Trans Am Still

Again I comment and you guys get all quiet.

 

Yea I'm just taking it day by day I see no point in rushing all that will do is just cause me to make mistakes an hurt me or someone else.

 

You seem to have a good attitude and that will carry you far. Just keep your head up and remember we all did goofy stuff when we first started. I was watching a CR England driver a few weeks ago. You could tell he was brand new by the way he was rushing. Not really looking around. I told him to take his time sometimes the faster you go the slower you get. Being patient will save so many headaches. Passport you want to chime in. Queen?

 

^ As Jaso said, he was a trainer with TransAm, he had a reputation for being a good one.

As has also been said in this thread, TransAm is a "starter" company, not a training company. Their training program, the time a new driver spends with an experienced driver is one of the very shortest in the industry.

Depending on your views, that could be a good or bad thing. One of the reasons I picked TA as my first company to work for out of CDL school was this short training time. I did not want to live in a small truck with a trainer, I wanted to get right out on my own and make money.

It worked out for me, I never had any kind of serious accident or issue (several small minor ones). No one died. It worked out but the day it was time for me to go out on my first solo run, I was not ready. I felt like some mistake was made, someone forgot too look at their check list as there was NO WAY I was a competent driver to head out on a 1,000+ mile run on my own.

I think it worked out as I did have the sense as you have discussed to keep it slow, take my time. It never came to it: but I was ready to throw on my four way flashers, block traffic and call for help, face the consequences of that rather than just driver forward in a situation that I was unsure was safe. However, there really is no one who is gong to help you drive your truck. You need to figure it out. I once took almost 28 minutes to do a turn around on a dark road, that due to my inexperience I turned down. A tight space, deep diches on both sides, I got out and looked at least 25 times. Several others like that, taking 10 to 20 minutes to work my way out instead of just pushing through and hoping for the best.

TransAm is forgiving, they overlook small things, getting a bit lost, a messed up trailer tire because you dragged it over something you should not have, etc. Understand you will have to figure a lot of stuff out on your own if you sign with TA as your first company.

Good luck!

 

How accurate or inaccurate is this TransAm Trucking recruiting video?

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!


13:06
TransAm Driver Recruiting 2015 Revise4 16SEP15 HD
TransAm Trucking

 

Where are the hot swap areas?

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

For someone who is a quick to very quick learner, this short training time would be ideal.
For a slow or slower learner, much more time would be needed to really learn the ins and outs of the job.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

The worst swaps are right in the northeast. I had several where I would make a delivery to a grocery warehouse in Mass or NJ just to be told to go 12 to 36 miles down the road to get a swap and make a delivery on that load, at the same grocery warehouse the next day. Gaining only 12 to 36 miles in pay for the day ($4 to $11).

"Hot" swap points for TA are, Indianapolis, Effingham, IL all along I-80 between Peru, IL and Cleveland, OH

 

It looks and sounds as though it is quite stressful for a TransAm OTR truck driver driving through or delivering to these "hot" swap areas.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Yes a quick learner and confidence in your CDL school that they prepared you very well as opposed to a CDL mill.

We had one driver in our orientation group from NJ. He admitted he went to a CDL mill. Said he only drove a straight truck in school to learn how to shift. Instructors had them "simulate" that they had a longer truck when going around turns.

I went to orientation in January in Olathe, there is a small mobile home type shack on the practice/test range in Olathe to do some instruction and drivers hide in there to keep warm. When that driver was on the range and had to do a turn near that shack, we would jokingly run toward the door, worried he may hit the shack, until the time we REALLY scrambled and pushed as a group to get out the door when he REALLY came only inches from hitting the shack. That driver still "graduated" and went out on the road with the rest of us as a full, solo TA driver.