Upgrade time

Hey all, coming in to upgrade soon and wondering about the process so I can get on the road and make some bank asap!

Is it like the first orientation all over again? Physicals, piss test/whiz quiz, CBTs etc. or is it a more streamlined version where we can cut to the chase?

Thanks!

 

Alright- here's one, and it's no exaggeration at all.

The first night I went out for TNT, I pulled into a Flying J late, around 2am-ish, to find a spot to park. Needless to say it was packed.

Now this particular truck stop had a back lot as well, with a narrow, curved one-lane road leading to it. Figured I'd try my luck in the back lot since the front lot didn't have any open spots.

I pull around the one lane road into a mess- the lot is full, and is in fact so full that there's really no way to drive around the back to get out. Trucks are in spaces and - surprise, surprise- parked perpendicular to other trucks with just enough room for the trucks they are parked in front of to get out. I was in a pickle, but the guy in front of me was too. He moved first and I watched things unfold.

Now, I remember coming in that it was tight, but I was thinking to myself there just might be enough room to pull a u-turn to go out the way we came in. Guy in front of me thought the same and proceeds to begin his turn.

He makes it about halfway, with some maneuvering, opens up his door to look and sees he's gonna make it, but forgets one crucial thing- when he gets to the 90 degree angle he can turn fine - but when he starts to come out of the turn and straighten out, the rear of the truck will go back a few feet before it comes forward.

So the guy saw that at 90 degrees he was just barely in front of a nice Pete, and thought he was home free... Continues his turn, and....wait for it.... The trailer crunches right into the Pete a few feet before the guy realizes it and stops.

The guy in the Pete was super mad. And I mean steaming mad. How do I know this? Well, he hops out of his truck in shorts and a wife-beater and storms over Mr. U-turn, and he's barefoot. In 40 degree weather. In a truck stop. On the pavement. You gotta be pretty livid to expose your feet like that in those conditions ... Because we all know what goes on the ground at truck stops.

Mr. Pete yelled and cussed Mr. U-turn so loudly and with such rage he woke up all the drivers in the trucks around him that were sleeping to share in his misery. Mr. U-turn could do nothing but apologize profusely, which didn't seem to do much of anything to calm Mr. Pete. We thought a fight was about to break out and we're preparing to break it up... Fortunately, it was all bark and no bite, and after a few minutes we turned our attention back to how the hell to get out of there. U-turn was clearly not a viable option, so my trainer ended up backing down the curved one-lane road to the main lot where we got the hell out.

Hell of a first night!