Question for pumpkin truckers

Im starting with SNI Bulk on Mar 11th. I was hoping someone besides me would post a reply. I'm worried about not having driven for close to a month by the time I get to Pittsburgh. I have no idea how to trip plan and freightliners have 10 speeds and I've been using 13's. I bought a Truckers Atlas and have been looking at it. Sni has a forum called pumpkin drivers, that you can check out, IMO theres not much for trainees there. Good Luck to you.

 

Don't get your self in a sweat over this, At some time you will have to take a road test but they know your new and will take that into consideration AS LONG AS YOUR SAFE. When I went with SNI I hadn't been in a truck for well over a year. Trip planning, no problem you'll cross that bridge in time. good luck

 

Thank you NYROADIE. I was worried about that. I'm not to worried about the agility test but i'm out riding and at the gym just in case. I tend to get white coat syndrome.

 

I got my cdl through snider back in 99. They have a good training program. Back then I went to a two week class and then with a trainer for a few weeks. The program was good and their facilities were good. I didn't stay very long though due to the fact of only being paid .22 cents a mile and always being sent to the north east with not many miles. They started me out with good miles but then seemed to go bad with always running NE there arent many miles to travel. I think they are a good try though, just do your best to stay out of the north east. A guy I work with now was a owner op with them and he was happy while there.

 

You usually have to wait 6 months before being able to change to a different division; however, depending on the need of the position and your company record, you can be moved around prior to the 6 months.

 

Hope it all goes well in Coraopolis.Hotel is nice, students drive company van to class everyday from hotel.

 

Thank you Mr. V. Do you pull tank for sni?

 

My experience at Schneider - Just got back from training in Coraopolis, to start off with its only 9 days not two weeks like my recruiter told us, sure was happy about that. We started with 6 in the class and only 3 made it, first guy had bad knees and scared of heights, second guy (who was my roommate) was overweight and I had the feeling he wouldn't make it after he had trouble getting up from one knee when during the easy physical they gave us, third guy who was the best driver (from trainers mouth) had a complete breakdown on the last day of driving - OK story as he told it. So the day before our driving test which was a Tuesday it starts snowing and he's out around 4 pm, roads icing up and getting colder his trainer has him going up steep hill (Coraoplois has steep hills- to me from NJ there mountains LOL) he tries to go into 4th gear and it won't go and he panics slamming as hard as he can and the drives shaft breaks! half way up- I didn't think that could happen but that's the story. Now the next day is the driver test which is not a big deal but it has all of us nervous like little baby's even me, so instead of getting good sleep what do we do - we stay up till 2am trying to get the stupid trip planning done - OMG what a F%^&&^$ waste of time! they never even grading us on it and we made a big deal out of it. Well with that said this guy goes out in the afternoon after sitting in class all morning tired and now nervous since it's snowing plus the memory of the driveshaft, He starts driving and at the lights he stalling the truck, now he was the best driver at the start but all this pressure overtakes him, so now the trainer says listen stop stalling the truck or I'm taking over and one second later he stalls again on hill at light and says to trainer here you take the dam wheel - now I had the same trainer and I know he would of given this kid a pass but he wanted to test him to see if he would fold and he did. I went out in morning and had a bad start and doubting myself saying wtf am I doing here, but I regroup after we stop for a short break and get in and drive great, the test is not a big deal it's just driving doing button hooks tight turns etc, but if you let yourself panic your done. Almost had 4th guy leave because of panic driving on last day but they had him drive one more day and passed him because he showed them he wanted it. I felt bad for all the guys but especially this kid who was 24 with a 5 month old baby at home. Anyway overall experience was good, trainers are great and 9 days was enough for me - class is long all day 7am to 6 or 7 pm. Waiting for my TE to call and I go out on Wed I think.

 

Look guys, here's the difference between rookies and experienced pros in a nutshell.

Rookie, you tend to overthink things alot. Trying to come up with 20 different ways out of a situation but winding up mind-locked like the guy with the driveshaft.

Experienced Pro, has already tried those 20 ways and discarded most but has 5 tried and true options in his mind at all times.

Rookies/Newbies/Trainees, listen to your teachers and learn the 1 or 2 basic things they tell you. That is all you need to worry about now. Learn those until they come to you automatically. Don't worry if you stumble, it's like learning to walk, everybody trips sometime.