The Schneider adventure begins - Orientation process in Green Bay

Yes sir! But I must admit I was not planning on driving 600 miles out of my way to meet my TE, lol. I'm ok with it since they are paying for it. I'm hoping they realize they will need to drop me back at my vehicle...

As far as backing, L\like I said I am reasonably confident in my skill, but like everything else with my training thus far I am prepared to be humbled once I am really out there.

 

Seems like the lease deal might be a relatively new thing. Just to clarify it was not a presentation that was forced down our throats like so many I have heard of, but they definitely wanted to make us aware of it's availability. One thing I forgot to mention is after the showroom they brought us to a collage of a bunch of their lessors smiling in front of their new trucks with a little personal story, lol.

 

Im across the street at the hotel for breakfast. It seems as if less people are getting up early for a bite as the week goes on. I think folks might be getting tired, i know i am. These are some long days where a lot of focus is required and it is taking its toll

 

Day 4, done and over with! I am mentally exhausted. It was a good day as I was able to pass my first driving test, but it was not easy. I got to drive first thing in the morning, and the weather sucked. It started out as light snow, then changed to freezing rain with lots of fog with very low visibility. I did well, but was white knuckles the entire time. I really like the instructor I had, but he tested me on some pretty crazy roads and intersections, all of which I am sure I will appreciate eventually, lol.

During my pre-trip I was up in the cab doing my air loss test when I noticed a 3rd week student taking her SQT. She was working on the pre-trip when she approached the instructor that was testing her, who happened to be the same instructor I had some minor issues with. She was asking him some questions (couldn't quite hear) when he started scolding her. It sorta went back and forth for about a minute or so before she finally said "I QUIT!" and walked away. His response was "Okay" and then he laughed about it. Very unprofessional, and definitely not helping anyone to succeed. In my opinion this guy does not live up to the "we want you to succeed" crowd that Schneider preaches about. I don't know what was said, but that should not matter. The good news is I did see her back in a different truck later in the day with a different instructor, so hopefully she passed and is on her way.

Lunch today was actually pretty good! Some sort of pasta shells with ricotta cheese and a red sauce, served with garlic toast and a cookie. By far the best meal they have served thus far.

I have to say that despite the one bad apple the rest of the instructors here are great. Every other instructor that I have been in contact with has been extremely helpful and supportive. Over all the experience has been very satisfying, albeit tiring. SNI has a good program here from what I have seen so far, and I do feel like I have learned quite a bit since I started. I have a new found respect for those that have been doing this for a living for any length of time. There are demands that I never anticipated, and as someone that has always been able to succeed at anything I put my mind too, it has been a humbling experience.

 

I have reached the end of week 1! Today was a half day, and a welcome one at that. First thing this morning they wanted to demonstrate how to slide tandems and 5th wheels. They divided the class into two groups and while one took two written tests (DOT regulations, and Log books) the rest of us went outside. They allowed each of us to actually move the tandems and 5th wheel individually, however we had just gotten a couple inches of snow and it made it very difficult. What should have taken maybe ten minutes turned into an hour, lol. We eventually got it done, but I have to say it is a little worrisome to think that this kind of thing will likely happen to us while we are out on the road this time of year. After we fought our way through that, they brought us in for our tests as we swapped with the other group. The first test (DOT regulations) was based on homework they gave us on Day 3. 49 questions long and the test was open book. If you did your homework you simply had to copy your answers over to the test. The second test (Log books) was also open book, you would have to seek out the answers and simply select them for the test. Really no reason anyone should have any trouble with this. You only have to score 80% and they give you 3 tries for each test. Everybody passed with flying colors with the exception of one person that scored an 80% on the DOT test. Don't even ask, cause I don't know, lol. After all that was finished we had some simulator time. We were able to try 3 scenarios. The first one was to simulate ice and your trailer coming around on you, the second was to simulate a steering tire blowout, and the third was how to snub brake down a mountain grade. All three were quite fun and great information to have since all but the third example cannot be replicated for a real experience. We then finished up our log books and had a box lunch that consisted of a sandwich, chips, an orange and a cookie. Truth be told it was probably the best lunch of the week, lol. They shuttled us back to the hotel around noon. I'm still waiting to be contacted by my TE, so I am relaxing and also getting all my laundry done so that I am ready to go first thing in the morning with my drive to Kansas City. Having only a half day today was really nice. The week went fairly quickly, but I am mentally fatigued. I am actually looking forward to tomorrows drive as I think that will actually relax me even more and allow everything to reset before climbing aboard my TE's truck. Now I just keep my fingers crossed that he is a decent guy and that I can learn as much as possible from him. Week two, here I come!