MTI School Cost and "What to bring"

MTI Update:

Class started Feb 16th in Richfield, WI. Class size is 6 people. Average student age is about 45.

Week 1 was spent mostly in the classroom. Of that, about a day and a half was spent in the yard practicing shifting, coupling/uncoupling and straight line backing. It’s a good class, everyone seems very capable and quick learners. Harold is the trainer and seems as knowledgeable as they come. I’m very confident we’ll receive excellent training.

I won’t provide much in the way of week 1 training detail here, as I wanted mainly to comment on what I observed at the terminal in the past week. I’ll preface it by saying that with all the comments and viewpoints on this site and others, it’s understandable that one would wonder if the company they’re going to drive for is the best choice, or even a good choice. For me, this past week has gone a long way towards validating my decision was the best one for me. Here’s what I observed. The drivers lounge is adjacent to our training classroom and there were usually 2 - 10 drivers “lounging” at any time. It was unusual if we saw the same person in the drivers lounge 2 days in a row (or even for a whole day). The drivers were very willing to answer any questions the trainees had. What was really encouraging, and what I wanted to point out in this post, was an overall very positive attitude from the drivers. I don’t recall hearing any negative comments about Millis. This was true whether while in the lounge or yard, whether engaged in conversation with a driver or listening to their conversation. Some had things to complain about, but none I noted were related to Millis. Overall, it seemed the drivers were quite happy with the company, miles and equipment. The drivers had anywhere from 6 months to 22 years driving experience with Millis. I’m not suggesting everyone at Millis is happy, or has nothing to complain about from time to time, but it seems the company is doing a lot of things right. A lot of things. What I saw this week also goes a long way in validating the very good reputation I believed Millis to have, and why I want to work for them.

Cheers, GD