newbie starting school, only prehire letters aee from werner and covenant

Check out reohl. The recruiters are actual reohl employees not 3rd party like some other companies. Other drivers on the reohl form say home time is good. Welcome to the industry

 

Your employer will furnish you with a copy of the little green bible a/k/a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. While the whole 700 some odd page book are the regs for commercial vehicle operation the parts you should know well are Part 392 "Driving A Commercial Motor Vehicle" Part 393 "Parts and Accessories Necessary, Part 395 "Hours of Service", Part 396 "Inspection, Repair and Maintenance" and Part 397 "Haz Mat" if you haul Haz Mat.

In school you are actually learning the above regs minus Haz-Mat. I would recommend that while you are on your trainers truck you use some of your free time to actually read and understand the regs. I have used my little green bible at a scalehouse and left minus a ticket because I knew the rules, understood the rules and was able to show a Louisiana DOT officer that I was safe and legal.

 

In school you are learning a large part of the regs in an easy to read and understand format. The little green book is written by the rule makers (government officials, lawyers, at the like) so it often reads like a contract to build a space shuttle ... but you will better understand it after school as you will have a good knowledge base. My trainer would routinely test me on it and I finally broke down and read the whole thing. You will be surprised by how many drivers out here dont know it, or think they know it but are way off.

Yes - "Be the Bible Thumper" in the end it will save you! It did me.

 

Some schools hand them out. Depends how cheap they are! If not you can get a copy at your DMV. You don't have to memorize it but just being familiar with it will help. Its good to know how to look up things up in there. It would probably be next to impossible to memorize the whole thing!

Besides the DOT handbook I highly recommend you get your Motor Carrier Road Atlas as soon as possible. Don't skimp! Get a good fairly up to date large, laminated MOTOR CARRIER ROAD ATLAS. You can get a really good deal on Amazon if you by the previous year. Just don't by an old one.

These atlas' are a wealth of information. Everything from pretrips to logs etc... They pretty much cover everything. I also recommend you practice trip planning with it. Trip planning is going to be key to your success! This is going to be your most major hurdle to learn. Probably will be easier learning to back up! If you are a proficient trip planner you will make more money! Knowing exactly where you are going and how long and how many hours you have to deal with will maximize your miles and profit. Good trip planning will also greatly help your dispatcher stay informed as to what you are doing.

 

Just to add to the old post to clear up for newbies....

You aren't expected by DOT to memorize that whole handbook. You ARE expected to know how to use it though. All exercises and tests are designed to make sure you know how to look things up in the book not necessarily know exactly whats on every page. Most DOT officers don't know whats on every page!

The Motor Carrier Road Atlas is a different story. You need to be very familiar with it and know how to use it also. You can't practice enough as a new driver. Good efficient trip planning is a must if you want to make money in this industry. The better your plan, the better your dispatch can keep you moving. Along with your trip planning there are many formulas you can use to help figure out your eta and way of routing. This book is a tool not just in ordinary compilation of facts on paper.