Joining the team

Well, it looks like my school has me scheduled for my Road and skills test with the DMV on Thursday the 16th at 7:00am. I hope all goes well. If it does, im supposed to start orientation in missoula on the 10th of Jan. I hope I dont forget everything Ive learned before that time. LOL Anyway Im getting excited to get up there and start my new career.

 

I submitted my application while I was in school. I have to fax back some documents including my graduation certificate and transcripts. So they cant really do anything more till I graduate. They like to do all the paperwork and physical and drug test before you get to orientation. Some companies do all that when you get there and thats why a lot of guys get sent home during orientation at other companies. You could get sent home at WS during orientation but that would be due to your skill level and how you grasp their company info., not because of paperwork or backround stuff.

 

If anyone has to stop in las vegas, let me know, Ill buy you dinner and pick your brain.

 

Today was the road and skills test for the DMV. I was a little nervous but Im happy to report that I passed!!! The examiner said my shifting was excellent, much better than most drivers he has tested. He dinged me on a couple small things. During road test he had me pull over to side of road like I was going to check truck out. I signaled and pulled over, applied parking brakes but I forgot to turn on my 4way flashers. Another ding was he said I exited the freeway at to low a speed (55mph) speed limit was 75. It was raining kind of hard and I was thinking off ramp might be slippery. He also said my tandems went over the fog line once.

Anyway, bottom line is, Im now the proud holder of a CDL A license with all endorsements!! And a funny sign happened. When I was driving back to the motel Ive been staying at, I exited freeway and was sitting at red light a Watkins Shepard truck rolled up next to me at the light. Truck number 2042,is that any of you guys? Looks like Ive been confirmed to attend orientation on Jan 10th.

Im a bit apprehensive about starting out with no trainer still. Ive thought about going with Swift because of the Mentor training for 6weeks. So many things I dont know still like truck stop etiquite(sp) Ive never bumbed an actual dock, never pulled a loaded trailer, never put on chains except in school, never done an alley dock (not covered in school) Heck, Ive never even fueled a truck. I feel comfortable driving the truck forward, but backing up still gets my heart raceing.

Im going to drive back home to vegas tomorrow and think about these things and make a final decision on Monday on who to go with. How have you guys that had no prior experience dealt with things once you were on your own? Thanks for listening!

 

I looked at driver he didnt see me. This happened here in Kingman Az. was he just fueling here or spending the day resting? This was about noon time local MST.