I'm going with Maverick: newbie trainee blog

Thanks. It was designed to inform people with what to expect. Remember that wasn't the final road test. It was an entry road test, so to speak. It was about 1 mile or 1.5 miles. It wasn't too much. Just come out of the terminal, make a right, left, and 2 right turns onto the expressway and then exit the expressway at the next exit. You pull over and let the other person reverse directions back into the terminal.

Now I can understand sending someone home because they were late (the on-site hotel is about 150ft away from the classroom building), or they didn't pass the physical. But for a recent student grad (they do hire student grads), what I did on the road test could have merited a retest. That was the first time riding in a Mav truck, let alone an automatic, let alone a flatbed (well, second time, but first time # Mav). I'm not saying that I didn't make the mistake, but I'm saying that they spent perhaps $1200 or so (probably more) just to get me there and give me all of those tests up to that point. So why give up on a recent grad so easily?

I don't think the test itself was bad (or even hard). I just thought a second chance would have been more professional. But the only reason why they were a bit ####y was because they have a waiting list. So they are not struggling for drivers, per say. Their turnover for 2007 was around 80%, which is one of the lowest in flatbed, compared to 130%+ industry wide.

Another thing that irritated me (and the other student that failed) was that the tester never told us how we did, or what we made mistakes on. I got the offramp speed, but there was other stuff I supposedly did that I had no idea. The other guy got ZERO feedback.

But hey, I could just come back after 6 months experience. I'll probably try to get in their specialized glass division.

 

Seems like yesterday. I'll be at BTC early Monday morning.

 

What were there miles down to? Is this the seasonal slowdown weekly mileage, or overall? I was told the drivers are averaging over 2400 mi/wk. It would go up to 28-3k when freight picks back up. But 2500 is okay for me for now because I will be training anyway.

 

Ok. The switch to BTC is official. I've started a blog on it.

 

They told you that before you start driving. It's not hard at all. I just wasn't thinking about it because I was a little nervous. But to them, it was an automatic failure.

Most people do it with no problems. I could have done it, but just didn't at the time. Just to let people know. And I'm sure one of the instructors is saying right now "Guys, make sure when you do your road test, you slow down 10 mph below the ramp speed limit.....We just had a student 2 weeks ago on his way to getting his job offer and then he slipped up on that one part. We will send you home."