Rookie days with Schneider

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Right on...I appreciate the input. Though it would probably be wiser to leave the laptop at home, it's a must have for me.

 

Greetings and salutations,

Having been inspired by Markus, I decided to start my own thread about my personal experiences as I go through the Schneider orientation and training process. My intentions are to help other newbies know what it's like as well as solicite helpful advice from the vets in these here forums...plus, it's just plain fun to talk about.

A bit about myself...I'm an experienced salesman with 2 kids but not married. I'm 40 years old and have been in sales at one level or another for nearly 20 years. I don't think I'm very good at it though since I've yet to really make any money doing it. I've never really been comfortable pretending to be friends with people just so they would buy whatever it is I'm selling. I've thought about going OTR for years. Circumstances over the years made this lifestyle impractical....till now.

I love trucks, driving, and being by myself for extended periods of time. Really...it's a perfect match.

I moved to Washington state last July from Texas ( love it here ! ) ...found myself unemployed due to no fault of my own so while on unemployment, I figured now is a good time to attend trucking school. I signed up for T Enterprises trucking school, maxed out a credit card, and just finished today with " honors" . Great school btw...good people who really care.

I applied to Schneider. I liked them because I could have a 3 weeks on and 1 week off schedule driving across the western 11 states. That's a big perk. This way I can bust my butt 3 weeks, make some money and then have some good, quality home time with my kids. I've read lots of good reports about Schneider. Markus has a thread here thats detailing his beginner experiences with Schneider and they seem to have really treated him well. They pay well, train well, and seem to care about their employee's...even the newbies.

Anyways...they accepted me for orientation. I start in their Fontana California location here Feb 21st. I decided to drive down instead of taking the bus. They will pay me back the cost of the bus fare. This way I will have a means of getting around while in orientation. It's safer too, sitting on a bus with an expensive laptop is begging for trouble.

So far everyone at Schneider has been great, though I haven't much experience with them yet. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Any advice as to what I will need to bring with me to orientation/training?

I'm planning on bringing a sleeping bag, pillow,laptop, a minmal amount of clothes, and basic bathroom stuff.

Lators gators!

 

You may be right...I dunno. It's all good either way. So long as I can get home once a month for 5-7 days, I'll go anywhere they need me to go. I appreciate the heads up.

 

I left early this morning to go get my CDL, I got it done pretty fast. Only thing was....my hazmat fingerprint info wasn't in their system yet. I was like...crap. I'm gonna have to come back..yet again. I'm about sick of the DMV by now. I got my CDL anyways without the hazmat figuring I'll just add it on later.

Wouldn't ya know it, as soon as I get home, I find a letter in the mail stating my hazmat background/fingerprint check went through ok. I took the letter, went back to the DMV, waited 2.5 hours only to find out that they can only fix my CDL during the week ( they have to fax the form over some place not open on the weekend or something ).

So....crap, looks like yet another trip back after all. This will be my 8th or 9th trip to the DMV since moving to Washington state and working on my CDL. That which doesn't kill ya, makes ya stronger....I reckon.