They don't tell you THAT in Orientation!!

I figured it wasn't a universal experience My CDL school only drove during the day, and SNI orientation was only during the day, and the week with my trainer was only during the day lol. 2nd solo load and I'm trying to slide both 5th wheel and tandems on 78,500 gross at night in the rain. Said screw it and tried to park in the TS and deal with in the morning. In lieu of not wanting to get a preventable on my 2nd day, I ended up abandoning my backing efforts and just pulled head first into my spot for the night. Only time I've had to do that.

 

My experience is they will always push you to go out sooner too. Read your companies home time policy carefully. I worked for one that said home time was 34-48 hours. Didn't matter if you'd been out 7 days or 7 weeks.

 

Theres ALOT the cdl school leaves out. They told me they arent required to teach us how to hook up the trailer to the tractor for example and their short 20 min talk about logs was laughable at best. ive learned more from the threads here than anywhere else...probly would have been a better idea to take the cdl course at the local college. I'll be going to roehls orientation with just the very basic knowledge and a general idea from what i've gleaned here of how things work...its no wonder people go into this career not fully understanding what they're getting into. Seems like more people than I thought are seeking to escape office jobs.that surprised me a bit but its what im doing too.

 

I'm always amazed at how much value I got out of my $1500 bucks I paid to United Truck School in Fresno back in 2004. We had a half day class by a veteran driver on how to do logs. We also had a 2 hour presentation from a GTI(Gordon) rep that was actually pretty factual on what OTR was like.

They didn't even cut you loose for road training till you could pass the skills test(backing), could hook and unhook a trailer, and could do a pre-trip inspection.

 

we did skills,which includes backing at a 45 degree angle into a cone dock,pretrip,and road testing before graduating. as for logs, out of the 160 hours of class/driving time, we got a 20 min talk that was more awkward than informative,given by someone who doesnt even have their cdl he (the owners son.) ive had 16 hours of driving practice on the road,total,and 16 hours skill.

just saying,after reading alot of these threads i keep thinking this is diving head first into a new career where ive got ALOT to learn.
Keep the thread rollin', learn me somethin new

 

They don't tell you that all parking spots are not created equal.You are lucky enough to get parked late.
You go to lay down,but your head is 3 feet below your feet,or vice versa.
Or.. you arrive early,get a primo spot..5 hrs later some driver in a $400 truck backs in next to you.
He's pulling a reefer trailer that sounds like a Harley on crack.Insists on opening and closing his door 95
times every hour.
You finally get a shower that morning,but have to wait forever,cause nobody is cleaning them.Your pizzd off
still sleepy.Your towel looks like a chea pet loaded with tiny little hairs that aint yours?Hmmm...
Wait to get fuel..driver finally pulls forward,but you two aint done with one another yet..He goes to sleeper,
and changes clothes,and finalizes his weeks paper work.He could give a pile less who's behind him.
You eventually snap...Back from fuel island,and drive around to his truck.He's sitting In his underoos doing
paper work.You/me pull in front of him and park.Maybe go to sleeper and let him think about his stupidity.

 

My wife and I went to Covenants cdl school in 2002 in Chattanooga. . Back when they had one.. Actually it was Harold Ives school since covenant had just bought them and moved the school and personnel to chatt..
We paid cash $2500 each..

School was 5 weeks and a fantastic school.. too bad they don't have it anymore.

Afterwards, my wife and I trained together with an old Harold Ives trainer who had been training for 9 years.

The 3 of us spent 7 weeks in a Columbia and covered the entire country.. even NYC...

I credit my trainer with my safety and success today.. he was great and all about making money and being a professional.. explained everything in great detail.

I can still see him standing in the parking lot waving as we drove out to go home after he turned us loose.. he said.. "you folks are going to make a lot of money in this business cause you aren't afraid to work"

He was right ... hope he is doing well today wherever he is...

 

So it's wednesday and you have hometime set for friday and you've been on the road for 9 weeks. Your wife is having a ultrasound to determine the sex of your first born child and you promised her you'd be there and told the company you drive for 8 weeks in advance about needing to get home on time. You finish up a trip from Sacramento to Elizabethtown NJ late wednesday hoping to have a short load going home to albany NY or maybe get home a little early. Bing off goes the drivertech with a load back to Sacramento! Dispatcher says you have to take it. Feel that blood boil....next stop...terminal and unloading truck with a middle finger in the air!



Welcome to the suck newbies. Anything they told you in orientation...expect to be a lie.

 

I do not think there really is a CDL school experience, mostly what I heard before I picked a school comes down to two types:
The sub $1000.00 type that's lets you use a truck long enough to stop hitting curbs and back up, and gives you a few pamphlets on the test.
The $5,000 + type that does the same, puts adds several hours in a class room talking about forms and the written test questions.

I'm trying the cheap version, since I have never had any problem filling out forms and a lot of paper work experience with Osha, Taxes, TCEQ (hazmat).

Even though I still haven't got to my road test, I'm 100% convinced there is a complete lack of standards for CDL training, and even the best of them are over priced and not worth any thing more than how to back up in a straight line. To me the training standard seems so low I do not know why they bother with the license.