Starting Schneider National Dedicated Flex Fleet

Discussion in 'Schneider' started by vipie1992, Dec 21, 2020.

  1. Cdubb

    Cdubb Light Load Member

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    @vipie1992

    20 weeks for school? #### dude lol I did mine in four weeks. That not meant as knocking you just I’ve never heard of a school lasting that long even with the on the road training once you get on with a company.

    Best of luck to you regardless
     
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  3. vipie1992

    vipie1992 Light Load Member

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    Yeah the weird part about my school is that they had a 4-week class too, but they had some kind of contract with Steven's Transport where if you wanted to take the 4-week class you had to end up signing on with Steven's first. I didn't want to be tied down to Steven's so I ended up taking the 20 week class so I could have some kind of freedom to choose who I wanted to work for. Schneider was my choice even before I started my first day at CDL school. If you took the 4-week class you also had to end up getting an automatic restriction on your license as well which I didn't want.

    It was crazy tho, I can't believe we spent almost 3 months on the backing pad like wtf. In retrospect I would probably do a few things different. But, the 20-week class was the only option I had available in my area without any strings attached, so I did what I could.
     
  4. Cdubb

    Cdubb Light Load Member

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    That’s a pretty screwed up deal man, sorry you had to go through that but glad you stuck it out. I know I was going crazy in my class during the 3rd week wanting to test and be done even tho my instructor and classmates were awesome. I knows there’s a lot of predatory stuff like that in trucking especially with new guys but that’s some next level bs imo.

    I was in your shoes a year ago, fresh out of school not sure where to go. I almost signed on with Schneider but ended up doing some agricultural loads and worked on a farm. I ended up with a mom and pop company now with pretty much unlimited freedom on what I do and what I haul. My point being, survive this first job and things get better.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2021
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  5. vipie1992

    vipie1992 Light Load Member

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    15th day (Wednesday) complete.

    Continued more load securement on the flatbeds today. Learned how to do belly wraps, 4-tier bulkheads, and eye-to-the-sky coils. Had fun again but accidentally ripped my pants crawling under a spool LOL. Had to do an obstacle course basically and unstrap everything and re-strap it one last time. No problem.

    After the course we went back inside and did the CFLs on the computer. Passed with no problem, so I guess I'm now Schneider certified on flatbed and flatbed securement.

    Me and my co-trainee were apparently killing it and were done with everything before 9am. Since we had a bunch of extra time, my TE started going through the moffett book with me and we got about halfway through it before he let me go for the day. Since we got a headstart on the moffett book today, tomorrow should go by pretty quickly. Seems like the moffett will be pretty similar to a regular forklift which I have a ton of experience with, so I'm thinking a lot of the knowledge I have will translate pretty well. There are a few extra steps of course, but it's pretty straightforward considering the limitations of a moffett. Excited to get behind the wheel of one tomorrow and see what it's like.

    I had to wake up at 4:45 this morning and I am super tired now. Finna head to bed early for once lol. Stay tuned.
     
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  6. mickeyrat

    mickeyrat Road Train Member

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    not bad for the first week of 2021.....
     
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  7. mickeyrat

    mickeyrat Road Train Member

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    except he is a TE for SNI and has been for years
     
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  8. vipie1992

    vipie1992 Light Load Member

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    Dec 21, 2020
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    16th day (Thursday) Complete

    Finished up the Moffett book before lunch. Headed out after lunch to practice pre-tripping the moffett, drove it around a small maneuvering course. Took a second to get used to the foot pedal for forward and reverse, after driving forklifts for years I kept reaching for a gear stalk that wasn't there. Before long I was doing donuts around the course with my foot on the gas.

    Afterwards I did some actual loading/unloading onto a flatbed. I've done this with regular forklifts before so this was a blast from the past. Just have to remember the order of the steps to do it with a moffett. I've got the basics down but it'll obviously take some more practice before I get as good and efficient with it as I was with a regular forklift.

    Tomorrow we kick it up a notch and I'll fork and strap a load, learn how to use the moffett in lateral mode, as well as learn how to mount the moffett to the flatbed. I also have to take a 100 question CFL tomorrow on all of the moffett material I've learned and then I should be good be certified with the Moffett. Haven't heard anything about what's supposed to be happening after tomorrow though. My hotel is only booked until Monday so I assume I'll have to get out of here before then.

    Hoping they give me the weekend off, or at least Saturday, so I can watch the Packer game. Lol.
    Anyways, seems like I'm getting pretty close to the end of training now maybe, we'll see what happens.
     
  9. vipie1992

    vipie1992 Light Load Member

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    Dec 21, 2020
    Northwest Louisiana
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    17th day (Friday) Complete

    Started off the day again doing all the same Moffett stuff I did yesterday, was much more efficient and confident with it today. Also learned how to use lateral mode. Lateral mode is so un-intuitive but I finally figured it out. Also mounted the forklift to the trailer a couple times and went over all the steps. No problem there. Also learned how to get the Moffett into tight spaces with fences if I have to lift the load over a fence and rotate my way through a 6ft opening. I nailed it on my first try, was pretty happy with myself on that one.

    After Moffett training I had to learn how to use the lift-gate on a straight-truck and also did a QRT (qualification road test) in the straight-truck, took a spin around Dallas in the straight-truck. Super easy, done most of it before in a past life as well so that helped. Did the QRT and went to lunch.

    Came back from lunch, Took my 100 question CFL on the moffett and passed. I was also supposed to do some pallet jack training but the OC doesn't have any electric pallet jacks to train with, so we had to forego it for now. As for everything else, I'm now certified on reefers, flatbeds, moffetts, straight trucks, and lift-gates and I think that's pretty cool.

    Also got my instructions for going on the road with my TE and even some instruction for what happens past that. I'll be assisting a dedicated Sprouts account starting Monday, looks like it'll mostly be reefer trailers so we'll see what that's like. Looking forward to it.

    Looks like my first solo gig will be a truck recovery, and I'm going to end up slipseat bob-tailing for a few hours to the Atlanta OC to get my own personal truck. Pretty stoked, should be a nice practice run to see how the truck handles without a trailer on it, as I've yet to drive a bobtail tractor more than the few yards necessary to couple and uncouple.

    I've got the weekend off, gonna get some good rest and brush up on my acronyms for next week.

    Will update again Monday, but I'm going to stay focused the whole time I'm on the road with the TE, will see how the 10-hour breaks end up working. Might not have time to write an update lol.

    Stay safe out there
     
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  10. mickeyrat

    mickeyrat Road Train Member

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    longer stopping distance bobtail, slower in the corners and curves is safer. without a trailer you're gonna get a lot more bounce.
     
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  11. mickeyrat

    mickeyrat Road Train Member

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    being a recovery job, you can almost garauntee its trashed inside.
     
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