DALLAS OC ...Turning into a Pumpkin!

Just to report, the hotel here for the Dallas OC is a Comfort Inn on I-35E. It is about 12 miles from here to the OC on I-20. The hotel is more than adequate. It is not a luxury hotel, and I didn't expect it, but I have stayed in many hotels much worse than this. It is very comfortable, quiet, and clean. It leaves a good impression for things to come. With Schneider footing the bill, it could be so much worse. The front desk says there is 17 names to check in. So far, I am in a room by myself, but the front desk told me a roommate is very possible, but no one else has come in so far.

I will report more tomorrow after I know more.

 

Well, the first day has come and gone with a roommate coming in at 1 AM. I felt bad for him because he had just ridden a bus 12 hours from Mississippi and we needed to be up and to the van by 6:30 AM. He seems a pretty good guy.

As the norm, the day began with a lot of paperwork in the morning going into learning about logs with testing of the material. No physical test yet. I was told it should be Monday morning. The afternoon went into many videos that need to be watched and logged in our user account. About twelve hours worth that need to be completed by Friday. We had about an hour and a half of homework that we need to turn in first thing in the morning.

There are seventeen of us. I am not sure how many are experienced drivers, but the majority are recent grads. One guy seems to be having some difficulty understanding how Schneider does their logs and has talked of going home, but we are all trying to encourage him to stay. I am not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow. I only know we will have a different instructor.

From my inexperience with the trucking companies, Schneider seems to be a stand up operation just like was explained to us by the experienced drivers on this forum. All the drivers I have talked to here that have been with the company for some time say that miles are no problem - if you want them, they are there! I am not going to try and compare Schneider to any other company because I don't have any reference experience, but from this first day, as a company in general, it appears they have great employee satisfaction, do a good job of screening candidates, and try to provide a positive working experience. The hotel and two meal tickets are provided at Schneider's expense, not a deduction to come out of a paycheck.

I am still realistic in my observations. The kool aid has been set on the table. I haven't tasted it yet but so far the aroma smells good.

I am pretty tired after limited sleep last night and an eleven hour day, plus an hour and a half of homework.

I hope things are going as well for the others that have started this week.

 

The testing is done mostly on paper, but there are some questions on the computer about safety and other videos we need to look at. There is not one big test at the end of each video, there are questions here and there along the way.





Sorry folks, it is late and I just got finished with trip planning homework. I passed the pre-work physical with no problems, however my BP was a little high (for me, not in general, it was within the limits).

I will try and write more tomorrow evening. Everything is going fine.

JD, Don't worry I am keeping the lid on that koolaid. But it is nice to know I am at least looking at the glass.

 

Day three done and gone.

Today one was sent home for a drug test and another is struggling bad with classroom. I think he is on the verge of being sent home. He asks for help from the other students, but it turns into him wanting us to do it for him. Some are just not cut out for this.

I am again one tired pup. Our day was from 7AM to 7:30PM - and again with homework on Macro 18 so it is important if I want to get paid on the road. We got in the trucks for the first time to see how much work the driving instructors need to do. We drove around town then did coupling and uncoupling, and some backing. I am struggling a bit on the coupling/uncoupling. I know everything to do, but re-learning the order Schneider wants it done is the struggle. I will get it. I am not gonna let a little thing like that keep me down. My driving instructor is great. I hope my TE is at least half as easy to get along with. If that is the case, my time out with him should go easy.

So far, all the other drivers I have met have been very nice, supportive, and exercising normal manners during encounters. It seems the new experienced drivers in our sister class have some manner problems - or at least compared to my experience with actual SNI drivers.

Well, homework here I come.

Everyone take care.

 

Day four is gone. I was too tired to post last evening. With the phone calls home of family wanting to know how it is going and homework, I am the most tired I have been in a long time. I understand I need to get used to it, but I am fatigued at this moment to the point of not functioning the way I need to. I regressed this morning on clutch control. My mind knew what to do, but it seemed my body was just not responding correctly at the right moment. My instructor was going to keep me out some this evening, but he said to go to the hotel and get some good rest and let's try again in the morning. So I will give it another shot in the morning. Classroom is no problem. We already have the graduating certificates in our folders. Backing, nor coupling has been a problem either.

I am still enjoying the time even if I have some self-frustration. I still feel Schneider is alright, but this is the easy part. I am keeping my eyes and ears open once I am assigned a DBL. I know that is what makes your real working experience.

Everyone take care.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence, TT. We saw a video today on the E-logs that was pretty interesting. We have been working on our Macro 18's and trip planning. That has went well and I have had no problems on that. I have been working with some of the other students that have been struggling a bit on that Macro. The confusing part for most of them is leaving your drive line on the same time as the OC. Most are wanting to incorporate any time zones in the graph.

Good luck on your class.