BTC Memphis, TN orientation and trainer experience blog.....

My trainer had a felony many years ago for illegal arms selling (or something like that) and also had 2 truck abandonments. The stories for these [abandonments] were actually hilarious. He is one of the best trainers they have. He is one of those "wild childs" who got serious once he had a family.

Do they do prehire letters? Not sure. You can ask the recuiter. I will ask the office the next time I run through. I'm sure they do. But I was hired within a week. All I needed was the greyhound reservation confirmation # and who to call to pick me up.

 

My trainer did admit that if you have to work more than 70 hours a day (driving or on duty) and you can't make good money, you don't need to be driving for that company.

BTC ended up sending the same load to 2 different drivers at Alcoa, TN. Alcoa pays very well, but is extremely strict on their safety policy. One wrong move and you can be banned for life. Anyway, we ended up having to load on Sat vs Friday, and this gave us a 2.5 day weekend, as we didn't have to deliver until Tuesday midnight or midday. But we were going to unload Tuesday morning anyway, so that we can get loaded Tuesday morning. And off we go.

I drove for the first time on Saturday. From now on, my trainer said I would be in the driver's seat. So I gotta rest up when I'm not driving. He said for training purposes, I'd be driving legal. My driving skills aren't bad for the first time driving. I did a downgrade of 45 mph fairly well.

There is nearly ZERO cell phone reception in Ripley, TN. At least for sprint.

Just got a call from the trainer. We will leave out tonight vs tomorrow morning. We still got about 56 hours rest.

We ended up missing a Monday reload, but I still get paid the same regardless.

 

He pretty much explains everything and specifically says if I have any questions to let him know. He has good people skills.

 

Well, so far so good with BTC. They tend to be stingy with the company vans. But they only have a couple and they have to be reserved for student errands during the day or short trips. Oh well. I would think they would allow for trips seeing that we are hundreds of miles away from home. Oh well. I'll just tough it out until I get my own truck. Here, they give you your own truck about 4 weeks from the start of training (if you prove yourself).

 

I forgot to mention this. For those that have a current DOT physical in hand, they will photocopy it. For those that do NOT have one, you will have to have one done. BTC will allow those that need the physical to borrow the company van to do so by Tuesday of the orientation week. This should be paid for by BTC.

I had mine already. CDL school they get you DOT tested the first or second day. Maverick and TMC had one done separately anyway, even if you did have proof. But technically, you don't need to. And really, it's a waste of money.

There is an ability test that is separate I already mentioned this in my first post [Monday, Day 1 second paragraph]. This is simple and takes about 2 minutes per person.


So my advice on the DOT physical. Since they will accept a current one, and if you think you will have an issue with it, why not just get one prior to coming from a doctor you know will approve you? Just a thought.

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The trainer decided to spend this daylight savings weekend out from the house. So I got to do my 34 hour reset in the truck. Never spent so much money at an arcade before since I was a kid. We delivered some pallets of conduit to NJ on Friday (2 stops) and then loaded aluminum coils in the evening for delivery into GA by monday before 8am EST. So I guess I'll have to wake up soon. I decided to purchase some dumbbell weights as I see that I'll need to take a proactive step in staying fit.

So far I've driven about 1400mi or so. Mostly loaded. The trainer trusted me to go back and try to make out the nascar game today. A sign that he trusts me not to kill him. He only comes out when we are approaching rest stops or need to stop or we are in a city.

All this is being logged "legally". But actually, my trainer insists that I will be legal at all times for training purposes. He on the other hand.......


Only negative about this trainer is that he doesn't want me to leave my computer on with his inverter. He doesn't like his inverter on for extended periods of time. I'm one of those people who never shuts their computer down. But my day of getting my own truck is drawing near. 2 more weeks and 2 days.