Profile For Dwayne W.

Apart from regulations issues, let's not loose sight of the real issue... hypertension is a leading cause of sudden unexpected death...hence the "silent killer." With uncontrolled hypertension you are at risk of dying suddenly, without warning from any of these complications:

Sudden arrhythmia associated with cardiomegaly Ruptured cerebral artery berry aneurysm Intracerebral/ intrapontine or intracerebellar hemorrhage Aortic dissection

Besides that, you can perhaps survive any of these, but end up incapacitated - for the rest of your life. This isn't just a numbers game, there are real world consequences. I think there's little risk that somebody is going to have one of these events and crash because of that event. Most people have enough foreshadowing symptoms to pull over before they check out. But still.

I'm pretty well set on a company training program when I start next year...I've looked at a lot of them, and from what I can tell, they all train on automatics. That is, unless you go with a company like Schneider, where they "partner" with private schools or community colleges. In that route you can train on a manual - but then you're not training on the equipment you'll be driving when you're hired.

The way I see it is that I'm hoping to train with the company I want to drive for, for as long as I can. In my circumstance, it seems advantageous to train on the same kind of truck I'll be driving, and I don't feel an manual restriction will be a problem for me.

With the caveat that I'm not (yet) a truck driver, I've noticed a similar counterintuitive statement under the "combination vehicles" section..."You also must be very careful about driving "bobtail" tractors..Tests have shown that bobtails can be very hard to stop smoothly. It takes them longer to stop than a tractor-semitrailer loaded to maximum gross weight."

It seems like this is the same physics concept(s) at play here. Clearly the consensus is that friction/ traction trumps inertia. There must be some studies on this....

What degree are you working on? What's your eventual career goal? Very well written.

It won't matter which state you have the license, or when it was switched. This will all come back when the employer does a search for their background checks.

Thank you sir. That's what I thought. After all, it's not like they can't see your record in any state...especially since they have a school in Texas and Ohio. Seems like I should be fine.

Not to derail the OP's post, but I have a question about this:

"Now I know, other companies require 12-month consecutive history so before you jump on me, I held a KY license the entire time."

I've lived in Texas for decades now. I'm planning to leave Texas and start my truck driving career in Ohio because that's where my wife is from (and I want her to be around family while I'm out driving). The plan is to locate an OH address, switch my regular DL to OH then immediately start with a company school in OH (within a matter of months). Is the fact that I'll only have an OH license for a few months doom me from the start?? I have a clean driving record in Texas.

I hadn't considered this before...just didn't know...Obviously, I could train and license in Texas, then move, but then I'd have to find time off to change my license to OH (and I have other reasons to leave TX once I retire from my current career). The company I'm looking at has schools in TX and OH so that's not an issue.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I'll keep my open for any other unanticipated consequences, but for the time being I'll just continue plugging away and counting the days.

Hi guys, I plan to embark on my trucking career at the end of next year after I retire out of my current career. So changes coming down the pike are relevant to me. It's a long way out, but I'm definitely set on company training or company-sponsored training. I've narrowed it down to two companies, but since it's early things could obviously change.

The feds have new rules effective February, 2022.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&ty=HTML&h=L&mc=true&=PART&n=pt49.5.380#sp49.5.380.f

I've perused these rules, and I'm not seeing a big change here at all. There are some requirements for trainer credentials, and documentation, and of course a requirement for programs to be registered, but these all seem like pretty low-bar kinda things. As for the curriculum, this seems like the stuff that I'm already studying. Do you guys see anything here that is really significant from a trainee perspective? Am I missing it? Or am I right that from a practical standpoint this is effectively a tiny step for federal oversight of an already-heavily monitored industry?

Dr. Lemke was a trucker for many years before he got into his current position:

https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vaccine/covid-vaccine-truck-drivers/285-f317e8d7-590f-4510-95ea-13eed85a7ea6

I agree. Whether or not you want the vaccine, it should be available. Essential and all that...

Tortuga...I fully agree with you about staying with a company. Once I retire I figure I'll have about 5 years left in me to be productive in the business. Longer hopefully. But in that amount of time I really don't want to jump from company to company. I've been in my current position for 20 years, so I'm a long-timer. It's my understanding that Schneider doesn't pay for tuition, but they do reimburse, so in the end it's a wash.

Jared, keep us posted with your Schneider and good luck!!!