My story...and how I got to this point.

Heirforce1....love that name.......I figure if I can work hard, and have some fun, well it is worth it.

So far these forums have been incredible as far as help is concerned. I try to avoid the BAD Company threads and all the negativity found there. Just my opinion, but alot of those threads are started by people who have way too many excuses, and seem like they do not want to work, or even drive a truck.

This newbie forum has been great, as well as some of the threads about experiences, good or bad, on the road. Some make me laugh hysterically, some make me sad, and some make me think.....this site in a very valuable resource and should be mandatory for people like me in the process of making the leap of faith and becoming a professional driver.

 

So Stevens out of Texas called me almost within 20 minutes of submitting my application.

Lady I spoke to seemed like she was in a hurry to get a decision out of me...is this normal?

I had a few questions when she called and she said I would have to talk to a recruiter to have those answered, she was human resources and was only calling to get me set up to atend school, possibly as early as ten days from now.

I politley told her that at a minimum I would have to give my current employer 2 weeks notice, as I am not the type of person who just walks out on a job.

She then ave me a recruiters name and number, told me she respected my stance on giving two weeks notice, said that she wished more people at her compnay would do that, and told me that when my decision was made, please call her. In the meantime she was going to send out some literature and a formal paper application and physical form that i would need to complete if I chose Stevens as my Driving choice.

Once I got past her slight pushiness, she was courteous and nice about it.

I guess she sees a bunch of applicants everyday, and probably has to call each of them, so I can see whay she would have a slight edge to her.

Just not ready to make my decision as of yet, still waiting on Roehl, Central, TDDS, to call, and I was just made aware of FFE, so I am going to start researching them in deatil tonight when I get home.

Anyone got any input on FFE?

I am also waiting to see about TDDS, its a 16 week program, costs a ton, applied for financial aid, the thought of choosing from a bunch of other carriers with no contract appeals to me a little bit more right now, but, but, but, I have no issues going the company sponsored route if it all gets me to the same place years from now.

 

Oh I agree, at the point I am at it gets a little overwhelming sometimes. Those threads are the reason I am not even considering Driver Solutions, CRST, or CREngland as a potential choice.

There is a ton of good info on there, i was just trying to say that sifting through the crap to find the good is a daunting task...lol. I plan on using that forum a bit more once I get the whole education thing narrowed down a bit more. Once i get it down to two or three solid candidates i will begin diving in on each of them trying to get the info i need to make my final decision. Also talking to my in-law to here and there to get his input, might even use some vacation time to ride with him for a week or so if we can work it out.

 

I'm with ya.....current job has been 10.35 and hour, hard capped at 39.5 hours a week, no overtime, they actually come up to you at 39 hours and tell you to clean up and clock out in a half hour no matter what point you are in the week. The will write you up in a heartbeat for abusing scheduled hours if you even try to hit 40 or heaven forbid i saw a guy fired for working overtime............yeah no pay raises suck, and the they raise the cost of bene's 5 times in two years, what used to be a 10 dollar co-pay to the doc is now 40 bucks......but no pay raise to compensate....go figure.

 

Mike from TDDS called a little while ago, got my application and fafsa form, gonna have to re-do fafsa as the one i did is only good till end of month and they have no openings untill mid july to attend school, so I have to do one for next fafsa fiscal year that runs july-july.

I kinda like the idea of TDDS, Mon-thursday classes, dorm room, and lots of extra seat time. They cap class sizes at 14 with 4 instructors in the mix for road training.

Tuition is steep $6995, but that includes everything except your states cdl fees. They are close to PA so they will run me over to PA to grab my permit and eventually my cdl.

But at 6995 i would have to have some sort of loan or grant to attend, and even though a lot of companies offer tuition reimbursement, i am not sure i want to be strapped for a 7 grand loan with interest.

On the flipside, if i was out of a sponsored program, or decide this is not for me at some point, i could get strapped with an equally larger, higher interest loan from one of the sponsored programs.

Now I can sit here and give you a thousand reasons why i will be a driver for 30 years, and tell you i'm gonna be the best, and so forth. But lets be honest, even thugh I am going to try this career, and work my buttocks off at it, no one knows what tomorrow holds. My sister works for the production company that handles a lot of the JACKAZZ tv show stuff out here in philly, Last night Ryan Dunn got himself killed driving 130 while drunk, I dont think he thought that was gonna happen.....

My condolences to his family and loved ones.

Live today to its fullest, plan to live tomorrow to its fullest, but if tomorrow doesnt happen, at least you were prepared....