New driver, wrong company.. what to do?

Bradford Union is great. No complaints about them at all. Kirk, Robert, and Dennis are the 3 instructors. Kirk is Lead Instructor and did all of our testing. Since the law changed, if you teach, you can't test. So his hands were kinda tied on some of the teaching. But Robert and Dennis do a great job with answering questions. You get plenty of time to get out on the mile and a half track and learn to shift, as well as plenty of time with your maneuvers to get them down. It's an 8 week class, and I'd say by the end of the 2nd week, you're free to just get in the truck and practice whatever you need to work on. They are very serious about learning your pre-trip. It looks and sounds daunting at first, but just keep going over it and it'll come pretty quickly. Get with Dennis and he will explain how if the part is metal, you automatically check for C.B.B... which means cracked, bent, or broken - and properly secured with all of its hardware, nuts, and bolts. If it's rubber, it's automatically checking for A.B.C.. abrasions, bruises, or cuts. That really helped me out when he drilled that into my head.

The following is strictly MY OPINION!

In answer to the Windy Hill question, my issue is that there was a lot of information which I should have been told up front, and wasn't. It's my opinion that if companies have to trap drivers into working for them, there's a problem. After I got off the truck, I received a letter demanding like 1300.00 for use of the truck, trainers pay, blah blah blah. If I didn't pay it, they'll send it to collections. I didn't respond. I think it's a ripoff to charge $500 for a employee handbook and 2 hours of sitting in a little room watch old J.j. Keller videos that have been played so much that I can't even see the picture. Oh well.. whatcha gonna do? Lol. They asked me if I smoked. I said no, I wanted a non- smoking trainer. Ended up with a guy that chain smoked and barely cracked the window. As a trainee, you aren't allowed to work over 8 hours a day, can't even drive the entire first week.. they expect you to work on your truck if it breaks down.. they also create a second level inside the trailer to haul even more plants. Problem is, the decking is made of half rotten 1/2" plywood and I talked to several drivers who admitted having fallen through the decking when the plywood broke. Of course the manual says don't climb on the decking... but all of the drivers I talked to said you don't have a choice. All in all, just wasn't a good fit for me and I wouldn't have even gone out on the truck if they had of made the manual available to me before we were driving out the driveway. But even after asking for it, I was told I'd "get it in a little bit." On a side note, I asked my trainer about my reservations that i was having with the company... if he was in my place, just starting out with the company, what would be do? His answer was "I'd go running and screaming from here." Yeah, that says a lot when your trainers are advising that... in my opinion of course. So that's been my experience. I'm moving on. I have 7 companies emailing and calling me to move over to their company, so I don't think leaving Windy Hill hurt me too much. Lol.

Good luck in school! Get those maneuvers down... straight line backing, ally docking, offset parking both directions, and finally parallel parking both sides...

 

Yes, they hire new cdl grads. They've cracked down with Elogs and driver facing cameras.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Chinatown, but I think I'll shy away from the driver facing cameras. Just feels like I'd be distracted feeling like I was being watched all of the time. I know it's for safety.. and if there's a front facing camera that's fine. But I don't want someone sitting there watch me pick my nose or sing along with the radio while driving. Lol.. that's just weird to me.