MTC St.Louis Monday 8-18

What a crazy messed up time it has been trying to get going with training.

Finally start Monday 8-18-2014 at MTC in St. Louis.

I know, some of the reviews aren't great, but since I have worked the past few years for a scumbag who paid straight pay under the table, I had a hard time getting pre-hires. One company that has agreed to give me a pre-hire, and front my training costs is U.S. Xpress, and they use MTC for this....it was either this or CREngland......MTC was a no brainer. Had to provide a couple of notarized affidavits (sp?) from people I worked with stating I was indeed employed, so long story short Monday the 18th I start up at MTC.

Not looking forward to the bus ride for sure, but as I understand there is wifi on the bus, so maybe I can watch netflix or something while I ride.

I'm only slightly concerned about the physical, I am on some regular meds, but my family doc says I should be fine, he is the one who does the Dot Physicals at the practice, and under the new regs he said I shouldn't have an issue at all. I am a bit out of shape, but as long as they dont make me run a marathon I should be fine lol.

I will keep everyone up to date as I make this transition in my life. There are lots of local jobs out here in rural pennsylvania in the frack fields, but all of them require at least a year of otr....and yes I called and stopped into a bunch of them before making my decision. PA has some crazy laws concerning driving in the fields, so I guess thats why you need the 1 year.......

So let the journey begin!

Maybe I will see some of you in school, and hopefully get to meet some of you once I start driving as we pass in truck stops and what not.

 

Got my packing list from Gerald at MTC
and a second one from US Xpress

Apparently I will be going straight from graduating MTC to orientation at US Xpress so I have to pack it all.

MTC:
Medications in original prescribed container if you are on them.
Driver's License and Social Security Card (If laminated please apply for a new one and bring that paperwork with you)
Original copy of Birth Certificate (If it has hand or feet prints it is the wrong one, check your state for a copy of the original)
Personal Insurance information including cards if you have it.
Sturdy Sneakers or work boots, no open toed shoes or shoes without laces can be worn onsite here at MTC
Sunglasses (prescription galsses and sunglasses if you have corrected vision)
Blue Jeans or Appropriate work pants (Ie: Dickies, Carhartt) No shorts, sweatpants, or skirts to be worn onsite at MTC
Shirts, t-shirts, must be clean and free of offensive imagery or words. no tank tops, halter tops or spaghetti straps allowed.
Rain Gear, top and bottom, MTC does not stop training due to inclement weather unless weather service requires MTC to do so.
Sweatshirt, It can be cool in the morning or evening
Flashlight, please keep it under 6 inches in size as you are required to have it in your pocket at all times.
ratchet set to include 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 5/8
leather work gloves that can be tightened around wrists
2 composition style note books for notes
12 inch ruler
Most recent edition of Rand McNally Trucking Atlas
Small container (Pencil box sized) to store pens and other items.
Charger for cell phone
Personal Hygiene items such as toothbrush, tooth paste, deodorant, feminine hygiene products etc.

MTC will provide hotel room for duration of training. This includes bedding, towels for showering and hotel sized shampoo/conditioner.
Laundry facilities are located across the street from the hotel.
Rooms will have microwaves, refrigerator and air condiotner
A supermarket is adjacent to the hotel and several restaurants are within a short walk.
Lunch to be provided onsite at MTC daily, breakfast and dinner are on you.


US Xpress Packing list (I will not duplicate from the above list, just assume it is all coming with you)
Please pack everything in a "duffel" style bag for easy storage on the truck.
Twin sized sheets
Small pillow
Sleeping back or blanket
Blank voided check for direct deposit, or routing information from bank
Names, Date of births, and SS#'s for spouse and dependents
calculator
adjustable wrench


I went out this morning and grabbed most of the small stuff, headed to hardware store in a bit for some tools, and to the bookstore for the atlas. Also going to go ahead and upgrade my crappy cellphone to something smarter....big screen, blue tooth, thinking samsung note or LG G3 or something....got an upgrade deal I have been sitting on for a while might as well use it. Guess I should pick a blue tooth headset up as well, start trying to get used to using it now.

Did any of these lists miss anything a rookie should absolutely have right away?

 

Went to finalize everything with MTC today......what a nightmare.

I was assured of a couple of things money wise before starting, needed 50 bucks up front to secure my spot in school, needed to have my physical, testing and licensing fees and that would be it. Besides money for food and laundry I would not have to pay anything additional.............

Was asked today for 400 bucks additional for the initial down payment for school.......at no point in any conversations up to this was an additional 400 bucks mentioned at all, not in emails, not in phone calls, never. They said it was for books and required materials for the company I was contracted to.

Asked if there was a payment plan or something, as 400 bucks right now would put a serious strain on family finances........nope.

So I cautiously backed down, told them I would need 24 hours to consider this new information....got the hard sell at this point trying to pressure me into it.......but I stuck to my guns until I try and find a solution I am comfortable with.

I contacted my recruiter at US Xpress, but was told that MTC has the current fee schedule, and he knows about a revision they are making in the near future that the 400 dollar fee fits into, but said it didnt start until September. He said he'd check and call me back.

Called back, doesnt have a clue why they are asking for the money.

At this point, I am very cautious continuing with MTC

I was accepted into a couple of other cdl programs, I like the idea of driving for US Xpress....so I am making some phone calls today to see whats available.........I will be somewhere working towards my cdl within the next week or two, just not so sure it will be at MTC

 

Cash is always king......and really solid advice for anyone who finds this thread!

This is what my accountant told me to do in order to keep everything straight for tax time next year.

open a separate account at the bank just for me. Have my pay direct deposited into it. Transfer funds every week out of that into e joint shared account for family use. Keep the rest in account
for my daily expenses....the cup of coffee or lunch or whatever I need from day to day. Keep every receipt in an accordian file or scan them into a program.

The bank then has a record of my transfers, all my purchases, and all the receipts to back them up.

I got burned 5 years ago real bad by the IRS in an audit, and because I didnt have receipts to back some stuff up.....well I ended up owing them another 6k when I was done that day. So I already keep every receipt....every last one of them.....never going to let the irs take me to the proctologist again.

I have been looking at some of these receipt scanners that are out there, and sometime after getting my cdl and finished training I think I will probably get one.


Oh, and the extra underwear and socks is understood lol......but I am sure someone somewhere went to training without them lol

I have my prescription glasses and my prescription sunglasses coming with me.

 

MTC is out.

Spent 20 mins on the phone trying to figure everything out. Right at the end they relented and said they would still take me with only the $50. I said thank you, but no thanks.

I am a pretty laid back dude, dont get worked up about much, and I need a career desperately. But even I have limits. Soooooo with that being said I have contacted the other places that accepted me prior, and seeing which one can get me into school the quickest. If I have to wait another week or two so be it, I was ready to leave on Saturday on that wonderful long bus trip, but what is another week or so in the grand scheme of things.

Yeah 20/20 hind site vision and I would have saved up and gone to school on my dime, but things are what they are. Being a slave for a year or so is going to suck, but long term it should pay off. Get that year and there are a ton of "day" jobs here working the Frack sites and plenty of other opportunities around country as well. Not looking to become rich, I just want to work, and be able to have a skill that I could potentially use for the next 20 years.

 

Nope, I am in RURAL Pennsylvania, 3rd smallest town in the whole dang state to be exact.

I am actually happy about not going there. I knew ahead of time that they had a reputation, but given that my previous employer didn't pay legally (under the table), I had no way of proving employment to some of the better options.

And with all the riots and junk going on in that area right now, I really didnt want to be that close to it. My wife survived a lot of civil uprisings in her native South Africa, she really didnt want to see me potentially go through it myself.

Like I mentioned before, my options are limited. Prime, Roehl, Millis, KLLM, Stevens.....they all said no right up front. Stevens and KLLM said I could have some notarized affidavits filled out, but they would have to be confirmed by my former employer over the phone.....and he is a scumbag who calls me everyday to ask me to come back, and when I say no he starts to yell and scream at me....it's quit comical now that I think about it. I told him earlier this week it would cost him $35 an hour....he thought I said day and got excited, I was like nope, $35 an hour on the books, he called me every cuss word in the book before I hung up. This is what happens when the only person who knows how to do several critical jobs ups and leaves for respect and a future.....he is left without anyone who knows how to do anything, forcing him to actually get up out of his house and work, but he doesnt even know how to do half of what I did, so he just spends all day yelling and screaming at the poor sods i left behind.....

I'm staying away from CR England........I am leaning towards CRST, only because of the 8 months, and I have a guy who I really really trust who works for them now. He is a deacon at my church, been with them for about 2 years, he says it sucks bad for the first 8 months-1yr, but after that you can write your way with them. He is in the "Recovery" division. He is on call out of the terminal, he works on a team. So he and a partner leave the terminal either in a car or bobtail depending on what they are to recover. Sometimes they recover an abandoned truck that is loaded, and drive it to the destination for delivery. Sometimes they recover a trailer and same thing, other times they recover an abandoned truck and bring it back to the terminal. A few times they drive out to relieve a driver that has to get to a funeral, or hometime, or whatever. One of them hops in the truck as a co-driver the other takes the person to the nearest transport hub to get home...or drives them there.

See that sounds like a good job. He said he got into it after about 9 months on the road. Asked his Manager what other opportunities were out there, his manager emailed him all the openings in the company, there were like 15 in this recovery department, he applied 3 days later he was off his truck and into this job. Told me to get 8 months (finish contract) and it would be there, always hiring in his department he says.

Apparently they also do some recovery for some other companies as well.............

Long winded. I know, tl;dr