Crowder to Conway to Finishing Aug 23, 2010

Well folks, I start at Crowder College tomorrow for 5 weeks. I have a prehire from Conway Truckload so upon graduation will go across town for a week of orientation and then off for 7500 miles of training.

My goal for this thread is reporting. I have seen a few threads where the intention was day by day, but hearing "classroom in a.m., pretrip and some sort of driving in afternoon", and so on doesn't really help a newbie.

I hope to share things I learn about the school, the company, the finishing, and the industry and will likely end this thread on the the day I am upgraded and issued my truck.

I have read tons and done plenty of research since mid June. Spoke to schools, spoke to recruiters, and last but not least spoke to a family friend who is a driver.

He asked if I had looked into Conway Truck Load. When I said no, he recommended it. Even before I called, I did some digging. I have to say, they don't have the best web presence. I did learn that Florida is in their hiring area but it took some drilling to get there and I am not even sure I could find that again!

Then I called and a real person answered the phone, asked to speak to a recruiter, got one right away, and then proceeded to where I start school tomorrow. Follow up with my recruiter has always been prompt whether by phone or email. That was not the norm with other companies and schools.

Conway recommended Crowder College. They have a program that starts every two weeks and runs for 5 weeks and I believe Conway fills 5 or 6 of the 8 seats available.

Crowder costs around $3100 which isn't bad. Conway said I must pay the first $1000 plus my room and board at school. Then if I make it through school, through Company orientation and 7500 miles of finishing, and am hired, the balance of my tuition and commitment is paid off as soon as I deliver my first load.

Paid off, finished, no further commitment. I told Christine the recruiter that I thought that was unusual. She agreed it was, but also stated that they were confident I won't be too interested in jumping ship. She said if I make it that far, I will want to stay. Refreshing after hearing about indentured servitude of 8 to 24 months depending on which company you are talking to!

Also, for company orientation, Conway pays for the equivalent of a bus ticket to Joplin, your hotel, gives $300 in advance to cover meals, and then when you go out for 7500 miles of finishing, you will make $.26 per mile. That is probably one of the best I saw.

When you upgrade to your own truck, you go to 30 cpm. Then, add 2cpm for every 30k miles you drive. By 120000 mile you are making 36cpm. I think there is also a penny for safe miles after your first 3 months and continues and grows. For some reason, I believe there is some fuel economy bonus to but I am not sure and won't guess. First year drivers, $42k is attainable.

There is no guarantee they will hire me, but nobody else guarantees that either. I saw a thread where a guy had his CDL, was packed off to orientation at another company and after a week of orientation he was told to plan on being out for six weeks. He went through orientation and he and 33 others in the group were told there were not enough trainers available to put them on the road for finishing. That guy has been chilling for a month and now other companies, including Conway won't touch him because he has had his license for over 30 days and hasn't been through finishing.

Crowder College has dorms and a food hall for out of state students. You will come to Crowder with your CDL learner's permit, then end up with a Missouri CDL. You can transfer that back to your home state as soon as you get home. You also need a DOT physical prior to going. Drug screenings will be done at the school and I think again at orientation.

Once I get hired...upgraded to my own truck, the company wants me to get haz-mat and will pay for the $90 background check. I believe there is also a bonus for haz-mat miles, northeast miles, Canadian crossings, delays, and multi drops. As I get the exact details I will pass them on.

You get the learners permit in your own state by taking the general knowledge, air brakes and combination vehicle portions of the CDL test.

Room and Board at Crowder costs $595. It is a dorm, and there are 3 meals a day on week days and 2 per day on weekends. Even if you live somewhere in Missouri, that probably isn't a bad deal. If you come from out of state, your residency in the dorm qualifies you as a resident of Missouri so that you can get the Missouri CDL at the end of class.

The folks at Crowder have also been very responsive as well. Great about returning calls and emails. Almost always a person answers the phone.

So, I did all of my research, Conway offered me the prehire terms I mentioned earlier, and this was about the 2nd week of July. I was told the first available class was Sept 7th. Disappointed that it was over 2 months away? Yes, but I agreed. My recruiter asked if there was a cancellation in an earlier class, could I go. I told her yes.

The next day, she called and asked if I could be in Missouri on Aug 2nd. I still had some things to wrap up here and told her no. A day or two after that she asked if I could make a class on Aug 23. I said yes.

I fly out today and start tomorrow. By the way, if I crap out somewhere along the way and don't make it through finishing, I will chalk it up to a learning experience and will report as candidly as possible what happened.

I hope this thread is helpful to others in training and those thinking about starting. Also, feedback from anyone that has been the Crowder/Conway route is always appreciated.

Next stop Neosho, Missouri for Crowder College, sometime this afternoon.

Be safe!

Roadrealtor, Ft. Myers, FL

 

Boomer, BobMac and Nameless,

See you on the 7th. My group is in the dorm with a group that graduates next week. That group has been great about telling us what to expect and I suppose we will be doing that for your...We will fill you in on the Newbie Hazing Process we went through...LOL.

Seriously, all good people and very good about making each other feel welcome in a strange place learning strange new stuff.

On the 2nd interview question, I have heard that too, but I don't have any answers. I wouldn't worry. All indications are that CWTL does not want anyone to crap out.

I will add some comments on my first three days in another post shortly.

 

Update from Day 1 to Day 3...

Regarding what I have learned, as I stated, I don't want to go through the day by day because that has been covered here and on other boards. But, Newbies, let me say, we spent a total of maybe 6 hours in class in 3 days and the rest has been out on the either driving or observing. The amount of hands on time is more than I expected and you will feel like a kid with the new things you will be doing and will have a good amount of frustration too.

My best advice is do not despair. On day one, you will be thinking I will never learn this pre trip inspection and by day 3 you will be pretty comfortable.

On day two you will be thinking I will never learn to double clutch and matching rpm's. You will climb in thinking this will be a piece of cake. Your driver's seat will be wet from sweat no matter how cool the cab is after you discover you can't find a single gear. You will find out shifting is more complicated going down a hill or up, and is nothing like that smooth syncro-mesh that you shift through on your car at home.

There is a guy with a CDL in our class who hasn't driven in about 10 years so he is starting over. I am certain he used to know, but he ground as many gears as us rookies...what an awful sound especially when you are the one grinding. We were all better on the 3rd day...don't despair.

Those of us feeling more comfortable with the pre-trip are the ones to go over and practice after dinner. This is no different than anything else. Practice.

We all coupled and un-coupled trailers several times in one morning. Honestly, this was the thing I feared the most because it was so unknown to me. Shifting didn't bother me until I found out that it is nothing like the cars I have driven.

Bury the expectations, keep your mind open and every day will be better on the stuff you learned but aren't perfect, and you won't be disappointed by the things you thought you knew but didn't.

Hanging in, your classmates and the instructors will help get you through.