My trucking schools Experience

I went to a private school and paid a lot for this, (In Eagan/St. Paul MN) which I also paid for my hotel room for 5 weeks, I had to do 200 hrs of classroom and driving, more of the driving than classroom.

I then finally found a company that would accept me, CR England. I had to do their short version of driving and classroom. This cost me $350.00, fifty was because of physical.

I went thru their stuff, classroom and road test with flying colors, because of my previous schooling.

I got on my first trainer truck, which he was a dipsh!t. All he wanted me to do was drive. My first driving experience was, the Pocono's MT's at night. While he slept and wouldn't wake up, this man slept hard everytime he went to bed. He should have never been a trainer, never. So I basically taught myself, or more so strengthen my skills on my own. When my 30 days were up and he dropped me off, I chewed his ### out big time.

Now my 2nd (phase 2) trainer, was just the opposite. He cared about how I drove and cared about the loads, and was very safety conscious. I should add, my first trainer was late on 85-90% of his loads. But this new trainer, has never been late on any loads. He is also on a dedicated run, which is high demanding. I strengthened my skills to a high level, because of him. It went well, to say the least.

Now my 60 days are up, training all done, and he asked me if I would stay on as a second seat. This is the first time he has been able to get sleep, without being paranoid, in the past 1 1/2 yrs. This was an honor and I accepted.

Now I feel safe because of his level of driving and he feels safe with mine to. We teamed up and are running our butts off. Never late, making #### good money (of course he makes a whole lot more than me, because he's a leaser), but I am doing quite well. I was fortunate that a trainer in a dedicated run, picked me up and the bonus was he's a #### good trainer. There are, good trainers in CRE, but it's the luck of the draw to get one.

I will stay with him, for at least 6 months, then I'm hoping to lease and run on this dedicated run. I'll become a trainer too, but with more experience compared to, if I did this 1 month ago. Trainers don't get much sleep, constant worries of surviving the sleep period. But I will do phase2, or ask for a permanent 2nd seat driver instead. Now you may think, having just 9 months of driving, is way to little to be a trainer, I sort of agree. But in order to make really good money, you need to lease and have a 2nd seat driver "and" be on a dedicated run.

Dedicated runs, means no home time but once or twice a year. Unless your hometown, is where your drop off or pick up point of destination. Success can happen in a big company, if you have a great attitude and some luck. Yes, there are some stuff I could complain about, but I won't. I'm fortunate to have my job and pay my child support. Yes, I'm single ladies...

Thanks for reading, drive safe you all...........

PS. Since the Pocono MT's (which that 1st night freaked me out) I now run the Rockies 4-5 times a week. Donner Pass, is taken with respect and I do well. Now of course the truck gets a #### good inspection everyday. And the truck is in Freightliners shop to stay this way, quite often, PM's are important as well as daily inspections. I can do MT's with soft brakings now, and stand on the jake break, to save those breaks.