Steven's Orientation and OTR training

All checked in. Looks like I'm going to get 5 hours of sleep since we spring forward tonight. I'm bunked with Kyle who was in my class in Denver. Lets see how fast these 4 days go!

 

Ok lots to update. On your first day you fill out all your physical paperwork in the morning and get a decent speach from the man over at safety. The continental breakfast is sadly non existent if you stay at America's Best. There is a Walmart, sonic, and waffle house right nearby. Simply plan around this accordingly. Lunch that day was cici's pizza in every flavor possible. In the afternoon you will go to the yard and briefly go over pre-trip and some in cab hazards displays. Next you will be skill tested on your 45 backing (alley dock), straight line, coupling and a simple round the blockish road test.

Day 2 will be physicals and broken dreams. Lots of people were put on med hold who previously had 2 year cards. I actually improved my card to the full year (I have treated hypertension that was a bit off when I first arrived in Colorado. I drank lots of water everyday and walked!) You will also get everything squared away with your application this day.

My day ended here....sort of.... unfortunately for me I lost my paper copy of my CDL-A on the way down here. I can not finish and be hired on with out that. My hard copy won't arrive until sometime late next week. I'm actually on a bus heading to Denver as we speak. This morning I will get another copy and fly back. I probably will have to redo OR 1 from the beginning which means I will start over again on Sunday. That is not offical but what it sounds like. I would love to finish this week but after seeing / hearing what is happening to other guys from my class I am just thankful to still be here.

A few things, Melissa has been arranging this for me so i can continue and I definitely owe her a thank you. I was obviously stressed about losing my cdl-a copy and just the thought of getting back on that greyhound was a nightmare. I am still very happy to be here and just ready to prove my self to the trainer. The staff at careers worldwide will also need another thank you as they too are being inconvenienced to help me get what I need and continue on. Another thing of note is the day of your physical you will get up at 4:30am and not end your day til 10pm. Some dudes were passed out on the table by 11am and the whole room is being monitored.

So as of right now the group of 11 i was in one left on the bus down, one was sent home due to a medical issue (I believe he could of stayed but he had to pay for an echo cardiogram out of future checks and he was not ok with this). 4 other guys were placed on med hold and lastly I'm road tripping and returning praying I can finish this week but either way I'll deal with it. Later tonight or tomorrow I'll update my status and my fellow classmates. Besides us there is around 40+ guys from other schools.

STEVENS!!! (for you powerstroke).

EDIT: just want to clarify it is not Stevens Transport's fault in any way for the rash of people being put on med hold. The physical you get there is the way it is supposed to be done and no corners are cut like the first one I received while attending school. This is something that probably should be addressed but is beyond me and my opinion The people that do have problems now will also have other opportunities to get in to trucking and not all hope is lost.

About Stevens facilities and equipment! While I have nothing to compare their terminal with it is very nice from a general prospective. The trucks are of course new or newish and really help with an immediate sense of pride.

Hope to have good news for you guys regarding me tomorrow, stay tuned. Lastly my cold or whatever it was has finally subsided a bit. Haven't had to blow my nose the last 8 hours and I am feeling more energetic.

 

I'm on my way back to Dallas with my new temp cdl-a in hand. This mornings bus ride was not bad at all. The bus right now is pretty empty and I have the back to my self. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to just wait til this Sunday and redo OR 1. Either way I'm happy I'm still in!

 

I'm back at America's Best. I have to just wait til Sunday and go through OR1. I'll update next Tuesday unless something worth updating happens.

 

Brief update all of my class that I came down with are either out with a trainer or have been sent home. Not including me 4 out of 10 didn't make it. One quit before getting here and 3 were disqualified for medical. They all seemed pleased and happy with their trainers and only one had a possible hygeine issue. Time has almost come to a stand still for me but thankfully it will pick right back up when Sunday gets here. I had a roommate briefly here who worked for Stevens and was going alliance. He wasn't much of a talker but he did share some information I had questions about. I wished him well on his lease.

 

All 3 people disqualified by medical actually held 1 and 2 year medical cards from the physical we got during school in Colorado. The physical down here was Monday and they were placed on med hold til yesterday. They requested records I believe and after receiving them sent them home with their disqualifications. They all were eligible to be hired as far as I'm aware. Unfortunate but like I said how they can go about fixing that is above my pay grade