Hubbie and wife, brand-spankin' new, and tons of questions...

kimmeegoose

Really sorry about what happened to you folks at the unemployment office. I will say that my office did discourage me from going for my CDL, citing the fact that most people don't like it. LOL, they even sent me to this board!

I stayed with the plan, though, and they came through. They told me later (after I'd been approved and all) that they do that for EVERY job - they want to make sure you aren't just grasping at straws and that you have actually given the new job some thought.

That's probably what's SUPPOSED to happen everywhere. Obviously, some places are less.. um.. workable than others.

And you were right to inject your experiences into the thread. Obviously, just because Mgassel and myself had good experiences, doesn't mean you did or Andy will. He should be aware that it's not just a walk-in/walk-out guarantee.


Andy - I feel for your wife. Mine's the same way, without the language barrier. She's horrible at taking tests. As a result, she studies her.. um.. studies very hard and eventually ends up doing quite well. And, because she studies so hard, she knows the material a whole lot better than I do.

Yeah,I take tests well.

All in all, if I were an employer (again), I'd much rather hire her than me.

I'm not sure, though, that passing on getting your wife the funding is a good idea. Or at least, trying to. Let's face it - driving a truck is not rocket science. Take a stab at it - they might come through (I had a gentleman in my CDL class who was Afghani - spoke English quite well, but reading it was another matter. He came in through WIA). The worse they can do, of course, is say "no" and she's only had to invest some time. And she can try again at a later date, if the first time through doesn't work out.

You are right, of course, that the first year will be the hardest. But if you are careful and have a good record, you stand a good chance of hiring on with a company that will treat you like humans. I would apply *first* at places like May Trucking and Watkins and Shepard - and others like them. What I call "mid-sized" - about 1000 trucks. They hire school grads and treat them well. (Experience at May, talking to others about W&S). Who knows, after a year, you might like them well enough to stay.

 

No worker left behind paid for my training including my licence, tests and day care while at school. of course the woman who helped at michigan works is married to a trainer at Roehl. He is also listed as my referral when i started at Roehl last month.

 

I just spoke to a couple of teams from covenant. They trained together at covenant and were even in the same training truck. the trainer slept on the top bunk and the couple did all the driving.

 

If your on unemployment you should be able to get truck school covered. As far as Companies: Marten is probably the best way for a husband wife to go, I base this on alot of years of hearing of listening to tears. IMHO

 

Whoa, that sounds like a real super idea. 2 rookies + 1 80,000lbs truck = bad news. :smt064

 

Well, you sound like someone with a brain, so I think you'll be okay, whatever it takes.

 

Not necessarily. They can work on each other's strengths. He seems coherent, so I don't see why, after training, they can't continue to teach each other. As long as common sense hangs around...

 

He's only stating that you could never get the training you need. Don't expect your CDL school to teach you anything but to get your CDL. You need someone that will take the time to teach the both of you and you need a trainer that has good experience. Yes, were we all rookies at one time or another. But some of us had the proper training so when we came down a 6% grade fully loaded we didn't kill ourselves or any one else. There's so much more to driving a truck than just shifting the gears and getting from point A to point B. And you must know to make the good money in this business your record needs to be clean. So you both need a seasoned driver to help you.