Novoids, Glad that you are doing well, I hear ya talking to your buddy which is going to roehl or has already started. I am going to start at Roehl in July. I am at school in spindale nc. I was wanting to know how did ya get on with crete. I live in spartanburg was curious do u have experience or straight out of school. Thanks
i attended caldwell community college in hudson NC . IT WAS A 8.5 WK CLASS PTDI CERTIFIED. all toll a little under 1000 dollars most guys had unemployment pay i was outta pocket. cost covers all including books..hope this helps ps was a great expierence all instructors were great
right out of school.graduated an 2wks later in spartanburg doing phys,drug test an work well test an waiting 4 results then hitting the road with trainer. been great so far.i chose crete mostly because i felt comfortable with the 8 wk training u drive 1st basically although my trainer does it alittle differntly then others but its all stll based on a 14 hr day.. so i am being trained NOT MILKED FOR MILES ON A TEAM SITUATION.we need all the help we can get not a sleeping trainer by the way who is gonna usually sleep in evenin while u drive all nite..please listen and by no means am i knocking roehl or any company .. but please learn all you can before you are on your own it only benefits everyone on the road if you become a safe knowledgeable driver..that is my goal to be safe. and provide for my family..and i cant do that if i am not safe an those around me need to show an do the same. i thank you all for reading and be safe im tired now got to hit the sack headin back to windy city from lil rock.. averaging over 2500 a week since i am here of course with crete its 500 wkly take 411 home after taxes filing no dependentsso hopefully mileage will be there in 6 more weeks when i am done and at .33cpm ill survive oh yeah my insurace will take effect for myself n family aug 1st i officiaaly started 06/05... well goodnite all.one thing i cant stress enough is time management.. i feel its the key to this ventureyou must plan all you can remember theres only 14 hrs in your working day u must utilize all your time to benefit you your family an yourpaycheck.. so plan plan plan good nite all be safe
well good morning and happy fathers day to all..here i am in little rock .we r going thru to loisianna so trainer had time to be home for dads day .i so far wanted to let everyone know that life is good at crete we were in lincoln NE yesterday . as we had a load going to hastings which worked out well . i did get to meet the training op manager .so that went well he just happened to come by on a saturday other then that i didnt meet my recruiter or anyone else .oh well ill meet them after my training at orientation. now for the good news. i started out in a blue shaffer trk . was told by trainer that after im done with training that i was to receive that trk .ok fine with that rt i mean who wouldnt be its an 07 century 430000 miles no apu but overall is a clean nice smoke free trk did i say clean!! we had a few issues with it .. tires brakes a few lites an issue with turbo and all were fixed as we made our way to different terminals .then the other day on a so far rare time we were sitting the a/c was acting up. clutch i believe by the way 101 degrs in little rk that day 98% humid at 8 am not a good day for this prob rt . so a message to qualcomm got us a load offer just west of lincoln terminal along with another message to deliver load then come thru lincoln for yes you guessed it ...A BRND NEW PROSTAR... yes every trainees dream now mind u i was getting comfy in the century i relly liked it figuring a trainee well ok i cant expect too much . have to earn my way. then we get a new trk WOW so we move all our stuff into new trk clean up other one not much to do as my trainer and i are very neat/non smoking..then on dwn the road we go . i willl say this i was hesitant at first. as i am still learning shifting and was still getting used to other trk so i felt as though i would be starting all over well partly true .trk is smoother shifting for sure .way quiter then the century i am a little dissapointedm in storage.or let me rephrase that the prostar has less storage then century top bunk larger on prostar more functions available especially in bunk area for student/trainee fan electric ports and such which in nice also 2 vents for a/c in bunk area..leather seats whichn swivel and both have dual arm rests. now i know after my training when i am used to this trk i will prob get an older one and im ok with that.. but maybe if i play my cards rt i could end up with one like this...have had the pleasure of getting thru 5 of our terminals so farwhich is good to get to meet people . especially in shops to understand the workings of repair it helps to get to know those who could benefit you when you need something...i try my best to stay out of brk rooms as too much negativity is going on in there. we r averaging over 2000 miles wkly so i cant complain .im getting to expeirence all aspects of the job and yes there stilll is so much more for me to learn and alot im just going to have to learn on my own . but not for anylack on my trainers part . to date i am covering qualcomm use /driving/ time management/paperwork/transflo/scales/shifting/tandems/weight distribution/ coupling/PTI/post trip/safe lane changing/ defensive driving/ ha ha yes weve had to go back to shipper to get load reworked . so was it a waste of time yes but a learning expierence for me non the less..backing practice/and we will even cover chaining up before all is said and done.im sure ive left out some things we have covered.and i apoligise for that .if i did ill try to mention at a later date. i also put in a request to specifally get out west so i can experience the mtns out there with a trainer instead of going it alone the first time. i will have alot of 1st's but id like to maximize my trainers knowledge to my advantage.is my trainer perfect? no one is . is my trainer taking the time to show me what i need to become a safe driver? yes he is i feel more sure of my self and my training everyday. is my trainer doing it like all the other trainers? i can only answer that from wht i have read from other sites on here. and my answer would have to be. all trainers are different with different systems did i get in the trk and immediatelyn drive for the 1st 4 wks like some ive heard from? no i didnt is that rt or wrong? i would say to each his ownon that one.. but for someone with limited experience and or knowledge i have to say my trainer really allows me the time to watch and the time to do....and it so far is balanced out.i think for alot of us we can learn from visualizing as well as doing .i myself focus on his shiftingand engine sound also mirror usage . it really helped me to watch my trainer drive..i can honestly say i am better for it.for all the students if i was to say what is something i hope to take from this an continue to practice it would have to be BE SAFE CHECK YOUR VEHICLE EVERY CHANCE U GET CHECK THE TANDEM SLIDE IS LOCKED IN PLACE CHECK 5TH WHEEL LOCKING JAW THAT PRETRIP OS NOT SOMETHING TO TAKE LITELY OR FOR GRANTED ITS YOUR LIFE OR THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT VICTIM. the other day i mentioned we helped a swift driver ouy . he received poor traing was used as a team driver uve heard the stories he drives trainer sleeps la la la well he didnt get trained was afraid to say anything as he put it . needed his job.. well about 40000lbs tandems werent lock in he said he thought they were !!! rears were all the way forward so we scaled him adjusted wheels and LOCKED SLIDING TANDEMS he was thank ful . hopefully he learned a lesson. now i dont know it all and dont pretend to either am i glad trainer caught that? yes . am i glad we were able to help? of course. did i learn from that ? YES im not here to judge him i just felt bad he didnt receive the proper training he was supposed to and required to receive to be a safe driver out there . it makes me want to be safer and better. oh yeah and just to comment on one more thing we have showered daily,excepy one time we missed out on a shower but got it in the following day. so is life miserable out here? it hasnt been for me i can say that for sure.it is to a point what you make it. and yes ton a oint what your trainer does and allows you to do.. could you get a bad trainer ? yes of course you can .but i know that from my experience if it didnt work out i have the option to request another trainer. and crete has made that available to me from the start. i hope in all my ramblings i have answered some of your ? if you have any i havent feel free to ask i will do my best to answer any and all in a timely fashion. i also purchased a 12v cooler so life on the road is alittle less expensive for me and trainer both we split the cost of food and drinksby the way we eat healthy i lost 58 to 60 lbs before this journey with crete started in june and im confident i have lost a few more pounds since. i also get my walking in almost everyday according to time and schedule. i will be able to control that when i am on my own . which by no means is a reflection on my trainer ,he does everything possible to help me. its just sometimes there is no time or the time u do have left is so minamal u wanna sleep or plan your trip so again time management is so critical. well hope everyone has a GREAT FATHERS DAY be safe
The only question I have.....So does that new ProStar have an APU? If so it sounds like its really setting a driver up to be out on the road.
I hear a lot of drivers remarking that their compaines older trucks (07 and 08's) have APU's. I hope that its not complacency on the companies part. We all saw the fuel sky rocket up. It will go back up again. If the carriers are already investing in them why don't they continue to due so. They should be investing even more in APU's right now. It would be a fantastic to make money through fuel savings especially if they have lots of trucks sitting waiting on loads. If that truck is sitting still most drivers are going to stay comfortable.
Novoids, I have really enjoyed following your postings. I am in the hiring process right now with Crete and if everything goes well, I plan to be out there training soon as well. I have spent a lot of time looking at the different companies that hire student drivers and Crete really does look like the best for me in my area (Nashville.) Do you guys come through Nashville much? Good luck, be safe and I hope to see you out on the road someday. Not in the break room
