Biting the Bullet and Finally Doing It

Discussion in 'CR England' started by we4redheads, Oct 14, 2010.

  1. Gears

    Gears Trucker Forum STAFF - Gone, But Not Forgotten.

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    I'm about a stone's throw from the Iowa / Nebraska border, North of Council Bluffs IA/Omaha NE
     
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  3. lovesthedrive

    lovesthedrive R.I.P.

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    Sorrento Maine
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    CR England will auto-fail you if you dont do your GOALs (get out and look). LOL they are big on the A/F on the chart they grade you by. The used to let you see how well each review went.

    Sounds as if you are off to a good start. After you get your CDL they will give you a class on business management. So you will have a better idea of what to expect when you are driving for them.

    Note tho. They do everything in repetition. So learn what they expect of you and you should pass no problem. Your temporary cdl will require a trip home to get your "legal" cdl license.

    When your ready to go out on the road, you used to have to go wait in the room on the top floor where you took your pee test. Mind you it may be as much as 2 weeks before you get your trainer.
     
  4. we4redheads

    we4redheads Bobtail Member

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    Ahhhh... used to live a bit north of ya in vermillion, sd
     
  5. we4redheads

    we4redheads Bobtail Member

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    Graduates have been getting assigned trainers immediately since I've been here. Know all about the A/F scale here. But I've had pass/fail tests before. I ALWAYS test well.

    Parallel parked for the first time today. First time sucked cuz the wheel slipped out of my hand on a backing turn. Put me about a foot too far left. Second time.. greased it in. Rewardin'g feeling being able to put a 73' truck into an 85' hole. Pre-trip is a breeze now but need to bone up on my 4-pt brake check. Yeah.. sucks having to get ANOTHER michigan license. Just paid $25 for one not but 3 weeks ago. NOW.. I have an Indiana license with my michigan address. Odd.

    On a lighter note.. 2 idiots from chicago got busted today on the Indiana toll road by a portage cop. In addition to road munchies and soda pop.. they had 14 kilos of coke. Almost surprised they weren't heading to burns harbor for a job.
     
  6. lovesthedrive

    lovesthedrive R.I.P.

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    Sorrento Maine
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    In my class there was a fellow whom thought he was going to drive for England. He went to do the pee test and gave the gal cold pee. She looked at him and said here is a new cup and do it again. He left after that.
     
  7. MysticHZ

    MysticHZ Road Train Member

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    My class had guy show up drunk on the 3rd day of over the road driving ... at 6 am in the morning.
     
  8. we4redheads

    we4redheads Bobtail Member

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    been a few days since i've posted. so... thought i'd update things.

    so far this week.. today and yesterday that is.. it's been nothing but road training.. tho we did go over in-cab inspection and 4-pt brake check for the test while it was raining and the wind was kicking up. yesterday was rough... have a few bad habits to brake.. like wanting to downshift all the way to 1st coming up to a stop light.. needing to take the high side of curves... and getting my tandems out to the apex of a curve before i start the turn. missed a few gears here and there and am really not used to a vehicle that i can be in neutral and stomp on the accelerator w/o blowing the engine.

    today.. got a rhythm in my head that has made shifting up and down thru the gears a breeze. i'm really smooth today and all the teeth are where i found them on the transmission. i've broken my habit of wanting to do multiple downshifts when coming up to a red light.. in fact.. i seem to have a knack for being able to coast them out. i've got all the pre-drive part of the cdl test down pat. it's locked in.. have pre-tested tons for it and am passing pre-trip, in cab, 4 point, and 3 maneuvers w/o any assistance or extra points. driving today was less intimidating, less like training.. and more like a pleasant drive around northern indiana. i just don't want to suffer training burnout and be stale by friday.. i want to test TOMORROW.. not friday.

    so far.. everyone here has treated me with complete respect. that probably comes from the fact that i'm a good student.. a quick study and test very well and know how to correct my own mistakes. when the instructors here see you hammering away at the information.. see you intently listening.. you get treated a bit better than the average joe who comes in here thinking this will be easy or some kind of joke.

    which leads to another observation. i've had not ONE discouraging thing happen to me here other than being away from my wife and kids for the first time (for more than a weekend) since my wife and i got married last year. she hates it more than i do tho. i'm actually having fun now. the only discouraging things i've heard are from the nay-sayers and haters on here. i got curious.. searched out every negative thing i could find on the internet about cre.... and i am still finding this a positive experience. just like anything in life.. if you continually look for the bad side of things.. you'll never be disappointed.

    talked to a nice young man today who's been with cre for about 7 months. spent my lunch time in his truck.. looked at his settlements.. not donald trump sized.. but then.. i don't have trump sized needs. discussed the ins and outs of how he's done things and we seem to have a similar outlook on life and work. gave me some usable advice that i plan on taking and adapting to my needs and style.

    so.. i've come to the point where i'll take the negative comments.. file them where they belong and find out for myself where life with england takes me. but then.. if i do well and like it.. those same naysayers will accuse me of being a company guy like they have everyone else who likes england..and.. if i do poorly.. i'm man enough to fess up and take the told-you-so's
     
  9. we4redheads

    we4redheads Bobtail Member

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    another note... in my search of the negatives... i've not seen one piece of hard evidence... i want to see the negative settlements and the logs to see how much home time they took the week before the settlements.. some kind of record to see what deliveries were on time and what ones were not.. tho EVERY driver claims that they were ontime with every delivery.

    in fact... (and maybe i'm putting the cart b4 the horse here).. i'll find a way to post and link every settlement i get from them. when i'm getting them for something other than phase 1 or 2 training. maybe use google docs or something.

    and yes.. if you request them... you can get a copy of your QC generated logs from england by having them faxed to you.. they have to do it so that you can generate an accurate log in case the QC goes down.
     
  10. lovesthedrive

    lovesthedrive R.I.P.

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    Your settlements will be posted on their e-tools of their website. I believe it is your qualcomm logon name and last 4 of your SS# for the password. Then you can just take screen shots and post the JPGs here if you want.
     

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  11. JustinWaterboro

    JustinWaterboro Light Load Member

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    So...LOVESTHEDRIVE, without getting to personal what exactly was this settlement regarding?
    Just trying to figure out what it is for...
     
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