Good for you man! Then go for it! I'll look forward to your progress as well as that of your book. I really think you're onto something here!
Hey everyone today is the day that I start C-1 Trucking school in Springfield, MO for PAM Trucking. I left OKC, OK at 2:30pm and arrived at the hotel at 6:25pm. I will report to the school at 6am tomorrow morning. I will report on the first day tomorrow.
Hey everyone Today is Day 2 @ C-1 Trucking Springfield, MO. Today I PASSED my CDL-A Permit test and also got the Tanker Endorsement.
I hope that you have a strong family that supports you, especially in moments that things go wrong, because you will have a couple every two months. When over the road with PAM my husband only sees me 3 or 4 days a month, it is really hard for both of us. I counldn't imagine doing it if we had small children. We are a young couple too (we just got married 4 months ago) so that might make things seem worse. Many people had told us that there were better options than PAM as a starting company. They are not good people and that is the truth. It doesn't matter how good and willing you are. Btw, if you ever go to Atlanta, don't park in empty lots.... my husband did this last week and he got booted without warning on a lot that didn't have any signs of "No parking" and no businesses around, and was given a $500 fine by the property owner for illegal parking. When he called dispatch they told him "Oh yeah, this happen quite often in this area, we will send you a code for a check to pay the fine" Now they are deducting $50 of each paycheck every week and we are waiting on the driver's advocate... and still wondering, if this is a "recurrent, common, quite often" situation why no one from dispatch warned him about this? If they knew exactly where he was staying. For the record, my husband was there for six hours before he got booted at 1:50 AM. PAM doesnt care about their drivers, at all. :/
Atlanta is notorious for booting trucks, then holding them for ransom. There's one BP station that sells diesel fuel that's terrible. You can park at the fuel pumps while pumping fuel, but when you pull forward and stop, they boot your truck for illegal parking. Some Indian guy walks around with wheel boot under his coat so the driver won't see what he's up to until it's too late. One driver pulled in there to ask for directions and it cost his company $1500.00 before he could leave the place. The Indian guy told him, "You truck drivers aren't going to do anything but pay, you're a bunch of wimps." There's some drivers I know, that would be the worst thing you could say to them because they would explode like a bomb.
Well guys last week was a hard one. I went home over the weekend back to Oklahoma, to see the kids and wife. Took the family down to Grapevine, TX to Great Wolf Lodge and had a blast but on my way back to Springfield, MO I hit a Coyote on I-44 right after the Vinita Main toll gate going 75 MPH in my 2013 Dodge Dart that has less than 5,000 miles on it. I was not injured but it happened at 3:00 in the Morning. I waited for a tow truck for over 2 hours and then they took the car to Joplin, MO where it is now in a body shop. The total damage was 2,895.08 I have a 1,000.00 deductible so I am now out 1,000.00. They should have my car ready by the end of this week ( so they say ). I missed all but 2 hours of CDL Training Monday waiting for a rental car, but was not kicked out of the school and continued my training on Tuesday. Here are the good things now that the bad is out of the way: I can do a Offset, straight back, and ally dock without hitting the cones in a 12Ft box, with only one get out, and one pull up. and that is with a perfect score. I can do a Pre-trip inspection (test style explaining all parts and what I am looking for) on the engine, truck, coupling, and trailer, in under 10 min without missing anything. and last but not least I can drive around tight corners without hitting anything Even a roundabout with a curbed center. I found out I passed all of my class tests with 100%. So all in all a good week. I am now home for the weekend again visiting the family Will update next week when I take my MO State CDL Test.
