Some Advice

Was wondering if some of you guys can give me advice on how to proceed with this situation.

Back in 2014 I went OTR with Knight Trans. but never got my CDL with them. I got my permit, spent my time in training and went 4 weeks on the road with a trainer without being sent to the DMV for my test. At the end of my training in December I decided Knight was not for me, do to some bad experience's I had with my trainer and with the terminal I was out of and never came back from my home time. A year later I am looking at getting into the industry again, but this time with Swift or Stevens's transport.

How would that look to other company's looking to train me?

Since I did not receive my CDL, Knight does not require me to pay anything to my training so I owe nothing. Do I still need only 3 years of prior work experience or do I qualify now for 10 years of information needed and do I have something on my DAC even though I have a permit?

I plan on starting training again in January to kick off the new year by giving OTR another chance. I did like it for the 4 weeks I was out and would like to do it again, but this time with a change of scenery.

Next bit is just some background information on my time with Knight.

For me, Knight had too many issues to deal with right out of the gate without even looking at what my trainer made me go through. Training for me was being put out on the field with 12 other people sharing 3 trucks and pretty much training ourselves. The instructors showed us one time how to do a maneuver then let us have a crack at it on our own. I spent 3 days just on blind side parallel parking while they helped those who were further along learn new maneuver's.

Training went on for 2 weeks like that, then a few hours on the last day taking turns driving around town. A few hours shared with 3-4 in the truck is not a lot of time but the goal was to see if you had the minimum needed to be sent out to trainers. Some were sent out to trainers even when they could not shift without stalling.

I don't mean to bash Knight or their training but found my experience to be lacking. Probably due to the fact the instructors had to have us out in a 2 week time frame to make room for the next class. Those who were there longer than 2 weeks were the ones who failed the CDL test 1 or 2 times already.

After training, I set up a date at one of the DMV's in Dallas,TX where they have a terminal and waited, and waited some more, to only be told they forgot and have no truck set up for me. Next opening was going to be a few weeks away so they sent me out with a trainer.

Let me just say this, the trainer was very experienced when it came to driving a big rig. He had over 18 years in the industry and was trained by this father who was a marine with over 30 years in the industry. The issue I had with him was more of a personality issue than one from someone BS everything.

The issue was he tried to train me the same way he was trained by his father. I am a very soft spoken, quiet type of guy who, quoting other drivers I met at the terminal should of applied for a dispatcher job since I do not look like a driver. He wanted to toughen me up for the real world that awaited me as a driver.

I however did not take kindly to being yelled at for every mistake and even pinched while driving just to get a response out of me. After I made a few major mistakes his training changed to treating me as a child. He became very impatient with my backing skills since I couldn't get it in on the first try when I was able to do so at another dock.

He even forced me to run a few times exhausted since I had to stay up and watch him drive before taking over and running my share as well. This brings up another point. I had a permit but Knight had us run loads for team drivers. The old guy was taught never to turn down a load so he have me run team staying up with him and him staying up when I drive for us both to only get a few hours of rest. Even logging in under his name on the qualcomm when my hours were up so I can get the feel of running long like back in the day of log books.

Sorry for the long post, just had to vent some frustration. Some might ask why I did not get off his truck if he was doing all this but the reason I did not was the fact that I am use to putting up with stuff like that. I hate it but rather than expressing it I simply hold it in and take it. He was a good driver but wanted me to learn the same way he was taught by his father. A fist in the face every time he made a mistake on the road till he learned.

 

I believe my experience was just a rotten one and am willing to give it another shot. I actually went to culinary school and worked 2 years in a kitchen.

 

A young trucker and his pet chimp run into corruption on the road.

Lol never heard of this show before I did contact both companies and both would accept me into their training school. Good thing I put Knight down since they both asked if I had a CDL since it shows on my DAC report that the company listed me with a CDL.

 

I am just looking at my choices right now. If I wait till February I would have enough to pay for my schooling at the local college. Also I did the cooking thing and liked it but found the pay to low for my liking. Make more working at Caterpillar where I'm at than working for the J.W. Resort. Caterpillar is having a huge layoff going on and I so far survived the last 2 cuts the past month of 100 people, but feel my time is coming.