

    And wouldn't you know it. My first back is a blindside 90 deg alley dock. :biggrin_2556: With an audience no less. I did my fair share of GOAL (Get Out And Look), but got it in there with only 1 adjustment and 1 pull up. :biggrin_255: That was a stress level 9 event.

    Since that first day, my backing has improved considerably, and seem to look forward to the challenge (must be something wrong with me :biggrin_25526:).

    Right now I'm waiting on dispatch in Ellenwood, GA. I have my first home time coming up this week. Something I'm looking forward to.


    Sorry if my response hijacked your post. Until I solve this recharging problem with my laptop, my posting will need to be somewhat limited.

    Thanks for checking in. :biggrin_25525:
     
    Wedge, Aug 28, 2011
    Wedge, Aug 28, 2011
    #1109
    blktop-bucanear, wulfman75, sammycat and 1 other person Thank this.
  12. Aug 29, 2011 #1110
    NewNashGuy

    NewNashGuy Road Train Member

    1,616
    752
    Jul 27, 2011
    US and Canada
    0
    I am curious, is this mainly because you have family and friends at home, and/or the overall feel of being in your own bed/kitchen/bathroom? Because I am not sure how I will react to that until I try it. I have no friends or family in this city so there is nothing waiting for me here. I think I will be fine and regardless I really want the extra income so I will push through any bad things.

    I hope that it will not bother me since all I do at home is stay in my bedroom on the laptop all day. If I am not in my bedroom I am driving to other cities just for the fun of it. If gas were cheaper I would stay gone like I used to do every weekend 12 years ago. My dad was military so I remember always waking up on the highway since we basically lived out of our car. I thought it was fun and it felt weird once we finally stopped traveling. That is probably why I like the road so much and I hope I will continue to like it once I become a trucker.
     
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2011
    NewNashGuy, Aug 29, 2011
    NewNashGuy, Aug 29, 2011
    #1110
    mtnMoma and Wedge Thank this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

    • Page 111 of 148