Start at McElroy on Monday!

Things went fine this past week, & actually they did go about as expected. Any problems I encountered were basically due to rookie mistakes and/or rookie anxiety! lol I need to get much faster at strapping & buttoning down tarps, but that'll come with experience.

I didn't have to sit & wait on load assignments Almost every day, within 5-10 minutes after sending my "Empty at Final" message, I'd receive my next one. Friday morning was the only day that was different. Didn't have a pre-assigned load, so sat at a Pilot for an hour till the load assignment came. It's not scheduled for pickup till tomorrow at 0700, & it's only 45 miles from where I park my truck. Take that one a short piece, then go back, & pick up another load for delivery Tue A.M. These short runs have minimum pay rates with them to make them worth it.

 

Wow! I really appreciate that! Actually, I'm not sure if they have a referral program or not. I suppose you could always mention my name & we could find out! lol. However, there are two Kevin Crawfords that drive for McElroy, so tell them my truck number --3292.

 

Thanks! Home time basically works like this...you go home Fri with a loaded trailer -- usually. I actually went home this past Fri empty. Anyway...if loaded, you leave out Sun afternoon/evening in time to get parked at your consignee by 9pm. That way you get your 10 hour break before unloading Mon morning.
When you get home on Fridays just depends on where you pick up the load. On the trainer truck & last week (5 weeks total) I was home as early as 2:30pm, but usually it was between 5 & 6 pm. One time it was around 8:30. On Sundays the earliest I've left home was 3:30, but that was b/c I had an hour drive to meet up with my trainer. I only had to go 45 miles to pick up my first load today, so I didn't leave until this morning.

 

Oh, they don't "try", they do. McElroy doesn't run it's trucks on Saturdays, except for very rare instances. And as I understand it, when those things do happen, extra pay is involved.

 

Well, not sure what ya mean by "road training course." Now, there is a road test during the week of orientation, but if someone has gone to CDL school & gotten their CDL & can't pass it, well, they need to get their money back from the school. If you took & passed your CDL road test at a DMV or a legitimate 3rd party tester, I assure you that passing the initial road test at MTL won't be a problem.

The "skills field" (as it's called) is the backing course. There are some 45 degree backs, an almost 90 degree dock, a LONG straight back dock, a parallel (to driver side), & a serpentine. Skills field doesn't happen till Week 1 Training, the week after orientation. And there's plenty of practice time to get the hang of all the maneuvers.