Troops To Transportation (Employment Inquiry)

I'm not an 88M either. I'm a 19D so hopefully I will be good to go.

 

Day 3: Today was more instructor interaction as we went through powerpoints on Safety and also got issued the FMCSR greenbook. We discussed some sections in there on qualifications for CDL, disqualifications, etc... We watched some videos on shifting also and man talk about overwhelmed. That Eaton Super 10 looks so confusing. Luckily we aren't driving those here at the school. I'm sure I will just need some time with it but the shifting and then the switch to shift and shift again was a bit much. Will need some hands on with that one. We also watched some videos on coupling and un-coupling. After lunch we watched some more safety videos and had to take some quizzes in what to do in certain driving situations. Everyone seemed to be tracking all this pretty good as it was pretty basic stuff. Taking what we learned and thinking about it in terms of driving a tractor trailer put things in perspective. We didn't go over any endorsement tests today but hopefully we get some time later to continue practicing the tests. Basically it sounds like we are on our own to go down and do our endorsements at DDS minus the HAZMAT fingerprints. Since I don't have a vehicle I will have to find someone that plans on getting all their endorsements to go down with. Most of my class say they don't want any endorsements besides HAZMAT and some don't want that. I want all my endorsements and want to get it done while I am here. I may have to get a cab to DDS this Saturday to knock those out. I don't understand why they don't want them but I feel like it will be good to have them all.
Listening to some of my classmates talk about who they want to work for is kind of confusing because they want some of these companies that I know are not very good because I see it here on the forums. But hey maybe they feel that's best for them. I have no interest in Trans Am and Werner and they seem to be the popular choice. I said I was interested in going Tanker and got funny looks.
We also got issued a huge Rand McNally Atlas and I will be looking it over tonight. Tomorrow is trip planning and hours of service. Should be interesting.

On a side note I am hearing all new drivers at Schneider are getting automatics. I don't know how I feel about that honestly. I need time on Manuals and starting off with a company with Autos will make if difficult if I ever go to a company with manuals. I have no problem with autos but I would just like to start with Manuals. I will have to look into this rumor.

All in all a good day of training and I learned a lot. The instrutors have assured us don't be nervous about shifting because we will get it once we get hands on. But man those videos have me sweating. Lol

 

Yes I'm going to go back and look at his blog. It was good. I'm a make a post on the Schneider thread and see if anyone can confirm that.
I think my classmates think Tanker is too hard. That's what I get from them. They want drop and hook. No touch. I want what I can make the most money on for my family. Open up some opportunities. I'm sticking with Tanker. You are so right! HE will guide me where he wants me! Thank you for your encouragement. I will continue to update and if I have any questions will post up.

 

Yes I read @GolfPro thread. It was really entertaining. He was actually at a company in Savannah I was looking at also. I need to go back and look at it. I actually thought about Flatbed with TMC but I think I am too old for all that tarping stuff lol. 20 years in the Army and I don't think I want to work that hard. Seems like a lot of work. I know it's not the same but I have some experience with Army Fuelers. In Iraq if we couldn't find the fuel guy and had to go on a mission, I would just fuel my Bradley myself. I taught myself how to do it to save time. I really think I can handle Tanker so we will see. About to check out the Tanker forum now.