Life changes

[heyzeus]

Good work man!

I want you to teach us the secrets of the truckers. I want to know all the tawdry details.

[Jocephus]

Good work man!

I want you to teach us the secrets of the truckers. I want to know all the tawdry details.

[Jocephus]

and here's some trucker/driving songs off the top of my head

[tlombard]

You are one step ahead of me. I have been getting ready to ask exactly what I have to start doing now. I guess I have to start listening to country music, which I hate, but I can deal with old outlaw country. I do like that stuff. Just can't do modern. I need to buy a lot more flannel shirts and probably overalls for sure.

What am I missing?

Tomorrow we take our final classroom tests and next week we're out in the yard with actual trucks! Actually I guess we will be outside tomorrow after we take the tests. We'll start on the pre-trip inspection process so I'll get to satisfy the curiosity of every little boy (and my adult self too) and poke around all under and around a semi as much as I want for the first time! The final exams are all open book/note tests and I've aced every other quiz/test we've had so far (literally haven't missed a question) so I'm not worried about those. I'm ready to get truckin' mf'ers! My roommate was the only other person to ace every other test with perfect scores with me... until today. He only got a 97 on the log book exam. Dang, he let me down. We've also been the first two done every time even after going over and double checking everything multiple times. We're clearly the smartest room in the class. LOL. Hopefully the guy who sits next to me in class finally passes his general knowledge test at the DMV tomorrow so he can get his permit. The guy knows his stuff and isn't an idiot (has gotten near perfect scores on the tests) but something about the actual testing process gets to him and he chokes. Third time's the charm right? I don't want him to get sent home and I think that might happen if he doesn't get it by Monday. And I think there is one other guy who needs to pass his general knowledge test but he has to go to Arkansas for his since that's where he's from and the permit has to be from the same state as your driver's license. He had something technical at the testing site happen on Wednesday that prevented him from taking that last test and didn't fail it so I'm hoping he's got it. Either way, it's a shame to drive an hour and a half there and back only to have to go back two days later because of some system glitch. That's a lot of gas money when you aren't getting paid to be in these classes.

[G. Keenan]

@tlombard

As you've gone through this process, have any of your classmates been able to go through this training having had felony convictions in the past? A friend of mine has a pretty serious (nonviolent) felony conviction and did some time for it. He's trying to get his life more together and was hoping to get his CDL license but thinks there's no chance he can get it, or that any company would hire him even if he did, once they do a background check. Is that true from what you've seen?

[CardsofSTL]

This is the only trucker song you'll ever need.

[Fat_Bulldog]

Good for you lombard.

You definitely need to start wearing mesh hats with oil and gas logos and [expletive] like that.

[tlombard]

@tlombard

As you've gone through this process, have any of your classmates been able to go through this training having had felony convictions in the past? A friend of mine has a pretty serious (nonviolent) felony conviction and did some time for it. He's trying to get his life more together and was hoping to get his CDL license but thinks there's no chance he can get it, or that any company would hire him even if he did, once they do a background check. Is that true from what you've seen?

From what I've seen and can find, a felony doesn't automatically disqualify you. It all depends on what the felony was for... and then whether a company will hire you or not. As long as your license is good, your friend shouldn't have to worry about getting the CDL part but it depends on the company as far as getting hired it looks like. The biggest thing is DUI's. One DUI when you have your CDL automatically suspends your CDL for 6 months at which point you aren't keeping your job if you already have one and getting hired with a prior DUI might be a big problem since companies see that previous history. As long as there aren't any DUI's, I think the felony would be OK depending on what it was. There are felonies that could disqualify from getting the CDL but I'm not sure what they are other than the fact that they are considered the more serious ones.

Update: I did another specific search and there seems to be a list of companies that will hire drivers with a felony. The list is pretty big and I recognize two of them as companies that are sponsoring drivers in my class, PAM and Schneider. I found another list that shows Stevens Transportation will hire if the felony is far enough in the past. Actually, 7 of the 10 of us now are being hired by PAM while two are with Schneider (my roommate had to switch over because PAM didn't accept his one year medical card) and I'm with Stevens. Unless the felony was really serious and/or involved the use of a commercial vehicle, I bet he can get hired and have his CDL paid for. Just have him reach out to companies and talk to somebody. The people at Stevens have been really easy and great throughout the entire process. When I finally decided to do it, I talked to them on a Wednesday and I could have started school that next Monday. Just be honest with them and do the research on the companies. During the call where I picked my start date, they even put me in touch with the head guy at the school I'm at so we could exchange information in case I needed anything in between.

All seem to pay differently and do things differently. PAM reimbursed the others in my class $50 for getting their permit which only cost $41 in Missouri. Schneider and Stevens don't. Then when we graduate, I have to spend more time with a company trainer than any of the others do before I can drive on my own, 4-6 weeks compared to 2-4 weeks for the others. But I'm also getting paid more all the way around. I'll get $600/week while with the company trainer. PAM is paying $525. Then when I'm on my own, I'll get $0.44 per mile with $975 a week guaranteed but will more likely be in the $1200 per week range and then the mileage pay goes up with experience. PAM is paying $0.33 per mile with no minimum guarantee. Schneider is paying a flat salary. My roommate will be hauling oil on the east coast so he has to get his Hazmat right away and they will be paying him a flat $1000 per week with a $50/week raise every three or four months. Also with PAM and Schneider, they seem to hire for routes they need filled so you will now at least what region and states you will be driving in before you even start school. My roommate was given two options from Schneider, the oil route on the east coast or as a team driver delivering to Home Depot which paid more and has more home time BUT he would have had to have somebody to drive with and he doesn't have that. With Stevens, I have to get 90 days on my own driving anywhere in the country before I can transfer to a regional or dedicated route. Those 90 days on my own are why I have to spend more time with a company trainer, we have to drive to all four corners of the US and in between during that time. In the end, I think I went with the right company.

Last thing, if your friend is a bigger guy... get a sleep study done and a CPAP if he needs it before going to school. That got my roommate sent home for over a month and almost got me. If it wasn't for him telling me what happened, I wouldn't have been able to scramble so quickly and get myself covered in time. I'd be posting from a friend's house back in St. Louis about how I have to wait another month if it wasn't for him saving my butt. The sleep study and high blood pressure did get another guy in my class sent home this past week. That's one thing it seems that nobody tells you. Maybe some doctors don't care, but it could trip him up. I think there are even certain urgent care places that will do the physicals for CDL so he could even get the medical card before reporting to a school which would be a nice step. Heck, he could even study for the permit and show up with both which would take a lot of pressure off. But there is a lot to know for the three tests (four for a tanker qualification) so the classroom work really helped with that.

[tlombard]

Good for you lombard.

You definitely need to start wearing mesh hats with oil and gas logos and [expletive] like that.

When I pass my final tests and get my CDL, the school will give me a hat (two if I pass on the first try, a red for graduating and black for passing on the first try) but they aren't even mesh. What the heck is up with that? And of course I don't care about the black one. I actually asked if I could still get a red one instead (because Cardinals, LOL) and they said they will give me both if I pass on the first try.

We're through with our first week of classroom work now and the second half of Friday we actually got to start popping the hoods and looking all over the big trucks. Starting tomorrow we will be out on the yard working more on our pre-trip inspections (if you don't pass on the first or second try, you are done so those are super important) and then we will start learning and practicing backing maneuvers! Week 2 is all pre-trip and backing up. Then week 3 we get to hit the roads in the area and actually drive the suckers. I can't wait for that.

We also have the option to drive manual or automatic. I didn't realize this before but if you pass your test in a manual then you can drive anything there is on the road but if you take the test in an automatic then you have a restriction and can't drive any manual vehicle that requires a CDL. Stevens only has automatics so I won't need to be able to drive a manual but a manual is just more manly and I might as well give that a shot. They want us all to start on a manual and said that if it looks like we may have trouble with it then they can switch us over to an automatic after a couple of days. It's going to be different with having to double clutch on the shifting (push it in, shift to neutral, let it out, push it in again, put it in the next gear, let it out) and staying off the gas. Apparently with these trucks and empty trailers, you don't even have to touch the gas until you are getting up to like 8th gear and/or getting on the highway. That will be really interesting to get used to. You also only push the clutch all the way in while putting it in gear while not moving. Every other time you just push it in about half way. Somebody asked about floating gears (not using the clutch to shift while moving) and the instructor said that is a quick way to fail the road test so I guess I can't go full "truck driving man" unless I get my hands on a manual after this school.

Another interesting thing we learned is that unlike normal cars and trucks, automatics get twice the gas mileage in these big trucks. The best manuals get about 6mpg according to the instructor while the automatics are getting about 12. And of course insurance is cheaper on automatics because it's one less distraction for the driver and you can keep both hands on the wheel instead of taking one off to shift all the time.

[Fat_Bulldog]

That is wild about the gas mileage. I didn't know that. Sounds like the manual would be fun to drive.