Starting TDI in Oxford, AL tomorrow

Well, I'm hired with Stevens. I have not accepted yet though, but I was told when I am done with my school in two weeks, I have a job there waiting for me. She was very impressed with my application, I guess it was my spotless record, perfect physical and good work history.

I'm not really sure though. Seems like a good company, and they also seem to average good mileage usually, but their pay seems pretty weak. Starting at only $.26/mile, and after one year $.30/mile. But they do seem to have a nice fleet of company trucks with a lot of bells and whistles on them. Going by the claims on the website, they all have epu's with inverters.

At the same time, I'm waiting for a reply from McElroy Trucking. They would be a good choice for me, as they would be close to home. I would be running regional routes within 500 miles, guaranteed weekends home, pretty nice, new fleet of trucks, lots of nice extras, and good pay from what I see. It's a flatbed company which I also sort of like.

I'll just have to wait until I hear from them next Wednesday to see if they approve my final application. I'm confident they will, as the woman who did my interview said she thought my application looked great, and thought I would have no problems...

I hate making these kind of decisions...

 

Yeah, I'll probably give them a call Monday to see if they have made progress. Not really sure how it could take from today till Wednesday to do a simple background check and whatever final steps they need to do. I was already pre-hired, so there couldn't be much left to the process.

Well, as no touch as a flatbed load could be I guess. Of course you have to secure and tarp, that's part of being a flatbed driver. I think he meant to put more emphasis on the load being ready to go, already loaded, instead of you waiting for it to be loaded. I don't see where $150 minimum would be unbelievable. If you run a 225 mile load, instead of an even more pitiful $80 for that few hour run, they add an extra $70 so you can at least take home some money for your time.

 

Things are still going very well at TDI. Instructors are all very cool guys and make you feel comfortable learning things. I am on day 4 of week 2 tomorrow, and already my small class of 3 people have already been driving on the road since the beginning of the 2nd week. They typically wait till later in week 2 to let students drive, but our class was so small they decided to give us a head start.

Having minimal experience with dump trucks, I caught on very quickly. It only took me 3 days (roughly 3-4 hours of seat time) to be able to shift and clutch smooth as butter, and today's drive for me was probably the best of any student there right now, even the people going for their test this week (and the few people who already have their CDL). Most students never reach my level while still in school, I am told anyway. I guess I'm just a natural (have always been driving things since I was a small child) So I'm ready for the road test without any real problems. All of the grades I have signed off for have been on the + side of the scale (above average) Straight line backing is mastered, and was masters since I first sat in the seat on the backing range. Never once in 30-40 passes have I gotten close to boundary or had to use a pull up. My alley dock technique is 90%, still need a little practice on that one. I also have my PTI procedures nearly nailed, more than a week earlier than most people. I'm ready to graduate this school, get my CDL and get to work!

While the tuition may be high, I can highly recommend TDI in Oxford, AL. Unless something comes up between now and my graduation day next Friday. I doubt anything will change.

 

I don't like feeling like I am wasting my time though. Knowing that for any reason they can decide to let me go during orientation doesn't make me all that comfortable. You aren't hired until after orientation and a road test. If I were to somehow try to go with them and not make it for whatever reason, I would have wasted valuable time and be up a you know what creek.