Just sitting here taking practice tests waiting on tests.

This Stay At Home and all is killing me. I missed the last CDL Permit test by one day. Now I am waiting for the fine State of Missouri to reopen testing. It is looking like maybe mid May. I was hoping to be signed off by then but all in good time.

I have written every elected official and even got to talk with a couple. I am on the fence with privatizing the CDL exams. My last job we had a trainer that could do the walk around and drive test but we still had to go to the DMV for the written test. I had a friend in California DMV that gave me some spread sheets on different locations and the results of driving and written exams. I was amazed the largest reasons for failure on the written exams was misreading the admin question. Like, How many days do you have to register a newly purchased vehicle? The driven exam showed some instructors failed everyone and others passed anyone. I am sure the private sector could do it just as well.

The written exams could just as easy be given at any computer testing site. Many nursing schools and VocEd schools have these centers. Truck Driving schools both Mega owned and Private schools have trainers with more experience than any trooper now doing the exams. I would rather see a joint effort with these people giving the exams and see the troopers back behind the wheel where they belong. A few troopers would still be needed to monitor the new examiners but for the most part it would not take much. Many states already allow this to some extent.

Right now I am just extremely bored and wish I could sit with the rudest most obnoxious trainer with any company just to be moving forward. At least I could try bribing the trainer. Just a few more weeks and then we will have to see who is still hiring and whether a private school will be better than Mega school. The money is not a problem for me yet. Savings will be able to cover the school. Playing the guessing game on who will hire me after school is another thing. Truck Dynasty Driving Academy in Bois D'Arc Mo. is a 160 hour school that most carriers accept. They have been training for 36 years now and also have SS trucking company.

ARRRGGGGGGGGG rant over. Looking forward to driving soon.

 

I remember the feeling. Get me GOING NAOW.

That was then.

Fast forward one wasted mispent life on the road. Ive had my fill of driving to last me the rest of my existence. =) I'll know when I am finished with it when I run out of stories.

The Covid has managed to cause some things to happen here that needed to happen for years. Unfortunately not everything that is happening is very good. In the end we will be rolling soon enough. This is the time to spend with your family and enjoy the quiet. You will not be able to do so when you get your first trucking job.

 

Trucking for me is just an easy option to make more than $20k a year. Here locally jobs for those over 55 are hard to find without heavy labor. Even then most companies will not hire over 55 fulltime. I tried at 30 plus companies and most were up front telling me I was too old. I kept saying, "You know you cannot say that out loud?" Most did not care nor do I. At least I was not strung along waiting for a job I could not have.

Driving a truck will take me away from my wife for some time. We got married while I was in the Navy. Marriage, 3 week honeymoon, 14 months at sea. Then a drunk driver almost killed me and I spent 4 months in a hospital bed. We are used to being apart but do prefer together. It is only a short time so we can rebuild our savings. If I work smart, keep load managers and dispatchers happy as well as keep my truck running clean and safe I should be able to bank some serious cash. Our day to day funds are OK but medical bills killed our fun money. Listen to the old and the young as both have good advise to keep things productive.

 

Get the testing done in another state, use someone's address.

 

Well as soon as I got to California testing opened up in Missouri. I rushed back driving 24 hours straight. Good thing I did not need logs for this run as it was my sons household goods.

Somethings have changed in the testing since I last tested. Once in 1976 and again in 1994. Both were paper tests at the DMV. After answering all the questions they tallied up how many were wrong to see if you passed. Now in Missouri it is a computer test. The General Knowledge is 50 questions. 40 right answers is passing. The difference is as you take the test it will stop when you have enough right answers. So what is the difference? You can skip difficult questions until the end. If you know 40 questions as easy answers you will pass as soon as you answer 40 right. No guessing or wrong answers needed. If by some miss fortune you answer 11 wrong it will also fail you before you can finish the test.

My suggestion is skip anything you are not sure about so the odds are in your favor of passing. You get a second chance to look at the question and other questions may spark a memory to help. I had a hard time remembering about the Alcohol in air brakes. Two answers looked right but I was not sure until I had another question about adding the right amount of alcohol. Suddenly the right answer was known for the first question.

Monday all the DMV offices are open and I will be there early for opening so I can get the permit paid for. School starts May 11th and then I will be on hold for the drive test. A backlog should make that test difficult to get, but all in good time. I am talking with 3 different companies all very positive for hiring. Maybe by the 4th of July I will be driving?

I will start a new thread sharing and joking about the classes for 4 weeks. I hope the levity will help others out with their experiences. I have been pulling 20-45 foot trailers for 45 years behind pickups and box trucks. I am sure with my prior driving I will be given enough tips to make my drive test a breeze. Passing the written was easy so I am feeling great. New life for a grumpy old fart pushing 60.

 

Update on applying with companies. Do not send in the app until you are packed and ready. They do not say it but the recruiters can drop you and make you wait 6 months till you can apply again. I thought I was going to Roehl and found out they dropped me and did not tell me so. Not waiting until September so looking elsewhere.

 

Things going quick now. Did my finger printing on Thursday at Identico in Fayetteville Arkansas. Email on Friday my TWIC card is in the mail. No word on HAZMAT but that was quick. School starts Monday with only one other in the class. This should go quick too.

The instructor said with so few in the classes they are able to test all students within a week of the class ending. With only two, we will test before the end of class. Now I have 3 companies left to hire into but many are now laying off too. Not sure how bad this will be but the politicians must be lying about the availability of goods as loads are down everywhere.

My son came home early as even his company had to reschedule next weeks boards. It is nice to have him home with his daughter, but nicer when money is coming in. I see trucking a lot like the old days in shipyards or construction. One has to balance the high weeks with the low weeks. Saving in between is a must, as sometimes income is not quite enough to pay the bills.

Next week a new thread will start joking about my school and testing. I might include the first 6 months of driving as well depending on the company.