KKW Trucking Pomona, Ca Orientation

Hey guys, I'll give you an update with what's going on with me and answer some of your questions. Yesterday I completed a 3 day refresher course at United Truck Driving school in Riverside, the same place I went originally for school. I reapplied at KKW last night, I received a phone call from them about 1 1/2 hours ago. I explained over the phone that I went to orientation there in May and was sent home during orientation. I also explained that I was told I was welcome to return after attending a refresher course or getting experience elsewhere. The recruiter said that she will leave a note and follow up with me on Monday.

TNTHARLEY, you asked about the 100lb pull test, the test is preformed at the doctor's office KKW sends you to for your drug test and physical. The test is just basically leaning forward and pulling on this device that measures how hard you can pull. It has to measure 100lbs or more. One thing I will mention on this, this test is not a stress test. What I mean by that is ask the assistant administering the test to take your blood pressure BEFORE the pull test. I did the pull test and then she took my BP, she was like "oh your blood pressure is a little high." I told her "well I just did the pull test", she was like "oh yeah maybe I should have taken your blood pressure before the test." I'm a young guy with no history of high blood pressure and I am not overweight, so I'm pretty sure it was just pulling really hard on that device that raised my BP.

I have no idea about how often drivers have to help unload or what they are paid to do so. I was told by another member on here that they are about 85% drop & hook.

May Trucking Company is one that I only started to consider recently. When I went and talked to the recruiter at the driving school on Monday he gave me a list of companies he would drive for if he was going to drive again. The companies were May, Swift, Schneider, and Gordon. If for whatever reason it still doesn't work out with KKW I was considering these companies. I know Swift will probably hire someone with a CDL regardless if they are a "recent" graduate or not. May and Gordon probably want recent grads from my understanding anyways.

When the recruiter from KKW comes to your school you should ask those questions you had about drop & hook and the pay.

You also asked about Schneider. I had no problems with Schneider really, the time I spent with the trainer could have been better. I had no problems with the trainer himself, he was a good trainer, he was easy to get along with, and patient. It was the run he had that could have been better for training purposes. He was a dedicated driver delivering General Motors auto parts. His run was basically Fontana, Ca to Reno, NV and that's it. Back and forth, it really wasn't a real OTR training experience. He lived in the Reno area so on the weekends he would go home and I had to sit in Sparks at the Alamo Petro babysitting the truck. I could have paid for a hotel room myself but at $90 a night on a trainee's pay no thank you. At least the Alamo had a bar and casino . I made it through the training period after which I had to find a partner to run teams. I had trouble finding a co-driver that could start when I could. The whole training experience left a bad taste in my mouth I guess you could say. Overall I regret leaving Schneider and wish I had stayed, I was two years younger then and I guess you could say dumber lol.

I think that about covers all the questions you had for me TNT, I have one for you, what driving school are you currently attending? I should be able to provide another update on Monday after speaking with the recruiter again. If you have anymore questions ask away!

 

Ok, I just spoke with a recruiter from KKW a few minutes ago. I'm going in tomorrow at 11 AM for a road test. Hope all goes well.

 

OregonJoe, I think for the purpose of this thread we're mostly rookies with little to no experience here(I am at least), Interstate requires one year.

So today was my road test at KKW. I showed up a few minutes before 11 AM, there were three of us there as student drivers. One guy was fresh out of driving school. The other obtained his license through CR England and drove for a couple other companies for a few months each. We also met a KKW driver that had been working there off and on since I think 1966, long time.

The roadtest was pretty much the same. I pulled a set of doubles for the test, they were already setup. I did considerably better this time around, I was a little rough on a few spot as far as shifting goes. They want to see you float gears, floating is still a new concept for me. This time I did pass lol, I was told I would come back to continue my orientation on Monday and head out with a trainer on Tuesday. Luckily all my application information is still on files so I don't have to do much of the hiring process again. They just have to rerun my criminal background and MRV, I'll be calling tomorrow afternoon to followup.

 

Alright, I'm all setup to attend orientation at KKW on Monday and probably start with a trainer on Tuesday.