Arrived in texas for upcoming trans am orientation

SATURDAY


Today we were to be picked up at 7:30 but the bus got here at 8:15 or so wish i could of slept those extra 45 minutes,oh well. So we get to the range and meet up with the class who is coming back from 3 weeks with their trainer (the very last class who test out after coming back). 3 instructors with 3 trucks taking 2 guys ata time. The 3 trucks go out and the first truck back i get in and go first driving between me and the other guy with me. Right away i almost try to leave without releasing the brakes lol, hey its been a while since ive been in a truck. I noticed that when you hit the accelerator or the brake there is about 1"of free play before it gets going or it brakes. Anyways we head out and of course theres no posted speed limit for the first few miles but its a decent sized road so i just stick it right at 45. I call off all the signs like your supposed to keep a good following distance. Everythings going good until the last turn i need to make as im going through the turn and hitting the brakes that 1" of travel played with me as i started creeping up on the curb with my front wheels and i didnt want to mash the brake down and having people flying forward but as it steadily slowed down naturally and finally brakes kicking in i make the turn with maybe 6" to spare. And the instructor got up and was looking over the dash to see if i hit it, but like i said i made it, other than that scare, i passed.second guys turn. The second guy gets to a stop an an ever so slight hill and for whatever reason takes his feet off both pedals and the instructor yells twice " stop!" he was rolling back so he gets nervous and hits the accelerator to move forward but then starts rolling back again and instructor again says stop and i can see his feet getting confused as to what to do as he moves his right foot between the pedals without hitting them (theres only two pedals lol) finally he hits brake and he passed as well. So you dont have to be absolutely perfect to move forward in the orientation. We got back to the hotel at 12. Tomorrow we have off, and supposedly monday we go through more time management (11,14,70) but im thinking we probably get out on the range and start backing as well. Ill keep u all updated, hopefully this info comes in handy for future trans am drivers. Its nice to get an idea ahead of time of whats to come.

 

Lol from the stories ive heard about other lease deals, theres no way im going lease for the first 6 months.

 

Thanks for the gl, until im out on my own, ill take it. Supposedly they will say you have to wait a week or 2 for a truck but then you get one a few days later. Ill deffinately keep you updated as i go through this.

 

Monday


Today we got picked up at 7, so i guess i should stop getting up at 5:30 and waiting for a while. We get to the terminal and log in to the blue trees in the back of the classroom. One trainer needed our room to talk about lease with the guys coming off the road with their trainers so we get moved out to the range for the first time. The trainer demonstrated a 45degree back between two pretty tight trailers (12-18" space on each side) and then he pulls up and does a 90degree between 2 other trailers with about the same space. They tought us a method that i and all the guys i talked to never practiced in our schools. I call it the pivot method myself, because you basically get the tandem to pivot on the ground as you turn so your not going forward or back but instead just getting the ### end of the trailer lined up. It looks actually easier than what im used to but i cant say if that will be the a
case as it takes about 15 minutes for each guy to get their turn and only 5 gipuys were able to get a shot before it was lunch. A few people were pretty upset about the school saying that during orientation lunch was provided but thats not the case anymore. They just changed the coursework so orientation is now 9 and not 3 days, they just havent updated their paperwork. I kind of figured lunch was on me since i knew heading in it was 3 days if free lunch. Anyways we get bussed down to a chinese buffet, but we all split up and had lunc at different restaurants in the area. After an hour we get back and are told we'll be taking our general knowledge written test. Its open book and has nothing to do about the trucking industry in general but rather transam specific. An example would be, on what day are you paid? As we start to tkae the test our instructor gets a call saying we left one of the guys at the buffet, lol. Well the 9 page test with all answers written out not multiple coice took me about 45 minutes ( i finished first ) all the way to 3 hours for some guys. We chilled in the break room if we finished early and that was pretty much it. Found out that we really only have two days left and thursday we head out (hopefully) with our trainers. Considering we are only using one truck possibly two and we are working on coupling and uncoupling tomorrow i dont know if ill even get more than two gos at the backing. Ill keep you posted.

 

$50 a day, first paycheck is coming this friday but will only be $100 since paycheck closes on thursday so im getting paid for wed and thur then the friday after ill get $350 (7days of training) ill keep getting 50$ a day at 7 days until im in my own truck which hopefully is in about 16-20 days.

 

Yea im thinking 550-750 as well which isnt bad starting out. Ive got the use of wifi out on the range as another student let me tether off his hotspot. Alot of sitting and watching others back as we only have 1 truck between us. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/502/367249644636407.png[\img]
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20 guys started out in our orientation 1 guy left after 3 days because he was going lease, so ta gave him a truck and load and he was gone another guy failed pee test. 18 left. Class coming in tomorrow is 22. As far as my own room, hell yea its worth it if you have the funds. Im able to go to sleep on my own time get to bed on my own time, shower when i want,scratch my ...u get the point. The cost was 26 or 28$ per day x 9 days and supposedly they take it from your first paycheck. Dont know how since ill be checking out and will only have a $100 paycheck so far.

Today was simple again, out on the range i got my backing in with help of instructor the 45 i got with 3 pull ups ( i didnt set up correctly) and the 90 i got with 2 pullups. We all basically sat around until lunch, they took us to chinese buffet again but i opted for culvers (great place btw). We didnt leave anyone behind this time lol. Got back and people did more backing. At the end of the day we received 3 certificates. One for acknowledging our completion of this orientation basically everyone passed through. One for ethics course completion ( i dont know where we learned this) and a safety course completion certificate ( again not sure when we learned much on safety either ) -.0... Tomorrows our last day for orientation, we will be coupling uncoupling and sliding tandems. With the new class coming in we're no longer the newbies in rockwall. Hopefully thursday night or friday we hook up with our trainers but sometimes they get hung up and it takes longer. Again ill say it but im pretty nervous to be with someone i dont know for 24 hours a day for 13 days. But its the last step of the many before im in the position i want. Oh also when im in my own truck i put a list together of the stuff im going to bring along, take a look



George foreman grill
Tape recorder
Gps
Big maglite (security)
Portable scanner for sending ta receipts and bol's
Clear hotspot unlimited wifi plan
Microwave
Detergent
Xm radio sub.
Tandem assist tool
Dash cam
Atlas
Flip flops
Long jumper cables
Small tv
My ps3
My laptop

Getting to bed late tonight so im logging off for now.

 

Its 9 days in orientation then 13 or so days with trainer. And the 28$ is half of what transam pays as ta gets a massive discount. And yes your right about ta giving you a gps its part of the blue tree program that you use to get your load assignments. I just want my own for it to be a backup and also the additional features that it would give if you truly do decide to go with transam put my name in as a referral (mike egidi) so i can get 50 bucks
As far as today went, well lets just say its getting more boring by the day. The new class arrived and the class before us is still here so only 2 instructors for about 60 guys and we all litteraly sat in the break room or conference room until lunch, we went to braums around noon. Came back and sat again just waiting until 3:30 when we went out and each had a turn coupling and uncoupling. He then showed us sliding tandems. So thats it for orientation, my bags are packed and we check out tomorrow and most of us will have our trainers pick them up and if not then we check back into motel.
there wont be much to really update for the next couple weeks as ill just be getting my 80 hours of drive time in, but ill update you if anything comes up.

 

thanks man and yea theres no way they are pressuring me lease i can guarantee that, maybe if i didnt have debts i would. im just sitting here in the hotel lobby getting ready for the bus to pick us up and meet our trainers. I checked out this morning and they didnt ask for any money so thats good that they will indeed take the room from my paycheck, i was slightly nervous they would have me pay something since i had my own room.