Anyone doing C1/Indy March 4?

Did a couple zig-zags and visited NC and southern Georgia. Going to central TN tomorrow. I should complete my 150 by mid afternoon and qualify to test for my own truck. I am hoping to be home by the weekend for my son's birthday. I have been at it for 31 days now. If my trainers did not have issues I should have finished a week or more ago.

It can be done. Ya just gotta eat some crap now and then, stay positive and keep pushin'.

Newbies..... bring more money than USA suggests. The truck I am in now does not have a cooler or anything so, living is expensive. I am spending about $18 a day in my current truck.

It is better to have more than enough cash than not enough. AND the first two paychecks were mailed home. I just had my first direct deposit made yesterday. (they come on mondays)

 

Zig zags in southern Georgia continued and I reached my 150 hours pulling into Atlanta. My third trainer picked up a new student and I am in the Comfort Inn Suites in Marrow. I must admit....... nice room.

Don't order pizza from Rocky's delivery. There is better.

I read tons of stuff on USA before committing to them. Most of it was the regular complaints heard with every company. After dealing with USA for two months now (CDL mill school, orientation, training) I can say this with complete honesty: Outside of some crappy trainers, any problem I have encountered with logistics, personnel, communications...... USA has quickly remedied the problem and even apologized.

When i have had the opportunity to speak with drivers in person, I do so. I can safely say 85% are largely satisfied. The greatest number of complaints concern shotty trailers and fluxuating miles but nearly all claim miles are improving.

Not that I put my neck out there, watch USA wack it for me. LOL

In a perfect world, I will do my upgrade test tomorrow. Let's see where that takes me.

Be safe.

 

I will, Tom. How are you and that Cascadia gettin' along?

 

I agree...... too many fail CDL school. Backing and pretrip are toughest for most people.

Pretrip is just memorization. Students should begin learning it on day one.

With backing, learn the setups. Make them concrete in your mind. Then learn recovery should you miss the setup. Once I learned recovery (on my own) my backing escalated very rapidly. Looking in the mirror and seeing you are thin on one side or another confuses you on what should be done. Ususally, you should do the opposite of what your mind first tells you. If thin on the driver side, recover pulling forward toward the driver side. I passed backing before road driving or pretrip. And it was because I was willing to teach myself recovery. I told myself...... If C1 was not going to teach me how to recover a missed setup, then I was. I got barked at for doing it but I was backing just as good as the instructor by the end of week 2. They kept pounding the setup at you when you need recovery too. Recovery makes the world go 'round when backing around the dock. The setups at C1 are largely useless in the real worlld. Manipulating the trailer is king everywhere.

REMEMBER: C1 is for getting your foot in the company door and passing the state CDL exam...... nothing more.

Good luck.

Be safe.

 

DISAPPOINTMENT

I got into Atlanta around 5 or 6 PM Thursday ready to upgrade. The terminal told me to go to my room and someone would call to setup my upgrade. Someone in Arkansas called me around 9 this morning telling me my upgrade was going to be Monday at 7 AM.

A short while later I called the terminal requesting a copy of the new student manual to surf over the weekend. The guy was quite upset that I did not show up for upgrade this morning. No one told me to be there....... I waited for the phone call just like they said. So, now I sit in a hotel...... again....... waiting for something that should have happened a couple weeks ago.

This afternoon I walked a mile down the road to Walmart to get a few things to eat the next couple days..... tuna salad, bread, drinks..... simple cheap stuff....... and decided to get $40 on my ComData card ACCESS DENIED UNAUTHORIZED USE. Now I am pissed. I pay for my groceries with my bank debit card and begin appreciating the lone $5 bill in my wallet.

I call USA Van Buren and express my dissatisfaction after hearing a half dozen voicemail recordings. I explained a trainer taking/losing half of my belongings after being left in a NJ truck stop; being away from home 5+ weeks when it should have taken only 2 1/2 or 3; the repeated interruptions on my ComData account; and the nonsense of spending 7 days in a hotel waiting for something that I should not wait for. The response given....... You are lucky. Most require six to eight weeks to make upgrade. An Eve with testicals would not respond that way.

I have high expectations of myself. And sometimes I have high expectations of others. But I believe I have been quite tolerant of the events given me. My patience is wearing thin. I am educated and could go home and get another far better paying job in a couple months. I committed to USA. I did what was expected of me without complaint when most would have gutted them like a fish. And I still accept the extended opportunity. I just believe it is time for USA to finish up and manage what is manageable without accelerating voids. Quit apologizing. Don't make excuses. Take care of business.

Over and out.

 

I have direct deposit too. It took three weeks to set it up. I did not want to take any money out of checking in case the wife wanted some of it. She rarely does but it can happen. And I wanted to demonstrate truck driving was going to be okay. LOL

I'm glad to see your early success and potential smooth sailing. Starting off right makes the decision better.

The wife is pondering a trip down here early tomorrow. A month ago she could not remember my name. LOL

Be safe, buddy. We'll hookup somewhere someday.