Roadmaster-Jacksonville

Call Con-Way Truckload right away. They have a special program for Vets that won awards in Missouri. When you talk to the recruiter, ask specifically about the Apprentice Program. It may be too late to change your school arrangements but not too late to get a pre-hire.

Thanks for your service! Good luck in your new adventures.

RR

 

Please do not expect 800-1000 right out of the gate, give yourself some time to learn the business and go from there. I attended Roadmaster in 2003 and my advice would be don't expect much from them other than to learn the basics, and the very minimal basics at that. I'm sure at this point you've committed yourself to their program but if I could go back and do it all over again I would have attended a real training course offered by some of these tech schools. You will find at Roadmaster they don't give you nearly enough time behind the wheel to get comfortable with a truck, let alone a loaded truck.

 

I just graduated from the West Memphis campus of Roadmaster and they only teach you the essentials to past the written and road tests and nothing more. The course is 160 hours and you will get a minimum of 10 hrs BTW learning the route you will test on for your road test. You will get plenty of time learning your backing skills too but I don't know how many actual hours. The way it worked with us was... Class from 7am to 6pm with an hour for lunch. The first week was in the class room learning what was needed to pass the general knowledge, air brakes, and combination vehicles tests. That friday we did go out and start learning the pre-trip but didn't get to drive any.
The second week for the first day or two we where on the yard learning backing skills (straight line, alley dock, and serpentine) while they got the class before us finished with their 10 road drives and testing. Around the middle of the second week we started going out for a morning drive and an evening drive. They would put 4 students in the truck with an instructor and each person drove for roughly an hour.
The first place they took us was out to a stretch of service road alone side the freeway that had hardly any traffic (they called it the shift pad) and we learned to double clutch and go through the gear pattern for both a 10 speed and 8 speed transmission. They would evaluate each student and start to group you together according to your skill level. If you were able to shift and clutch with little to no problem, they put the 4 best ones together and sent you out to start driving through the city which the route is the same route they test you on. Well at least it was in Arkansas because the instructors where 3rd party examiners so they actually gave you your driving test instead of you having to go to the DMV to test.
Your third week was spent getting in the rest of your 10 drives and working on the backing skills. You had to learn the pre-trip pretty much on your own. They would go over it for every once in awhile but it was up to you to study it on your own time.
The ones that they felt where ready, they would start testing you out around that Thursday or maybe even as early as Wednesday if you have the 10 drives in. If you test out earlier than that 3rd Friday, you still have to come those remaining days to get your 160 hour requirement met.
You also have to do these online learning videos (really boring videos) and take a test on them before you can graduate. There are 34 videos and you have to do the bulk of them on your off time either staying late or if you have internet at home or in the hotel you are staying in. Our first few days their were several students that had tested out but couldn't leave because they didn't do the videos and test. It would suck be time to be totally done hour wise and tested out but can't graduate due to some online videos so be sure to knock em out whenever you can.
If you have any questions, feel free to inbox me.

 

Get your CDL and got on with a company. If you want endorsements, get them afterwards. For Hazmat there is a pricey background check. If you are with a company, they may pay for that. Con-way did. For the doubles etc, get them after the fact also. They are written tests, there are tons of practice tests online, just do it yourself.

I got my haz on one of my home trips and the company paid the $80. I just did doubles and triples on this trip home, just because. Cost was about $35 if I remember right.

Good luck!

 

National Training is better than Roadmaster here in JAX. Check em out truckschool.com

JR