Arrived in texas for upcoming trans am orientation

Discussion in 'Motor Carrier Questions - The Inside Scoop' started by Midnight Mike, Aug 14, 2012.

If this helped put me as your referral :)

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  1. Midnight Mike

    Midnight Mike Light Load Member

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    May 18, 2012
    Drumright,Ok
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    First off, i looked and could not find a particular forum to post this in, so please move if necessary. Usually trans am (ta) would give you a bus ticket down, but with me coming from oklahoma a 8 hour bus trip was not something i looked forward too. Luckily my brother hooked me up with a ride which took us 3 hours. If you do travel yourself then ta reimburses you at .15cents a mile (as of 08/2012) paid on your first check. So this might be news to most but supposedly just last week ta changed its orientation/testing/training. Instead of 3 day orientation then 3 weeks with a trainer then coming back at the end to test out. Now we do 9 days straight here in texas 3 day orientation and 6 days of range work and i guess testing, then 3 weeks with trainer then come back for a day or two to do some final paperwork. Its good and bad, its good not having this test out lingering in the back of your mind for three weeks but bad in that you dont have three weeks to work on backing in the real world. Ill keep you updated as best i can each day for future possible participants can benefit. Oh btw the motel is actually primo. Its a best western plus with a gym a indoor 12x30 foot pool. Nice rooms with microwave, a roughly 28" flat screen nice office desk chair etc. now normally u would room with someone at no cost but when i found out about the program change to 9 days i asked the desk lady the cost of my own room, she mentioned that its 56$ a day but half is paid for by ta and not only that but they take that 200 something dollars out of your first check instead of needing to pay right away. At least as of right now thats the plan as i type this in my own room she did say she was pretty sure about it and that for at least today ill have my own room until she checks to make sure with someone.
    anyways tomorrow i guess well be handing over our ss card, cdl, and dot card and doing a piss test but ill confirm or go over what happens tomorrow. Ill try to keep you guys updated, lil nervous about the testing for backing im not sure what its going to consist of. Ok for now im out.✌🚚
     
    Rumblestrip Thanks this.
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  3. Cranky Yankee

    Cranky Yankee Cranky old ######

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    if you passed your cdl test you can pass the tests given at rockwall
    i found after 3 weeks on the road with a trainer it was just like HS or college
    you get just enough information to be either dangerous or learn to figure it out on your own
    As i started out on my own lil tidbits would come back to me not so much about driving but
    how to handle shippers recievers trip planning and managing your hours
    good luck it will all be ok......wink

    our olathe facility is much nicer then rockwall
    and our trucks are top of the line except of course your yard training piece of crap lol
     
    Midnight Mike Thanks this.
  4. Midnight Mike

    Midnight Mike Light Load Member

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    May 18, 2012
    Drumright,Ok
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    Reason im nervous is i consider myself lucky on cdl test at least with parralel with 90degree and off set i can do it in 1-3 trys but parralel could be either 1 try or 10 lol.. That along with the fact that i graduated 86 days ago they allow you 90 days to get there after graduation. Btw what kind of tw
    ests wee there? I heard they dont actually test you but rather just watch you the whole time. Is a couple trys at alley docking ok or do they expect perfection 1 try each time?
     
  5. Cranky Yankee

    Cranky Yankee Cranky old ######

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    Green Bay Wi
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    they teach you better backing skills for a few days then let you practice then just see if you got it
    backing is all about getting set up correctly and practice and Get Out And Look
     
  6. Okieron

    Okieron Crusty Okie

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    muskogee, ok
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    Setup is the most important thing when your backing. other than running over someone! but if you setup right you will have seen the idiot standing behind your trailer. Good Luck !
     
  7. Midnight Mike

    Midnight Mike Light Load Member

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    May 18, 2012
    Drumright,Ok
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    Day one done and consisted of the following,

    We had breakfast at motel at 6am
    took a school bus some seats 2 per seat on 2-3 mile trip to base
    handing over your cdl,dot card, ss card
    Getting papers signed
    Pee test Mug shots ( hold up your name card as they take a picture of you )
    Getting each person their own pin for their computers
    Pizza
    Video presentation via web cam to give uheads up of whats coming up before you get your own truck
    webcam presentation again this time going over leasing
    logging our time on a qualcomm type computer i think they call it blue tree

    A few things mentioned that were good was when you go out on the road with your trainer they would like you to get 80 hours behind the wheel and within 13 days but if youre up for it you could try and do 10 hours a day and be done in 8. If anyones strapped on cash then on friday they can give a cash advance of $60. With the urine test you get tested and if you cant get enough in the cup (my issue) or cant perform at all (like your partner says) then you are given two hours to get them the pee or they write it up and who knows what happens then. We Ended up getting pizza around noon and from their basically in a hurried manor had people sign out 4 (20 in the class) at a time which took 2 hours. We called it a day at 2:30.
    Thats all i got for now.
     
  8. losttrucker

    losttrucker Road Train Member

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    Just wanted to follow this thread
     
  9. Midnight Mike

    Midnight Mike Light Load Member

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    May 18, 2012
    Drumright,Ok
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    Day three in texas day 2 of orientation is over. First off when i was researching the experience of someone else who went through ta's orientation, they mentioned the continental breakfast not being worth it to get up, thats a lie. Two days now and both days they had pretty much any breakfast food you could think of from fruit to cereal to cinnamon buns to sausage and eggs and biscuits and gravy, so yea if your on a tight budget get this free food. Alright with that said here goes a list of what happened today

    Got a driver handbook

    Projector Presentation briefly going over some of handbook

    Code of conduct paperwork - what they want you to do and not do

    Benefits handbook - health, dental,short term dis.,life insurance,etc

    Web conference with the olathe kansas location discussing the benefits, filling out our elections

    Lunch - bbq, choice of pulled pork,sausage,brisket, turkey (turkey was good)

    Review driver handbook more

    Showed us some more of the blue tree and explaining status codes




    The group before us went out today their coaches to get their 80 hours behind the wheel,well most did some couldnt be here today so some students have to wait a day longer. Oh and at .15 cents a mile for travel reimbursement, im getting 33$ from oklahoma city to rockwall the actual gas cost bout 50$ in a honda accord, so 15-20$ out of pocket was worth not having to go through greyhound. 8 hour greyhound trip for only 200 mi,es, no thanks. Also, Unfortunately one of the students lost half his luggage that greyhound cant find.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2012
  10. Midnight Mike

    Midnight Mike Light Load Member

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    May 18, 2012
    Drumright,Ok
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    FRIDAY

    Today was straight forward we reviewed through projector more of the driver handbook. Had subway lunch. We were all issued a tch card which is used for tolls,lumpers,scales, or any purchases during your routes. It can also be used to have your salary put onto it if you wanted. At the very end we had a video conference with kansas just introducing some of the staff. We were also given the chance to take a 60$ advance in pay. <br>
    Tomorrow we leave motel at 7:30 am and will have our road tests. 15 minutes per driver they grade you with a sheet similar to how dmv tested you. You need to make sure you dont hit nothing, watch your mirrors and look at your trailer during turns and reading off street signs that are relevant to your drive. The major one is making sure you read off the posted height limit for bridges because if you dont know it you auto fail. Good news is if you fail you are given a second road test. Ill let you all know how i did tomoorrow.
     
  11. ghettochild

    ghettochild Medium Load Member

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    Jan 13, 2012
    atlanta,ga
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    Good job and good luck
     
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