White Line CDL school Topeka, KS

Ok, so what is this slang about White Line? I'm curious so I can approach Don..

Day 7

Today John from TA, gave us a recruiting presentation. I will say this that he is very up front and honest. He did not remotely try to pitch a L/O. I asked about it, and was given a folder with some specific information regarding their L/O program. Unless you asked about the L/O, you were only presented with the company driver information. I think it was a very good presentation, but hey, it's the top dog, the owner promoting his company, so what would you expect. What really is impressive, is you would not think he was the owner, but just another driver. Very down to earth.

In the morning we were out at the driving range, practicing our off-set backing. I only got a couple of tries, because, well I could easily do it. Sadly the other guys are really struggling. There's always 4 students, 3 observing, and the instructor trying to explain how to accomplish the maneuvers. While the instructor is away from us, the other guys are asking me what they need to do. It's been unseasonably warm, but a couple of them actually are sweating when they get out of the truck. I don't tell them that I'm also nervous as a dog while I'm driving. I just get real concerned about messing up. Luckily I've been feeling real comfortable lately.

Lastly we started working on Map Reading. We had a couple of exercises, locating towns, calculating mileage, and listing the routes. Some of the towns that we have to find are not listed in the Atlas' index, which means looking at all the towns in a state for them, which proves to be a real challenge.

 

Day 8

We worked on Map reading, trip planning. We were provided a Rand McNally Trucker's Atlas, and had to find specific towns, plan the route, and compute the mileage. After that we had a logbook scenario that covered 3 days. With this you had to pay attention to your HOS, as one leg of the trip you could not continue to the next destination without running out of your 14 hrs.

In the afternoon it was highway driving in the FL (10spd). One more student finally managed to get their permit, and then we gained a new student who just needed the driving skills. His employer, WestStar Energy is sending him through the school. Those two have never driven a stick shift, let alone a truck. Was real fun sitting in the sleeper. We had another instructor, Mel (Melanie).

One of things that Mel had us do was drive in a large circle in a parking lot, up-shifting to 6th and downshifting. I guess I impressed her, as I was able to do so smoothly, clear down to 1st.

Tomorrow TMC recruiter at 8:00 am, and the pumpkin, Schneider later. One of the other students and I are going to corner him, as to why we were immediately denied. The other student was told that we are in the gray area for hiring. If that's the case, then why are the sending a recruiter? Is it so they can brag? Hope not, I'll start pulling things out of the bag to make him look bad!!

 

Day 9

TMC recruiter first thing in the morning. Was a nice guy. We (the 2 that got denied), approached him. Of course he had no reasoning, but thought that we were not in their hiring area. Remember he's at the school to....recruit. Now here's the fun part, the other guy, already has a pre-hire from another company. He told this TMC recruiter that. Guess what happened throughout the presentation. He was constantly referring to him. I mean he was playing hard. You could tell it was his goal to recruit him away from the other company. It would be a feather in his hat to do so.

In the afternoon, it was not the great pumpkin, but Werner. This guy was trying a hard sell to everyone. He even went so far as to slam TransAm. The instructors were rather shocked. He bragged on how they invented the Elog. I really wasn't interested in what he had to say. He also passed out applications, (something TMC didn't do), and suggested that everyone in the class fill and submit it. Yeah, right..

The rest of the day was another logbook exercise, and then backing. We worked on parallel. I have to say I didn't do as well as I thought I should have. There's time to improve though.

 

Day 10, 2 weeks in the can, 3 more to go!!

Highway driving in the morning. I got a huge compliment from the instructor. Making a right turn the instructor was watching the trailer tires. I kept the tires running within inches of the white line, all the way around the turn. Immediately after completing the turn she stated, " SWEEEET!! That's the best, most perfect turn I've seen in a long time." She then turned to the other students, and commented to them, "You should have seen that. He kept the right trailer tires within a 1/4" of the white line all the way around". Now if that wasn't enough, back at the school, she made it point to brag to the other instructors about it. I just love it when Lady Luck helps out.

In the afternoon, another logbook exercise. This one is more complex. We must use the Truck Stop guide, and atlas, figure miles using an average speed, and log the scenarios.

We also done what they call The Hot Seat. You're placed in the Hot Seat, and must go over the PTI. If you get something wrong you receive a 120 volt shock. , jk. But one of the instructors is taking pictures, well using the camera flash. Kinda fun, and stressful if you don't know them. You also may have to provide the appropriate onomonpia for certain tests being done. For example the sounds for the city and airhorn, or brakes..

 

Just thought I would add something about this school, that is somewhat different to a lot of the others I've been reading about on this forum. They don't teach double-clutch shifting, but instead floating. They do this because the truck you use to test at the DMV, is an auto-shift, and they know that unless you're hired by companies like TA or Maverick where their fleets are auto-shifts, you'll be floating and not double-clutching.

 

Week 3

Instead of posting daily updates, I'll post a recap of the week, since most of the daily stuff has been repetitive. Finished up with our logbook/map-reading/trip planning exercises. On Tuesday drove a longer distance, from Topeka to BETO Junction. We all got to go inside, and the instructor showed us around. For me kinda boring, as I live 6 miles away, and drive this route to and from school. Also been inside of BETO hundreds of times. However I will add that they have remodeled the bathrooms, showers, lounge, and it really looks nice now.

Today, worked on the backing and some road driving. It was raining, and blowing. Luckily our instructor allowed us to stay in the truck while the other drivers were driving. On nice days we must stand outside and watch.

Finally today, I got a telephone call from Emily, Swift's recruiter. She also sent a pre-hire letter to the school. Then on the way home I was able to check my voicemail, and found that Keim's recruiter had also called. So things are starting to happen.

The KW T2000 has disappeared, it has the automatic. Don't know why, but maybe we will get to test with one of the 10spds.