KLLM hiring process question

You will like it.

If you have a good calm easy going instructor for your first time, it might be a fun experience even.

Tractor trailers are fun. Always have been, until dispatchers and the 1994 laws stopped allowing me to have fun with tractor trailers.

Learning anything in life is a scary process, a stressful process. But at the end of the day you will be in cloud 9 celebrating and smiling because you actually got to drive a 18 wheeler. Whoo!!! All the rest of the stuff to learn will fall into place for you sooner or later.

The biggie is to avoid trainers like myself for now. You don't want ... grumpies from the 7 drawfs movie sitting in that right seat that would be me in red. Grumpy grumpy grumpy. I have forgotten alittle bit how to take it easy kick back and let's have fun driving today this here big truck. It's been too many years of serious battle that has taken some of the joy out of me.

But I encourage you to try it. Im fixing to get back into ground school in the future to get back into piloting myself and have some concerns and worries all over again like you do for trucking. Flying for me is a absolute joy, but 9-11 and our proximaty to Jacksonville Airforce Base and three Controlled airspace airfields (Think really big upside down wedding cakes in the sky. like 6 to 25 miles across and 20 miles high. You cannot take a plane into those areas just because you want to. That's like speeding at 80 mph in a 25 mph school zone in downtown with a big truck. Authorities would go crazy.

Im hoping to make something of a future, what there is of it.

I can encourage you to smile and relax. You are in a wonderful position, learning to drive the cool 18 wheelers in your lifetime. Not too many people get to say that in life. How many other truckers do you actually know of in your family? See where Im going with this thought?

Have fun. Everything else will fall into place.

 

The trucks are 10 speed?

 

Probably. Basic company crap.. er basic company equiptment. Everyone gets to run a 10 speed at one point or another in trucking. My big challenge with them is downshifting across the box from say 6th high which is way over to the drivers side and back towards the sleeper, split into low range double cluctch and get that stick that is like 3 foot high all the way up into nuetral and then push it quickly all the way over to your passenger seat and pull back to get into 5th low, there is a spring somewhere in it that tells you you are in the right place. Don't forget to stab your throttle with the right foot once or twice during the movement of your shift to keep the rpms up there. Because it's a very long shift path and engines will fall below where it needs to be causing you to scratch the gear you are trying to get into.

There are many different transmissions in trucking, too many to list. I had a 15 speed Mack that was beautiful for the work I did with it it's a set of 5 speeds low, then 5 direct and 5 more up top of the box with the top two a under drive set which means you can gain half a gear without physically shifting on hills. For some truckers it's actually over drive, the ability to gain half a gear and really GO as in speed before getting into the top gear and really going.

 

Does kllm not have automatics?

 

What about a eye exam is that provided along with the physical?

 

Ok i.found.out that they dont cover the eye glasses.

 

Can someome tell me if there is lifting involved in the physical for a lady that will be driving a refrigerated truck?

 

Yes mostly 10 speeds. But last I heard company switching to an all auto fleet. The volvo 15 on up I know for sure are autos. When I did the physical there was no push or pull test. Don't have to lift anything. That was last year.

 

Where is the exam taking at? Is it like on a course of some sort?

 

They have their own doctors at the yards. It's like going to do a check up with your doctor. Nothing major.