Tankers the Schneider way

Hey southpaw2153, I'm sorry to hear you weren't able to go on with SNBC this time. Being a former driver for them, you woulda done great again!

Can you describe how you have to lift that crate? Is it like lifting a big bag of dog food or something; you just hoist it up your body as best you can? Or is it like curling a bar bell? Or some other way? Just curious how you have to lift it cause knowing that may make a difference for people, - practicing. Is it like a square crate with some special kind of handles?

I went to our clubhouse and loaded up 60 lbs on a bar bell. 60 lbs in that form had to be curled, which was difficult, three times. I couldn't do it without flexing my back to get some leverage.

I'm thinking people who want to get on with SNBC should start working out now. Do you think that if you worked out for awhile, southpaw, that you'd be able to succeed at that test down the road?

 

Twicebit, they want you to stand in front of a table that is at waist height. Without bending your back or knees, they want you to grab the crate in the thumbs up position and just use upper body strength to lift it first to your waist, then to eye level. You have to be looking thru the bars of this square, metal, milk crate.

60 lbs doesn't sound like a heavy weight but when you have to deadlift it - and you can't try to jerk it up like you see some weightlifters do with their body - in a condensed form like that, it is difficult. Trainer at Gary, Indiana told me every woman that has come there has failed that test.

Yes, the hoses can be heavy- especially with liquid in them - but in the 4 years tanker experience I have , I have never had to lift a hose more than waist height to drain it. I think it is a bogus test as working with hoses is a world of difference from lifting milk crates. Hell, about 12 years ago, I worked a dairy route with crates that weighed 50 lbs, I was in the best shape of my life and even back then I wouldn't have been able to lift a crate weighing 60 lbs the way Schneider wants you to.

They will drop the weight, eventually, when they realize it is costing them big time. And the nurse in Gary is a hard ###. As soon as you fail, she kicks you out. lol Good luck if you try it.

 

Maybe they should take a 20 foot long 3" hose and fill it with water and put plugs in. Then the victims , I mean recruits could take the hose from the ground and put it in a tray on a trailer.........but what do I know.

 

I'll tell you what, I'm gonna start working out with weights to be able to handle the job for whatever company I go with! Thanks for the tips, southpaw. Hang in there. You'll be able to find a good tanker position.

 

"victims" lol That would be a helluva lot better than what they are doing now.

 

Whoa, I kinda screwed that up, mixing my words in with yours... Sorry, southpaw!

 

Maybe I should have said you have to lift it from the table to your stomach area. Sorry about the confusion. They have similar training for the van division but there you only have to lift 40 lbs (unless you are getting on a Family Dollar-type account where you actually unload product). I don't know of any other tanker company that is doing this type of lift test, but I'm sure when they find out Schneider can't find any drivers because of it they will never implement it. lol

 

Ain't no thing but a chicken wing, Twice.

 

wsyrob, from what the recruiter told me, it is paid out over 1 year. After you complete training you get $1000, then every 90 days you get the rest. It goes something like $1250 after 3 months, $1500 after 6 months, etc., etc. What the recruiter doesn't tell you is that if you have any accidents or incidents during the year, you don't get the bonus or whatever remains of the bonus.

Like I said, it isn't helping much, anyway. The two weeks I went for orientation and failed, there was one other driver and myself, and the second week it was just me. No one, it seems, wants to do chemical tanker.