Any and all questions about Conway Truckload can be answered here!

From their website:

Company expects to hire 40 new drivers per month through partnership with local driving school; program also offers discounted, subsidized tuition to qualified candidates

Con-way Truckload, a full-truckload carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), announced a partnership with U.S. Truck Driver Training School Inc. (USTDTS) of Detroit to create affordable training opportunities for individuals seeking to enter the truck driving profession. The aim of the partnership is to provide local training and education to enable candidates to earn their commercial driver's license (CDL) and land a job as a professional, over-the-road truck driver with Con-way Truckload.

 

I have read accounts by some other drivers saying the same thing you are. One guy said he had a run of around 1000 miles with a 5-day time frame for delivery, so obviously that isn't good for the old paycheck! So, overall are you averaging 2k miles per week? I know some times of the year are going to be slower than other times, but how is it averaging out?

Do you ever have the option of delivering early so you can get back on the board for another load, or is it a JIT thing where they don't want the delivery until its scheduled delivery appointment time?

 

crowder boot camp is for people that went to schools other than the ones con-way hires directly out of. crowder also has a 5 week program that con-way will hire you directly out of so i would assume that the program in detroit is just like the crowder 5 week program where you will be able to go directly out on the road as soon as a finisher is available.

 

I just finished the first week of school for that program. Con-Way TL is running that program with US Truck Driver Training school. The school is approved by Con-Way, so no need for boot camp, You go with finisher after orientation at the Taylor terminal.

 

Great. Do they have subsidized housing, too? I live near Grand Rapids, so the commute would be a wee bit intimidating.

 

Christine from recruiting asked me if I needed housing for orientation, I live just close enough to decline. Not sure about housing for school. I'd call and ask her or another recruiter.

 

Glad to hear everything cleared for the first step. Male sure any info you give you have written down somewhere because the will ask you for the same info (accidents, tickets, work history, etc...) quite a few times to make sure you have your story straight. Any discrepancies could mean being turned away.

As far as the blood pressure goes, see a doctor asap because the meds take some time to get in your system. I had the same problem and ended up having to bump my school back a month while I got things straightened out.

I started at Crowder Feb 28th of this year and graduated April 1st. They cost for me was $2200 also (well actually I ended up spending $3800 total but that was the $2200 plus my permit, physical, gas money to drive to joplin and back to KY, spending money for while I was there, etc...).

If you arrive in Neosho any earlier than the first day of class, the cost of the hotel is on you. After your first day of class you will be assigned a dorm room. There are two dorm rooms (in the building with assistant coaches for sports, not normal college students) that they use for the trucking students, dorms 3 and 5. Dorm 3 is 2 bedroom 2 bathroom and dorm 5 is 3 bedroom 2 bathroom. Each bedroom has 2 beds in it. When I was there they had girls in dorm 3 and guys in dorm 5. When no girls are there I hear they use dorm 3 for guys also to spread people out a bit more.

The dorms are old and in need of some work but considering you're only paying $595 for the whole 5 weeks and that includes meals it's to be expected. The biggest annoyance to me was the showers. They are small and short.

As far as vehicles go, I brought mine but Con-way doesn't recommend it because it complicates things as far as getting it home. My situation was different because my boyfriend was going to be my trainer and he was picking me up from our house so that enabled me to take my car home with no problem. If you don't bring it, it is about 3/4 mile walk to the classroom from the dorm. Most classes have atleast one dorm student with a vehicle though and carpooling is common.

As far as on the weekend, I really didn't do much or go anywhere but that would be something you might factor into the car decision. There is a wal-mart a few miles away and a few fast food joints. I know there is a lot of other stuff too but what all there is I can't really remember at the moment.

The instructors at Crowder are really great and the skid pad (if it is back in use) is a really neat experience.

I hope I have answered all your questions satisfactorily. If something I said is unclear or your have any more questions just post.


Katey

 

Hey Katey, thanks for all the great info! And especially about getting the BP problem taken care of soon. Right now I'm slated to begin classes on October 10th and really hope I won't have to push that date back any. I downloaded the DOT physical form from the Nevada DOT and it says that if my BP is between 140/90 to 159/99 than the card is good for 1 year instead of 2. Then after a year if it's still in that range the next card is only good for 3 months and that is a 1-time certificate so after that if the pressure is still high, that would be a career ender....

Still not sure about the car thing... I really want to be able to be mobile on the weekends. I wonder if they'd let me drive home after orientation and then have me hook up with a trainer coming through Vegas or even southern California? I think I'll run that by Keturah and see if she thinks that would be a possibility.

The dorms sound ok except for the shower situation. How was the food? Do they provide food on the weekends too? How close are the fast food joints? Walking distance?

So you're from Corbin? I lived up the road in Lexington for a while in '09. Small world!

 

i think you should start eating healthy and lay off the fast food i dont mean any disrespect by that its just you seem like a good guy and id hate to see you work so hard for something and it being taken away from you for a bp problem

 

Katey is 100% right. When I started taking BP meds I suffered weird side effects that literally made me feel horrible the entire first month. Went back to the doctor who assured me the side effects were normal and would go away. Sure enough... everything cleared up within a month and I've never felt that way since.