The Schneider adventure begins - Orientation process in Green Bay

Thanks BossOutlaw! I should add for those of you that are pondering becoming a truck driver, or those that are trying to decide on a company, my experience so far here at SNI although not perfect, was a very positive experience. I would not hesitate recommending them from what I have seen so far. There are a few students that came directly from a bad experience at other mega carriers, you know them, but I won't mention any names since it was not MY experience. Some of the things I heard from them and what they went through makes me sick to my stomach. If I had a similar experience in my first week I would have definitely been questioning as to whether or not it was all worth it. As far as Green Bay is concerned, if you come in with a good attitude and are willing to listen and work, you will succeed, it's as simple as that.

 

Thanks HotH20 for the kind words!

 

Having half the day off yesterday really helped. I got all my laundry done and got to bed early. I think I got a good 9 hours of sleep! I was hoping to hear from my TE last night, but the phone never rang... I'm up now and getting ready to start packing. I'll be checking out of the hotel and start my journey towards Kansas City, MO. I have no idea where In Kansas City I am heading, and I wont know until I hear from him, but its a good 10 hour drive or so, so hopefully he will reach out sometime today. I am still unsure as to whether or not I will be able to meet up with him tonight, or if I am going to have to put myself up in another hotel. My paperwork shows us meeting up at 10am tomorrow morning. I guess time will tell. I am planning on throwing my laptop into my bag, but since I have not yet acquired my own secured wifi source, it is anybody's guess as to whether or not I'll be able to update while on the road. I suppose I could do it from my phone, but that would be a bit tedious. Will see what happens when I get out there.

 

Left Green Bay a little later than I wanted at around 7:45. It was a beautiful day as I hit the road, around 30 degrees and sunny. While in the middle of Iowa I received the first call from my mentor. I had no signal whatsoever so I let it go to VM and pulled over at the next sign of civilization to check it. However, since I was in the middle of nowhere the message he left was pretty fragmented and I could not really make any of it out. I continued driving till I hit Cedar Rapids and called him back. Unfortunately he was in the mountains of Tennessee, so our conversation lasted about 2 minutes and I lost him. I was able to find out that SNI should have already set me up with a room for the evening. I relayed the info SNI gave me that I could probably stay on his truck or if I had to get a room they would reimburse me. He sounded a little disappointed and mentioned they had always set up his past student with a room. He apologized for the inconvenience and I told him it was not a big deal, right about there I lost him.

I continued onward and figured I would try him again once I got to KC or wait for him to get to a better location and call me back. It was a windy drive and I was watching the trucks doing all they could to stay in their lane. I could even feel my little car blowing around, and it made passing the trucks interesting. About the time I crossed into Missouri the rain started, it was a light rain at first but really started coming down shortly there after. My girlfriend gave me a call to check up on how the drive was going and asked if I had heard from my trainer. I mentioned our conversation and she offered to call around and find me the best rate near the drop yard where I will be meeting him. She found me a Days Inn for $50, right across the street from a waffle house. I grabbed a room and parked my car near my door. It was getting pretty dark and there was not a lot of lighting in the parking lot or near the room entrances. The rain was coming down so I just grabbed my bag and ran towards my room. I was a little surprised when I walked up to my room and found my door wide open... I entered with caution and looked around checking it out to make sure it was not occupied. Nobody in there, but it was COLD. I cranked up the wall heater to try and warm it up a bit. I was hungry and wanted some of that famous KC BBQ, but just did not have the energy to seek it out. I ran across the street to the waffle house for dinner and came back and prepared to call it a night.

I think there might have been some narcotic deals going down at the room next to mine. For about an hour every ten minutes or so I would hear the neighbors door open,followed by muffled voices and 30 seconds later the door closing. After a while I finally got up and peeked out my window from behind my curtains and watched another transaction take place. There was a brief exchange and off they went, a little while later followed by another one. I don't know exactly what was going on but I decided I did not want to be involved, so I went back to watching TV and got back a hold of my TE. We basically confirmed our meeting time at 10am at the drop yard and decided to deal with any other questions I had then. It is nice that I will have a secure place to park the car while I'm out.

He sounds like a decent guy from what I could tell, and I heard a rumor back at the OC that he reads books on how to train people properly. If that is true it would stand to mean he is not in it for the extra money alone. I'm now enjoying my continental breakfast and will be getting ready to head to the drop yard in about 45 minutes. I'm excited but also really nervous, hopefully my nerves don't get the best of me as I want to make a good impression on my TE. Wish me luck!

 

Hey everyone, having quite the adventure out here on the road. Ill have a big update sometime saturday once im off the road. Ill cover all of the good and the bad. Sorry dont have the patience to update from my phone. Stay tuned for all the juicy details!