Covenant Questions

If you are not sure about this company keep looking around for a different one or try this one out Good Luck and Be Safe

 

I am also going to covanent this week- leave on saturday and get their at 6 in the a.m. I tried to get my friend to train with me but the lady named angie told me you can't do this-- now i dont what to do. in fact after asking this-- they moved his date to the next week after i get there. I hope its nothing crazy about to go on. are you and your husband going on the 2nd of Aug.??

 

WELL it looks like they moved my friends date to this weekend so we leave saturday.
I GUESS he will go with a trainer and i will go with one. I just hope that we can team together we live a few blocks from each other and that will be good for home time. and if everything they say say is true-- I should be able to meet you and your husband when you get there. And I had the owner of the truck driving school call and get more info-- during training you should make way more than what people on this site have said. a husband and wife team that came from my school in MI said their check was for 700 a peice so I wish us both luck-- and hope we get the good trucks because I heard they just got 35 brand new ones

 

There should be no problem with you and your friend teaming after you both finish training. You get to choose you you team with. If you have nobody to team with, they have teaming meetings on some basis (daily?) where you can go meet with people who also need co-drivers. Then you mutually decide who you want to team with. If your teaming arrangement doesn't work out, then you just go back on your next time through the terminal and choose another co-driver.

The only thing you can't count on is both of you finishing up training at exactly the same time. My son got finished with his training a week before his co-driver did. His co-driver then took 3 days home time. So my son sat in the company 'hotel' for a week while the truck they were being assigned was in the shop being fixed up, then slept in the truck for 3 days before he picked his co-driver up from his home.

$650-700 checks is about what my son got on average during his training.

Don't count on getting a new truck. Your trainer might have one, but the new driver teams that go out after finishing with the trainer usually get whatever is available. Until they know you can do the job and have some experience under your belt you probably won't get a new truck.

 

I started out with Covenant in Aug 2003 and it's where I was trained...I quit in Feb 2005. They aren't the greatest in the world BUT they have their good points and bad points and are about like any other training company (judging by my experiences and comparing "stories" with other companies). Being that you and Hubby are a team, you will likely do better at Covenant than a solo. They are definitely more team-oriented, at least when I was there.

Orientation. Assuming you are going to Chattanooga....Bring your patience, most of all. The hotel isn't the nicest in the world and the overall atmosphere of the 3 day long orientation sort of feels like a cattle drive. A cattle drive that begins each day with a prayer. You'll spend the days in a room with about 100-120 other new drivers and be treated to a conga-line of people from each department explaining various company policies. Pay attention, but don't worry if you don't remember everything- it's all in your driver handbook.

BUT- Pay close attention when they tell you how to contact your dispatcher and your student coordinator. There will be names & phone numbers of who to call, if you should have questions or problems during training. Covenant has some good trainers & some bad ones....IF you get a trainer who isn't doing his/her job, your Student Coordinator will be your best friend.

If you have enough money saved up....bring enough money for FOOD. YES, they provide free meals, but the taste & quality is somewhere between hospital & prison food. It's good if you're arriving at Covenant on your last dime, but if you can afford to buy your own meals, do so. There is a Waffle House across the street (walking distance), a Cracker Barrel the shuttle van will drive you to, and pretty good Chinese and pizza delivery.

I saw people getting sent home for various reasons, but it usually either has to do with something on their MVR or criminal history they weren't honest about, OR it's over a work reference that cannot be verified.

They WILL work with you to get verification on things that aren't clear on your application. You have to provide a 10 year work history AND account for any period longer than 30 days that you went without work....including school, self-employment or being a homemaker. They know this can be difficult for most people. If you put down an invalid number, for instance, for an employer you had years ago....Personell WILL meet with you and let you provide alternate verification. Get GOOD contact info for all your past jobs. Bring a BIG list of friends, neighbors and former co-workers (with ther phone numbers & addresses) who will vouch for you should the need arise. If you have gaps in employment they might also ask for one of your acquaintances to write a short letter & fax it, stating they knew you during your time of unemployment and will verify that you were indeed doing whatever you claimed to be doing. It's a BIG pain in the butt....just be sure you communicate with folks at home & have someone waiting in the wings in case you need help.

Your road test- don't worry about it. If you passed CDL school, you'll pass the road test. And if you don't know the super-10 transmission, the trainer administering the road test will shift for you..they figure you'll learn the tranny with your trainer. They just want to see that you can handle the truck, answer a few basic questions....gauges, mirrors, being observant of low clearance signs (there is a low tunnel in town). Beware of the "last turn" before you come back to the yard...it's a tight one, unless they fixed it. And you'll have to do a simple 45 degree angle dock, if memory serves they do allow you (and encourage you) to get out and look. DO make sure to get into & out of the truck properly (keeping 3 limbs on the truck at all times) as they'll yell at you if they see you jumping off the steps or anything like that.

When I went, there was no lifting test or anything like that, but you may want to call & ask. Some drivers had to re-take their physical if your original physical wasn't up to their specs....it's no sweat, their doctor just gives you a once-over, simple vision test, asks you to touch your toes and whispers a couple things in your ears to see if you can hear, LOL. I took a physical at a doctors office & brought the form with me, had to re-take it...Covenant's physical is MUCH more relaxed than one at an actual doctors office. And you'll have to take a drug test. Standard stuff.

Oh....do some research on "per diem" pay (this forum would be a good place to ask some questions I bet)....and decide whether you want it or not BEFORE you go to Orientation. Get a balanced understanding of WHAT it is. They do the "high pressure sale" when trying to get drivers to sign up for Per Diem, because the company also gets a tax break for offering it. When you're in Orientation, they will NOT let you leave the room until you've signed your paper and picked "yes" or "no". Many drivers knew accountants and other financial professionals & they wanted to make a phone call and consult with them and the answer was a flat NO. For this reason alone, I chose not to get Per Diem pay....didn't trust the fact that they didn't want drivers to acquire outside opinions. Do what you want- just know what you're doing.

Pack light....bring just the essentials, a week's worth of clothes & 2 weeks worth of underwear & socks, sturdy shoes, shower supplies, etc. You and your husband can shower together at truckstops (don't let the trainer tell you otherwise), so you don't need 2 sets of shower supplies. The trucks aren't huge and with 3 people in one truck, you'll have limited space to store your stuff. But bring a disposable camera or two....you'll probably want to get pictures!

Once you make it thru Orientation, you'll be assigned a trainer. And depending on where your trainer is on the road, you may be bussed (on company vans) to another terminal where they'll put you in a hotel to wait on your trainer. They sent me to North Carolina and told me my trainer would be there the next day....I waited at the hotel for 2 and a half days. The hotel room is paid for but it CAN be tough to get through to anyone on the phone to get advances, etc. especially if it's a weekend. Keep this possibility in mind and again, try to have some extra money for meals, if you have to wait. You may get lucky & get to wait in Chattanooga, but a good percentage of folks had to go elsewhere.

One other thing....I don't know what your religious beliefs are but know that Covenant is definitely a Christian-themed company. Prayers and religious references during the orientation and a Gospel-music based "driver's jamboree" one evening....attendance is not mandatory, but it can be fun even if you're not really religious. And when you call to the company you'll often be treated to the owner's version of inspirational sermons while you sit on hold. I'm pretty much somewhere between spiritual and agnostic....no religion, really, and I didn't let it bother me. It's just good to know what to expect....and if you're a devout Christian, you'll love it.

My husband went through orientation & training at Covenant too & he says he can't think of anything else to add. Just bear in mind, if you can make it past your first 2 months, you can make it through anything....it's rough at first as you absorb all the new things & your body gets used to life on the road. Consider it a type of 'boot camp'. Good luck & be safe.

 

Great Post Woofless!!!