Going through School with Hope Grant

Today was the first day, and I am very impressed with the instructor. I pictured an uptight, by the books kinda guy. He is very down to earth and does a fine job of relating with all of us. I am looking forward to everything he has to teach. The school isnt what I expected either, which isnt a bad thing. There is far less 'hand-holding' than I pictured. So far, nothing was arranged for me which caught me off guard so I am basically responsible for getting myself prepared. Ive gotten all the books today(which I could have gotten earlier but wasnt aware of) along with a tire beater, gloves, and 2007 Rand McNally atlas. So far I had to pay $15 for books and $5 for an ID badge. The rest was taken care of by the HOPE grant. There will be other misc costs Ill have to take care of, but thats no problem.
The rest of this week and 1/2 of next will be in the classrom. The latter 1/2 of next week is when we will start backing which I am really looking forward to. I will update this thread weekly with (hopefully) good news!

 

Pretty much everything done has been out of the Georgia Commercial Drivers Manual. General Knowledge, Air Brakes, Combination, Doubles/Triples, and tankers are the sections weve covered. Everyone in the class seems to be doing well and the instructor seems pleased. I got a 93% on General Knowledge 100 questions, 90% on Air Brakes 30 questions(leakdown rates got me until the instructor showed us an EASY way to remmber them--2/3 for straight truck and 3/4 for combination), 100% on Combination 32 questions, and we havent taken the doubles/triples or tanker tests yet.
Today, we had our first recruiter come in and I will say that was my FIRST taste of the industry. Just observing him, I got a negative feeling. He made sure to let us know that we know NOTHING about the trucking industry and that most of us WOULDNT last and we'd go back to our old jobs. Maybe he is right, but IMHO, talking down to potential hires isnt a way to earn their trust or respect. This was USA Truck. No skin off my teeth as I hadnt even considered them anyway. I admit, I was shaking a little as he talked down to us. Then, I got used to it and settled down.
Now, OTOH, he did get my attention right off the bat. He had a $1.00 hat as a prize for a questionaire, but thats not what got my attention. It was a little foam squeeze type semi truck. I didnt win his "who is the secretary of state"(WTF does that have to do with USA trucks agenda?)...I wanted that foam truck ######!
Tommarrow we should start drop and hook practice. I cant wait to get on the pad and in the truck! Though, I understand about getting anxious. I will NOT rush myself and will listen to everything I hear even though I do have experience to go on. Thanks for reading!

 

I forgot about this thread! I graduated with honors from the class as did everybody with the exception of one(AFAIK) person who failed a random drug test. I keep in touch with one guy from my class and he is doing well. Actually, 3 including me are working for the same company! Crete Carrier. To date, I have logged 50,602 miles since Ive been solo...miles with trainers were around 9K one month and 10K the next month but I didnt record the actual mileage so I didnt count that. The company is pretty good and the paychecks are still a dream come true to me. I was used to near 400 w/k and it has almost doubled! I am truely enjoying OTR life! Take care and congrats on your achievements!