Newbie needs advice: Who to go with for experience?

Rocknroll81 you have some valid points. The one thing is the school I'm going to, TCE or transportation center for excellence, has a job for me before I even walk through their doors and its a company that I want to work for not one that I have to settle for. This is their policy. There is another driver on my other thread that went to this school and its legit. The way this school works is they line up the job, then you do your classroom which is 3 weeks, then they pay you to train with your person from the company you signed on with for the next 6 weeks. After that you're on your own. Even if the company doesn't pay you for orientation and training, the school does somehow. This is how I understand it. Then again I could be wrong. lol
My brain is a little scrambled though because in order to work this career I need to get off of my chronic pain program meds and have a clean drug test. At this point I'm off of about 3/4 of them but the withdrawal is kicking my ### big time and that is with a doctor's script for the symptoms. I just keep telling myself I want to do this job and its worth what I'm going through. So if I seem a big scatter brained, thats why.
Thanks all!

 

"ulurhu, I had to think on how i could answer or throw my 2 cents in with out getting negitive, and thats because you are a newbie and i am old school and i know that i am out of touch with a lot. I not sure what roadmaster is, but if that is a driving school you just sent up alot of red flags when you said that the admissions person already said you have 4 prehires, does that mean you have 4 companies that are willing to take your app. when finished with school? or does it mean that they are willing to hire you before you even finish school? That does not make sense to me, again, i am old school and sounds like you are being duped just for your money and it seems that you are going thru some hard times right now and you should be more cautious moving forward."

Roadmaster is a CDL school that has been around since 1992. I know there has been some recent bad press about CDL mill schools. Swift got in the news about their school and people had to retake their test. I was looking at Roadmaster before I went to the local jr college program. There is a another recognized school -- National Training -- but that school is further from my house. But now that I need refresher training (CDL obtained in 2008), this is why I am considering them. As for going with a company training program, that will mean I will have a commitment to them. My husband got training through Covenant Transport (when they had a school) and it was of course less. I have been seeing that some companies are starting to offer training schools again but that means I will have to leave for the training part. This way I can at least get the training part here before I go off.

However, my problem is that I will most likely not be making an initial income if I go to a company training program. By going with Roadmaster, I am taking leave from my present company, still have an income, and the training site is not far from my home. Then when the time comes I go to a company, then I will retire early and go from there.

"I know that you said something about working a second full time job and it seemed like alot of hours for you, just remember this, once you are driving otr, you will be putting up to 70 hours a week and it could be done in 5-7 days, in other weeks maybe not as much."

When I was working a second job, I was only getting around 4 hours of sleep. At my second job, I was working 3rd shift (11pm-7am). I was working at a local bloodbank and doing deliveries. My worst time for driving was 3am-6am, so that will factor in with doing OTR. I know I could put in 70 hours but DOT regulations makes a driver take 10 hours off -- I was not getting that with my 2nd job. I was putting in 16 hours (work alone) and then another 4 hours for travel time, dinner, etc. for the remaining time -- thus not much time for sleeping. The schedule I had was such that I was working every day. So when I wasn't working at both, I would be so tired I didn't get much else done. I will at least be on a vehicle that has bedding.

Pre-hires are from companies that show interest based on my application and where I'm going to get my training. This was the case when I went to the jr. college. There were a few reps that came but it was up to the student to try to find a job. However, with Roadmaster they will help placement by screening their students, the student has a better chance getting on with a decent company.

I agree to going with a company training program may be better but I'm not all that sure about having to then commit to them. Most companies will offer a "safety bonus" which is really a payment back for the CDL training.

I know I'm a newbie but I have been looking into various companies and what is involved for sometime. I have been looking for secondary employment, mostly if it would be part-time or hours I could handle. But haven't scored anything and part of it may be my age. With my husband out of work and I haven't had a pay increase in over 4 years and don't see much improvement in the coming years, I figure that I should go about putting my CDL to work. I know I have seen a lot of negative about companies on this forum and at other places but I have had my share of negativity at my current workplace and at other places I have worked at.

The point of this tread is it looks like MaMa Bear is working her way to get with a company and I really wish her the best. I asked my admissions rep about the need for women trainers and there is apparently a need for female trainers. An example would be for husband/wife teams -- someone has to train the wife unless the husband already is.

I came close to getting a safety position with Werner but I just don't have the drive time. The position was for someone with a safety background but I don't have enough experience with the regulations, HOS, and such. Once I get the road time, I feel then I can later look at safety management.

 

no i was told getting out of school would give me 6 months experience but you had to fight for seat time and road time........

 

Question for MaMa Bear -- have you thought of what you are going to do when you have to go potty (like in right away)? I don't mean for this to sound gross but when you are with a trainer or a team you make money with the miles not by how often you stop.

I have been wondering about this as I usually have to go about 4 hours after sleeping and it would not be fair to my co-driver to stop unless there is a rest stop or truck stop close by. I have been looking into porta potties. Men have the plumbing to kinda go just about anywhere but us gals don't quite have that.

I see you have been asking about other trucking terms but have wondered if you have given much thought to this type of situation.

 

ulurhu, I have been thinking extensively about that problem also and my solution is a small porta potty that campers use. Its very compact and will slide under anything.
Here are other options. http://preparedness.com/pourformaorf.html
http://preparedness.com/dailreskit.html
I'm sure there are other options out there for us ladies. The one thing that I absolutely will not do is throw a bomb out of the truck for someone to pick up and have explode on them. There is an epidemic of this out there and it gives all truckers a very bad name.
If any of you have other options, please post them!
Thanks!

 

angeleyesinfl - I was told that also by a tech college program administrative assistant but that is nothing but bullspit. You can put down on your application the actual miles you had in the seat during school but I've been told that a company will consider that a lie if you put down that much experience right out of school. I hope this helps you.

 

This is a very interesting item that was awarded a patent for. It looks to me like its a tank that is permanently affixed inside the truck for on the go urine collection and then it can be emptied later. Not sure if they have a female adapter to it yet but looks promising.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5946742.pdf

 

I have been looking at a portable urinal for women. It is at "www.activeforever.com". It is called a UriBag Urinal. It is basically flat when empty so it will be easy to put in luggage. It holds 32oz so it will be easy to empty and clean out. I will at least need some type of urinal when I go with a trainer as I go about 4 hrs and then have to go. I don't think it will be all that convienent for the trainer while he(she) is driving to stop for me to go. This way I can go and then dispense it later.

I have also come across an inflatable potty in which it is about the size of a sheet of paper when deflated. It is at "safetycentral.com/inflateapotty.html". I won't look into that until I see what happens after training. It would be great if my trainer has a potty so as having to go won't be an issue. The inflatable potty uses 13 gal trash bags or you can get bags called "double doodie" that have a chemical that makes all the waste turn into a solid -- much easier then to dispose of.

I "restart" my training on 1 Nov an dhave 4 pre-hires right now. During orientation, I will see about applying at more. I'm going with Roadmaster. They do have a 40hr refresher course but since I didn't get with a company, it is probably just as well to go through the whole thing again as there may be some new material out.

I'm excited and scared at the same time. I have been at my present job for 23 yrs. I have had some 2nd jobs during this time but not a full scale change of positions. I'm at a point in which I can retire early -- I know my check will be less but I think I just may have a better chance in transportation. I don't plan on making this career change being just a driver.

 

ulurhu, If I could thank you 100 times for that last post I would! How wonderfully helpful those links are. I'm definitely looking into a portable potty situation because after dark when I pull into either a rest area or a truck stop, I'm not going to get out of the truck for safety reasons.
I think its great how you are starting as a driver and then moving onto something more inside the field. That will show how close you are to what is actually happening out on the road and especially to the lady drivers out there. Go for it!

 

That is also why I'm looking at something like a urinal or porta potty. When I only need to take a tinkle, then why go through all that hassle to find a restroom and a little urinal will work until you get someplace better.

I'm looking at the porta potty as once I get on the road, I'm sure there will be times that I'll be at a delivery site and need to go. Some places may not let the driver use their facilities. This way you are able to stay with the truck and keep things relatively sanitary.

If you want to find some other stuff about me, I have a Facebook page and there is also some other trucking info there. There are pages and groups for truckers. My facebook page is under Sharon Priest. What I like about Facebook is that it is easy to post pics, send messages to others, and just generally keep in touch.

This forum is great in that many come here to either post information, ask for help, or just give out other information regarding this industry. This information can then be used to post elsewhere. I belong to another trucker forum but rarely visit there -- that may soon change once I get out on the road.