Getting Started

Thank you.

Not quite sure LoweMan43, I'll find out this afternoon.

 

Today was a short day. Dale took Perry and me to the Flying J this morning to eat breakfast after we fueled up the truck.

After breakfast we hit the highway for some highway driving. Each of us drove for an hour and a half, Perry drove first and I drove second. It went pretty well, seems now that Perry has his license he is much more confident which is nice. I was actually able to take a nap in the sleeper while he drove and only got woke up once when he had to quick stop due to traffic. After he drove I picked it up and drove us back to the campus.

After that we ran a few serpentine runs around the lot then packed it up at 1:00pm. I had an interview at Raider Express and Perry had an interview at Central Refrigerated.

After I left I headed home to take a shower and change then headed over to Ft. Worth to the Raider Express offices for my interview.

Happily it went very well, I go for my drug test tomorrow (which I'll have no problem passing), once that is done I'll attended orientation on Monday and head out with my trainer on Tuesday or the Monday after Easter. Just depends on how it works out.

 

Today was a great day on several fronts.

Went into class this morning expecting more of the same stuff but we had a trucking rodeo. Which included straight line, 45 and 90 degree backing, parallel parking and serpentine runs.

Was a ton of fun, the score: Perry 10, Michael 140. LOL. Perry did have 100pts but he busted all his points on 45 & 90's. Totally seems he forgot how to park. Oh well, it's over and I'm glad.

After the rodeo we headed over to the main campus to 'graduate'. Which included filling out some final paperwork including a satisfaction survey. I was pretty satisfied with the course, very happy with Dale but unhappy with the way things kind of ran at times. Otherwise it was a good experience.

Once it was all said and done I started to head home, but heard from Raider Express, they finished my application processing and wanted me to take my DOT drug screen. So I headed over there and picked up the paperwork for that and went and filled the cup. Afterwards they told me to report for orientation on Monday at 8:00am sharp. Once that was done I could start with my trainer anytime I was ready.

Think I'm actually going to wait till next Monday after Easter to start with my OTR training. That way I can speed spring break with my wife before heading out. I won't be out for two months solid like I planned for previously with Crete, but I should only be gone a week at a time. I'll be taking hometime when my trainer does which is every 5-7 days and usually a max of ten.

I'm excited about starting with Raider Express, should be fun. From what I've seen so far and heard from talking to drivers and folks who work there (and not just the recruiters who are actually cool and not trying to sell the company to drivers) the place is a great place to be and everyone knows your name and you are part of the family instead of just an employee.

This brings the end to my schooling blog, if you've liked this one then keep a look out for my Raider Express training blog starting next week.

 

Raider Express does have some Florida routes, however they only hire within a 100m radius of their home terminal. At least that is what I was told as they have no facilities anywhere but Ft Worth & Houston. There is a small shop in NJ but that's it.

One downside I did find out is trucks cannot go home with drivers, they have to be at the Ft Worth yard when you take your hometime. This allows them to do the scheduled maintenance.