KKW Trucking Pomona, Ca Orientation

Hey guys, sorry I've been AWOL from this thread. I know some of you have been waiting for an update from me. I'll explain what's up when I get home in a little while (I'm on my phone right now).

 

Alight so here's what's up with me and KKW. In a previous post I said that I had pass the road test, well I assumed I passed anyways. The road test was done at the end of the day, before I left to go home they said ok see you tomorrow (see how I might assume I passed). I arrive for the second day of orientation and after about ten minutes I am told that they will be discontinuing the orientation because of my road test. Like I said I trouble downshifting and knowing which gear to be in for the speed I am going. They tell me I am welcome to come back if I can get some kind of refresher training and that I am a perfect applicant otherwise.

Let's just say that I had a depressing drive home that day. My plan is to still try and get hired on at KKW. They actually sent me a paycheck for the one day and ten minutes I was there at orientation, how many companies will pay someone they send home from an orientation? My plan is to go back to the driving school where I graduated and get a refresher course. I go and meet with the school's recruiter on Monday. The school does refreshers by day I guess, 1-5 days depending on how much training I would need. So hopefully everything goes well with refresher training and hopefully I can get hired on at KKW without any problems.

 

I wouldn't say the road test is hard, pretty standard I suppose. The problem with me is that I haven't driven a truck in two years, only having around two months of experience. There were a few times when I would get lost in the gears when I slowed down, I could kinda downshift but I was really rusty. Grinding once in a while shouldn't be a problem, just make sure you know what gear you need to be in for the speed you're going. As I mentioned before, you will most likely be tested while pulling a set of doubles. It's not much different feeling then driving a 53' trailer I guess, just a little of a trip when you turn corners and see two trailers behind you. Their trucks are 10 speeds which is what I drove in driving school and at Schneider, the truck I was tested in however was a Volvo, I've only ever driven Freightliners not sure if that made a difference or not though.

I definitely agree with you Gunner, a company paying someone they send home from orientation speaks volumes about them. Especially when you hear stories about companies bringing new people in hundreds if not thousands of miles from their homes just to leave them stranded there if they kick them out of orientation. They actually paid me for two days of orientation even though I was only there ten minutes on the second day. They told me they had to think about whether or not to continue orientation overnight, that's why paid me when I had to drive all that way just to be sent home.

 

No problem Thelastofmykind, I hope we all can get hired on at KKW in the near future. I have a question for you, are you a recent truck driving school graduate, experienced driver, or currently in a driving school?