Melton, Whatcher 20

The orientation and securement training is very hands on and in depth. It is a class activity where you work in groups. To get on the trailer during orientation, they have you go up the rear bumper and after you prove you can do that the rest of training they allow you to use a ladder. I have seen 4 or 5 females at Melton, May be more but that's all I've run across. Ps don't jump off trailer in orientation/training or they will send ya home. They are very safety conscious over here.


Btw what part of mo you from? I live down in west plains, 90 miles south of rolla.

 

I can do that! Maybe not like a ballerina, but like a bumble Bee.

 

Hey Flatbdn, do have routing on your qualcom or is it still advisable to buy a GPS? (Along with the old fashioned map of course.) And I assume that they tell you were to buy fuel and how much to buy? Or, she says hopefully, do they tell you what fuel stations to use and allow you to fuel up and not that silly 50 gallons here, 36.5 gallons here that some other trucking companies do? Do they pay tolls? And what happens if your GPS route is shorter then the one on the QC? This is your orientation test, you understand? Guess I should jot these down and ask recruiting, but thanks for pitch hitting for them!

 

They send us routing but I still use that, my rand McNally 520 and my atlas because I have had a restricted route once sent to me (they tried to send me on 85 through Atlanta). They tell us where to get fuel but minimum you will get is 50 gall and then the next stop is usually fill up. They pay tolls if they route you on toll road, but I have run them before without being routed on them and never heard anything about it. If you find a shorter route by all means, run it. That's what I normally do anyway. Been here going on 6 months and they leave me well enough alone.

 

How do they pay for tolls, do they have electronic payment boxes in the trucks? And what about those no attendant, change only booths?

 

EZPass in most places and for the OK turnpike. Other areas, Kansas, Texas, Florida, etc. you pay the toll and then get reimbursed. Haven't had to use it in Texas, but the others were on my next pay check. They are quick and fair. I have also gotten reimbursed for parking at TA/Petro when I used their reserved parking when everything else was full. They take care of their drivers.

 

Oh look, one more question! I have seen some of you say that you are posting from your smart phones. Are your smart phones easier to use then a laptop? I have been wondering about which way I wanted to go, phone only or phone a laptop? Then finally, for tonight, if I have a HAVE TO BE HOME date, do I tell them that I have to be home the day before or tell them the day I have to be home?

 

I have both a computer and a smart phone. Depending on the situation, I tether my phone to my computer, which is much easier to see, screen wise. Obviously, the phone can be used as a phone, but texting and other things, too. Versatility and options.

Melton has a guaranteed hometime that can be used once every 6 months. Otherwise, you ask for a hometime a day or two ahead of that "must be there" time. So far they have gotten me home no later than a day later than date requested. I have also been early. Nice thing is that if you are early or late, those days to not count against your hometime. Also, you can bank hometime. In other words, if you earn 5 days and only use 3 then you have 2 days banked that you can use at another time in the future.

 

Triletter, Allow me to check what I have read on less then my first cuppa. So I want to be home on Monday and Tuesday, but due to the way the freight is moving they get me home on Saturday. Are you saying that Saturday and Sunday would not be charged against my "home time" account and that the only days that would be coming out of the "home time" account would be the Monday and Tuesday? So I was given two days as a freebee? (If so, that is a good deal!)

Computers: I will have to drag out my newest/old laptop and get it updated so at the very least I can post here, watch DVD's and generally have some form of entertainment briefly before hitting the rack or when on a restart. I just used this site in an attempt to get a guesstimate on what data plan I needed to round up to from Verizon: http://www.cableone.net/pages/datacalculator.html It was very useful, but frightening it came up with: 40G per month and that is NOT including MS updates and or my attempt to kill Diablo. (Maybe I am wrong, but I assumed the lag time on a cell signal would greatly hinder game play and I should save gaming for home-time. (?) ) Since Verizon sells data blocks in 10G increments, I thought I would roll up to 50G just to be safe. That will increase my plan another $300 for web use. Man gotta retweak that! After tweaking it looks like 20G a month will run me another $150 a month. I think after I am out there that I will find it is less then this, just because I won't have the same amount of free time and that I will not be writing code while on the road. After this plan comes off of contract in December I think I will look around and see who is cheaper, but yet still has excellent coverage.............and is NOT AT&T. Finally do you use your cell phone as a "hot spot" to allow for wireless internet for your lap top or do you have a wired connection to it?

What did you take with you in the trainers truck? Clothing for how many days? Bedding? It sounds like you will be expected to be out and about for a week by yourself before going home to load your truck, but at the same time there will not be a huge amount of room in the trainers truck either. Are there female trainers that you know of at this time?

Thank you all for your assistance.

 

Yep you are right Saturday and Sunday are freebies.