Con Way Truckload

I just asked. Nearing the end of training, I asked to have my orientation pushed back a week. 1, the school that I went to lost 2 examiners the previous week and I did not want to risk getting my exam pushed back and missing my bus to Joplin due to the school. 2, I wanted to do orientation in Taylor as it is so close to home. I knew that if there were a couple of days in between ending orientation and getting on with a finisher I would like to spend it with my wife and kids instead of lonely in a hotel. (you know what I mean....lol)
Sorry about your luck.......

 

No if u have to travel Conway rents u a car...sometimes flys u but just tell them u got a lot of stuff

 

Ask and ya shall receive lol!!

 

Like the last few comments, the agility is easy.
We had a 350 lb (maybe 380) 6' guy and he passed.
They take age and calculate your max heart rate based on that. (you can find the formula online) At 33 mine was 167bpm. Even though you just got your physical about an hour before this test, they take your bp again. (mine was a lot higher as immediately following the physical I downed about 32 oz of coffee.....lol)
They take your starting pulse rate and record it.
Your first exercise is a 15" step up that you have to do to a metronome to ensure proper pace.
30 Seconds following, your pulse rate is taken. Your then allowed 3 minutes to recover.
There's 11 more ( I think) exercise/flexibility tests that you do. Your pulse rate is taken 30 seconds after each and you cannot break your max heart rate at any point.
The most exerting one is the first step up.
The rest are a breeze.....(lifting 25 lbs to waste, 50 lbs to waste, 50 lbs over head, touching toes, bending under a simulated trailer, climbing in and out of a simulated cab......)
Here's some personal info.
About 2 years ago I was 320lbs at 5'6". With that said, typically after such a size your pulse/bp stays on the high end for a very long time. Granted, it comes down quickly when you start losing weight but your threshold typically remains lower and your sitting rates stay slightly higher. It took me 6 months to drop to 165lbs. Over the last 1.5 years I've gotten to about 200 and have stayed there. I sit higher at rest...roughly 85bpm. I did not break the 110 bpm mark through the entire routine.
You seriously should be able to do it.
One last note. After your physical, do not caffinate yourself. Eat a light dinner the night before with nothing fried. Drink a gallon of water every day. Even 1 day of doing this will make a noticable drop in your bp/pulse rates. On the day of the test, eat whole foods that your body will process slower. This will help reduce a spike in sitting bp/pulse. It will also reduce your peak while exerting yourself as well. It's amazing what your body can do in a couple of weeks. Reading your post, it sounds like you have a few weeks before you will be in orientation. If you are worried (and you probably shouldnt be) make some modifications now. The body changes in a couple of weeks will be amazing.
Good luck and stay safe!

 

So.....I have to take my hat off to Con-way! I was already really impressed with the entire operation but they've given me even more to appreciate since Wednesday.
I'm sure that I will encounter things along the way that I do not like, but I know that it needs to be compartmentalized so as not to drive me nuts. Coming from the restaurant industry, I'm pretty good at this kind of stuff.

After completing orientation I was assigned a trainer. (roughly 3pm on Wednesday)
The paper said that he was in NH with my scheduled pick up in Taylor on Thursday.
A few things didn't go as planned and needless to say he was routed back to Joplin to take delivery on his new truck. He was scheduled to be there sometime around Monday give or take depending upon loads along the way.
Then the plan was get back to Taylor and pick me up. (Sometime late next week)
Wanting to get started before then, I called the training dept.
In summary, they told me that I am more than welcome to sit back and relax and collect detention pay of $60/day for every day that I am waiting. If you do the math, they were willing to give me $600 plus to stay at home. (WOW to say the least)
I let Calub(I think that was his name) know that I preferred to get started and that I was not really wanting to get free money to sit. He thanked me for my work ethic and asked if i would be willing to travel down to Joplin or wherever if necessary to meet up with my trainer. I said I would and we hung up with the plan being that he was calling me back. (that was 3:30 yesterday) About 7pm, I received a phone call from a number that I didnt know. It was a different trainer that was in the first spot on the board in Joplin. He said that the plan was a load straight through to Taylor and that he should be here sometime today. Amazing.
Taking care of their drivers is really Conways way! Add on top of that the fact that I am just an fng and to me it speaks volumes of the company I have chosen to work for.
My conversation with the trainer last night was great.
I'm excited and nervous at the same time......cant wait to get going.

 

Im sure a lot has changed since 08 dude... im in the student training program they pay what they pay....100 cash first day then 300 upon completion of crowder boot camp. No more no less. 60 dollar layover pay til u get a finisher. Yes they call th em finishers now. Then .26 cpm during ur 10000 mile training period. Maybe this varies from which terminal ur at but this applies to the joplon terminal as of august 4th 2012

 

Whether its my truck or a rental car, I can't afford to travel if I have to pay for gas up front and then wait to get reimbursed. Period.

 

They give u a comdata check for gas

 

That only applies to new drivers who have to do the boot camp. Experienced drivers who go to Joplin get something different.

 

truck Matt needs to go back to that cartoon avatar....It suits you well