Starting out with Conway Truckload

Well, I'm en route to Joplin MO for my orientation and hopefully new career. Left ATL at 7pm and I'm in a 2 hour layover at the GreyDog Manor (bus station) in Nashville .. then off to Little Rock .. and eventually Joplin MO .. 19 hours total .. but get the feeling it will be well worth the trip and the effort in the end.

I'll update my journey through orientation and on when possible.

See ya soon ..

Tinman!

 

Whew! 20+ hours traveling by bus is cruel to say the least .. but I made it here to Joplin. Checked in at the Holiday Inn, was told I have a roommate ..met him in the lobby .. haven't seen him up here yet.

The bus ride was interesting. All in all I met 8 USA Trucking and 1 FFE folks headed to orientation. The USA's dropped off this morning in AR somewhere .. I forget. Some real interesting stories.

Well, I need a -real- meal to start this off right .. may be my last for a while so I'm heading out for a bit.

Tinman!

 

Well, we're under way and it's great.

We started Mon getting picked up at the Holiday Inn and traveling to the Conway Terminal here in Joplin. It is an awesome facility .. quite awesome. We spent the day with paperwork, videos, Drug tests, DOT physicals, etc. We met with safety for integrity interviews and recruiting to complete our apps and paperwork and finally got to meet Christine. We got a nice lunch in the deal as well. We ended the day getting out DOT cards and $100 for expenses. We then were bussed to the Boonslick Lodge near the Crowder College where we would spend the next 6 days in 'boot camp'.

We started Tue with breakfast at the Lodge and headed to Crowder. We spent the morning in classroom activities and the had lunch at the school. The rest of the day was spent driving around the campus practicing shifting the 'right way'. We're quickly learning how much our schools failed to teach us .. even the good schools. I learned more about shifting in an hour with Kelli than my whole CDL corse .. very cool. We also learned if we cannot 'cut it' the way they expect us to .. we will be going home. They are very up front about what they expect but I found it all quite reasonable and believe I'll have no problem doing so. I believe the 4 of us in my truck are all good but am unsure how things went in the other truck. I get the impression Wed is often cut day if someone cannot grasp the concepts. All in all it was a great day 'for me' and I'm really excited about things to come. There are 8 of us in this class and they're a good bunch .. I hope they all feel the same.

As for benefits .. wow, can't be beat. We get breakfast at the Lodge and lunch and dinner at the school ... free .. and it's all pretty good. I understand we get another $300 upon completion of the week and should be with out trainer/finishers on Tue. Right now there appears to be little delay in that process. After 3 weeks with the finisher, we may have a delay getting our own truck, but we'll see at that time.

By the way.. the training truck we're in right now is a fairly new T2000 Kenworth .. very nice truck in great shape. I assume we'll start backing soon and I know Fri is slated for the skid pad ... an experience we'll never forget I've heard.

Well, I'll you know how it goes..

Tinman!

 

Exactly .. they call it boot camp. They handle the training time a bit differently than most companies. Your 'trainer' .. they call him/her a finisher .. is not there to drive, back, etc. They ride shotgun as you run the show .. helping you where needed, finishing the day's drive if you can't, etc. Most of us newbies can't jump in there and drive 10-11 hours out the gate .. so if you get 6, he'll finish the day with another 5 so we stay on time. Within a week though you will be driving all the time. We are NOT a team. The only time the finisher leaves the pass seat is when you are backing, where they will spot for you. Or so I understand .. it could change and I could just be wrong .. heheh

So with that said, you need to be 'ready' from day one, and the boot camp makes sure you are or can be quickly .. if not you will be going home. A little tough but they are very up front about it and everything they 'expect' is totally reasonable considering the cost and liability involved. I am super glad about my decision.

Good luck!

Tinman!

 

No, you are correct. I covered my time at Katlaw in Austell GA in another thread. I found these progress threads very helpful to me starting out so I did the same. Especially since there were none on Katlaw and it would help others looking at that school.

Thanks!