OH Bound - April 15

Day 12: More road work. Me first, from 6-9am. Drove from Trenton to Richmond, KY. The other guys got their time in too, heading through Louisville, Indianapolis, and Dayton before completing the big circle back at the terminal. Looks like more focus on city driving tomorrow.

One of our crew already has his CDL, but relayed today that he got more wheel time in a single day here than during his entire course elsewhere. Something worth pondering for those who are contemplating doing this.

Bumped into MTownZ at the end of the day and ended up grabbing some wings with him in town. He lives about 15 minutes from me back in PA, so it was good to catch up and talk trucking and home stuff.

What did I learn new today, you ask? I learned that my T-Mobile data coverage absolutely sucks, at least for most of where we were today. Only got 4G around Indy & Dayton; the rest of the time i had the dreaded "E" symbol. MTownZ says that is the old Edge network, which I think is French for sssssssllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwww. I think I'll have to figure out how to unlock my old phone and switch to Verizon.

I also learned that no one likes the proposed driver cameras. Although I'm a total newb to this stuff, it occurs to me that fault in an accident or incident could easily be determined by cameras that face out. And even if a driver cam could pinpoint any particular driver activity as the cause, what difference would that really make? The company would have no less of a financial burden for anything bad that happens. I also see the potential for loss of driver morale. My humble prediction is that after the initial test, the company will go with a system of cameras, but not any that record the driver.

 

Day 13: City/local driving. It's all starting to come together for me now. Got 3 1/2 hours behind the wheel today. One thing I learned as a pilot was to always stay 5-6 steps ahead of the airplane. Same goes for a truck. Knowing what's ahead of you and setting yourself up for all possibilities keeps you in positive control of the vehicle. I was, up until now, mostly feeling like I was merely riding the truck and reacting to whatever was going on at the moment. Today I actually felt like I was driving the truck. Not driving perfectly, but driving nonetheless. The only thing I felt that hindered me (besides being a total newb) was not knowing exactly where we were going ahead of time. Once I actually start working loads, that will change and I'm sure it will help bolster the confidence.

Of course, I'm sure that after going home for a week I'll forget everything and will drive my trainer totally bonkers with rookie mistakes. Everyone's been hearing from their trainers, and I'm pleased that mine will be none other than cadman1989. Everyone in the class seems to have their own unique approach to their trainer time. Mine will be to not worry about getting home until after I get my own truck. Let's roll. Log the miles, deliver the loads, pass the tests, and git er done.

 

Day 14: The three of us finished out our 10 hours of road time today, plus some more. Got to see Bill's big kock and the tin man. Ate lunch off I-70 exit 115 at Gas America. Man do they pile on the food! Delicious - and cheap too! A couple guys in the other half of the class need to finish up their road time tomorrow or do their range test. Not sure what else is in store before orientation.

At any rate, I'm quite pleased with my experience here at MTI. For anyone considering it: don't bother unless you're in for the long haul and prepared to focus on one thing and only one thing for a few weeks. Anything else could turn into a big waste of time - both yours and MTI's. I get the distinct impression that Millis has these schools because they want to bring in and retain drivers that are ready to make the wheels roll and deliver the goods. I'm going to do everything I can to make their gamble on me pay off, for all involved.

 

Day 15: Graduation Day!!! A couple guys in the other half of the class needed less than an hour of wheel time to complete their road requirements, so Bill took them out to get it done. The rest of us headed back out to the range with Woody. Personally, I was glad to see that what I learned last week out there stuck, for the most part. Only one guy from the other half of the class needed to test out on the range stuff, so everything got wrapped up pretty quickly and class was dismissed around 11:00 AM. Everyone in the class passed the course and is set up with a trainer.

These three weeks have pretty much flown by, except for those occasions when I was either sitting in the back of the training cab on the road or standing on the range watching someone else doing maneuvers. That said, even those slow moments provided opportunities to learn through observation and better my own skills. Although I really have nothing else to compare it to, the way the training is set up fit perfectly with my learning style. There's nothing we covered that I feel 'behind the curve' on. Certainly, my habits and skills need practice and improvement but that's just a matter of getting into a daily routine on the road. Of course, I can't speak to whether everyone else in the class feels the same way. If you're considering attending MTI, actual mileage may vary. But half of the game is your own attitude.

Everyone from Millis has been great. Most of the drivers that came through took time to pop their head in the door and either offer encouragement, a helpful hint, or a good tale from the road. My experience here has been just as advertised by other posters on this forum who've taken the time to record their training memoirs. I want to thank all of them for helping me make the decision to come here. I did a lot of research on various companies prior to making the leap, and I'm so glad I made the right decision.

And to think that at one time I was seriously considering Swift...

 

Thanks Boomer!