Apprentice program progress

well they were gonna do the class when i was just hired by myself, but then they went on a hiring spree and i got held back a month. they hired like 4 guys after me, 2 apprentices and 2 drivers, not sure how the senoirity works but ive been there longest.

 

first week is over

we went over the smith driving system which they require every driver to take. We also went over the accident procedures, how to do log books, and DOT laws. The instructor taught us how to hook and too unhook(since he had to hook a trailer to demonstrate a proper backup) He also let us drive the tractor around the yard to practice shifting since we were a bit ahead of schedule. Due to the fact my whole class has there CDL he didnt have to go over all the general knowledge, airbrakes etc. so that help put us ahead as well.

I believe we r doing some driving around the yard next week, and there are tests and quizzes and u ARE graded on them so just pay attention. I will update everyone next week on the class

 

week two is over now

we got to hook up a set of doubles and drive it around a bit. we also did a little obstacle course around the yard, like driving straight through cones, nose stop, parallel park, and back to a dock. we did it with a pup and was a lil diff then the 45 i took my roadtest in. once i figured out the pup it wasnt so bad. today we did a 48 and was like wow its a difference. we went over the airbrakes, driving with doubles etc. the reason my class is going so fast is because we all have our CDL A's already which is a good thing

 

not a lot of local gigs r willing to train people. conway is one of the only ones i know of. i believe fedex freight has an apprentice program, and coca-cola bottling companies may train u.

i dont get that either. we have a few people who live far away about a hour or so, when they call in the morning to find out wut time to come they r usually the later ones. i live abut 5 min away from my terminal. we got a few ppl from jersey and some from ct. some r about 40 min away and one guy lives closer to a diff terminal but they still took him n e ways.

well good luck with the job hunt, keep me posted n wut u get

 

well finallu its the last week of class. my computer broke so i havent been able to update. We hooked sets of doubles, did sepentine backing, alley docking, corner truns, front stop etc.

i have gone out on some p/d runs. i will have to say that the road units are a lot easier to drive and more power than the city units do. my final and road test is this coming week then graduation. after that i do a week of p/d with another driver and i believe 2 weeks of linehaul