Profile For Victor J.

Hello everybody, been solo for alittle over a month now and it's going great. I really lucked out with this dedicated opportunity as I've come to find out it's usually quite a wait to get on out here.

I was worried that home on the weekends was going to hurt income significantly, but compared to others I went through training with that ate OTR currently are making about the same as I am. So nothing lost there. Obviously mileage will vary(pun intended.

Whelp, looks like I failed to update daily as I intended, there was much more action then I initially expected this week.

On Thursday I was in flatbed securement class "flatbed bootcamp" all day, and also was there friday until about 1230, then I had a class going over all the automatic transmission features and benefits that evening.

On saturday I had to drive some simulator scenarios, and then take a skills test to prove I could operate the truck and pass their safety class to upgrade. After that I had to do the almost the exact same CBT's that I've now done 3 times since I got here to start PSD 3.5 months ago.

After all that was done, I sent off an email that evening to let them know I was ready to upgrade, and Sunday morning I received a confirmation that I was on the list waiting for a truck.

Monday(today) morning rolled around and I got a call at about 9am telling me they assigned me a truck and to head on over to the Z building to get my inspection paperwork and go look over the truck to make sure its in good shape and note any damages done by the previous driver(s).

Took a while to do a good inspection of everything on the truck, it is a 2019 model with 397,000 miles on it, but it is in great shape still. Minor scratches here and there and only a couple things for the shop to address before I get on the road.

The shop is fixing a TMPS sensor, replacing the broken oil cap on the APU, and fixing the passenger side door handle that wont open from the inside.

I should have to truck back tomorrow morning, I'll be taking it over to detail to get the passenger seat taken out(I have a dog that will be riding with me and need a good spot to put her kennel), and then I'll be heading over to get all of my flatbed equipment(straps, chains, tarps, ect.)

These past few days have flown by, and I'm both nervous and excited to get on the road solo. I also got the good news that I'll be going directly to the dedicated route I was hoping for, so that means most weekends will be at home! very happy about that, but also oddly enough not sure if I'll enjoy it more than the OTR life I've lived for the last 2 months, only time will tell. The way I see it, if I don't really end up enjoying the dedicated route then I can always go back OTR to travel the country again.

Thanks everybody for following along this very unorganized training diary, I'm not sure how often I'll check back in and give updates as I start me journey solo, or if I even should as it technically will no longer be offically "training" although I'm positive I'll still be learning new things everyday for years to come in this industry.

Hey everyone, I got into the springfield yard earlier this evening(Thursday 06-02), and checked into campus not too long ago.

To recap the overall TNT training experience I want to say how lucky I think I was with how good of a trainer I got, he insisted I drive the day shift, he and I got along very well, he was very knowledgeable about every aspect of the job, He always did a great job teaching what needed to be learned, and really made sure I understood what he was teaching. Overall it was a 10/10 experience for my training with him, I've come away from it feeling quite prepared to go out on my own, having been given the knowledge and learning the proper mindset to successfully tackle the daily challenges of the job, and understanding that I haven't seen close to everything as far as loads go, but I've obtained the knowledge to figure out how to safely secure almost any load.

I start my flatbed "bootcamp" tomorrow and it continues Friday. Then I take a safety course/sim tests on saturday. Sometime within I get to do even more CBT's and get a schedule for next week as I'll have some other classes to take as well, after all that I believe I will get on a list to get assigned a truck. Talking with my current fleet manager(I will most likely get assigned a new one after upgrading) He said I should hopefully have a truck and be on the road by mid next week.

As for your question about the lightweight trucks Melissa, I am obviously quite new here and don't know for sure, but I've been told if you say the "right things" as mentioned by Anne, that you can help make sure you get into a full size truck. I also have been keeping up with some of the people I went through orientation with, and they've said without mentioning any of those "right things" they were giving a full sized truck, and were told it was simply because it was all that was available at the time. One of them even specifically asked to get into a lightweight since he wanted the pay increase for it, but was told to either take the full size since it was currently available, or it was going to be possibly multiple weeks before he'd get a lightweight. Obviously which truck they happen to have on hand for new drivers will be different everyday, and it seems like its just luck of the draw based on who I've talked to.

Very sorry if this giant wall of text that is hard to read, I'm typing this in quite a hurry as it is late and I need to get off to bed to get rest for class tomorrow. I will be back tomorrow evening with an update on how the day went.

Thanks for reading, ~Victor

about the 3.5week point on the road the constant work and moving started to catch up with me. Definitely ready for a break and to see friends/family.

Victor, your sentiment is probably something that most folks looking in here for information on a new trucking career cannot relate to. It is illustrative of what we teach people about this career being so totally different from any kind of job you've had before. This career is a life altering event. It is a change in lifestyle. It isn't just a change in jobs. You are probably working and moving about much more than you ever have at any job. It is a constant activity that takes over your time and life. It is nomadic, and consuming, while also feeling almost addictive. I love it. Most truckers do.

I will wager that you will thoroughly enjoy your time at home, but I bet you will start longing for that constant activity of the road while you are there. Let me know if I am not right about this.

I think what your saying will be correct for me in the future, but unfortunately this time home I honestly was not ready to go back to the truck when it was time. I think this is mostly due to the fact I had a flurry of things to do and take care of every day while I was home, mostly stuff I didn't have adequate arrangements for when I left for training nearly 7 weeks prior. Sorry for the long wait on the reply, been rolling and focusing on learning, driving, and getting closer and closer to my upgrade date.

For a quick overall update, After my time home I've been back on the truck for about a week now, and fortunately it's looking like I'll be ready to upgrade shortly after the weekend, and should hopefully be dropped off in springfield next week. I plan to provide daily updates throughout the upgrade process, as I've been told it will be around a week of classes/waiting for a truck.

Thanks everyone who's followed along this far, despite my lack of updates since TNT started, there just hasn't been much thats new since getting on the road, just secure freight, drive, eat, call home, sleep, repeat. thats been my routine most days. Over the 6 weeks ive been on the road we've had a total of 3 days which we were stopped for a full 24hrs and had a "day off" but its kinda hard to hangout and just take a day off when you've got 2 people in 1 truck and nowhere is currently open for seating/dine in due to current(or not so current anymore) events. It kind of turns into 14 hours or so of 2 people with opposite sleep schedules trying really hard not to bother eachother or interrupt eachothers sleep.

off to bed now, early tomorrow afternoon I should be delivering our current load, which will put me right about 28,000/30,000 miles for my training, Then we'll see what kinda of load they have for us, my trainer was telling me that after talking with our dispatcher the plan is to find a load from a shipper nearby our dropoff, that sends alot of stuff down to/towards texas, which would make for a good weekend trip for us and enough mileage for us to get a load back towards springfield on monday and have completed the 30,000 miles before we get there.

Quick update while getting unloaded here.

It's been business as usual since the last update, everything from driving, backing, to load securement is getting more familar, and I'm getting more confident with it. I'm just shy of 17,000 miles now. Currently getting unloaded in NJ after coming from CA on Thursday. Will have my next assignment soon.

Really looking forward to home time scheduled in 8 days, about the 3.5week point on the road the constant work and moving started to catch up with me. Definitely ready for a break and to see friends/family.

Update for 4/23.

9am at a truck stop barely inside the west end of NC. About 180mi from the 90. After dropping off this load I'll be at just about 9700 miles already, staying on a solid track to finish my 30,000 by the end of week 7.

Had quite bad luck with my previous 2 loads, having strapped and taped them both to find 1 was overweight and needed to be reworked, and the other was barely over height and needed to be reworked. Hoping for a long weekend run after this.

Finally got to stop into the DPS office in my hometown to get my CDL paperwork taken care of, and fortunately it worked out that I got to spend the night at home, alittle mini evening off was refreshing, being on a truck 24/7 with someone else is definitely something thats hard to get used to. Looking forward to scheduled hometime in the middle of May.

Overall everything is going pretty smooth though, getting much better and more confident navigating and backing in truck stops and shippers/recievers, and starting to get the hang of load securement, although there's alot of different types loads for me to learn still.

Hi, Victor. Sounds like you're off to a great start with Prime. I'm starting at Prime in about a week and a half. I'm excited and a little nervous as well.

I've been trying to learn the Pre-Trip Inspection the way Prime does it. I've been studying Daniel B's study guide on here and I asked my recruiter at Prime if she could send me Prime's Pre-Trip inspection list, which she did.

I was wondering, did you have most of this learned before you got to Orientation? I'm working hard on it, but it's a little harder for me to cement in my mind without looking at a truck physically. Also, I read from Daniel B's study guide that Prime requires you to do 3 sections (in cab, lighting, and coupling), and they will then pick a 4th section for you to do as well. Is this still how they do it?

If anyone else has answers on this as well, I would appreciate the feedback.

Thanks.

To be perfectly honest I personally studied very little pre trip until they gave me the packet at orientation.

But seeing for other students it's definitely worth studying beforehand if you can, alot of students get trainers right away and didn't have the extra few days to practice like I did. Once your on a truck with a trainer it can be hard to find time for pre trip practice.

Wednesday, April 14th, 9am.

Just woke up a few minutes ago, after dropping off at the reciever in Oregon on Monday we immediately got a load to take onions to new York, so it's been go go go since then. Currently somewhere in the middle of Iowa, I thought 30,000 miles for TNT training was going to seem like a lot, but at this point the flying by.

I got to do alittle backing over the last couple days, into the loading dock at the shipper, and a couple truck stop spots. Obviously not a professional at it yet, but I got it done.

Also I'm happy to say once I've gotten out here I'm even closer to 100% that I've made the right choice, not just for career, but also going switching to flatbed at the last minute. It's extra work but I love it. Learning the ways certain things get secured, like these onions, and being able to do a good job that your proud of is going to be extremely rewarding.

Saturday April 10th, 6pm

We got to a truck stop here about 15 miles from where this load is getting delivered. But we've now realized we can't deliver until Monday morning after 7.. so we've got some time to kill at the stop here.

Really wish all the inside seating/dining wasn't closed because of this virus.. this sleeper really is small when you've got 2 people in it and nowhere else to go for over 36 hours.

Saturday, April 10th.

6am here at a loves on the eastern edge of Oregon. Just woke up, my trainer is resting on his 30 minute break right now. I've considered myself fortunate that my trainer wanted to give me the day shift.

When we picked up the load on Thursday I got to learn a few of the basics on load securement and tarping, this load seemed pretty simple though, I expect other loads to be more challenging.

I drove Thursday afternoon for 6-7 hours, and I drove an entire shift yesterday. Grand total of about 925 miles so far, very surprised how quickly I've gotten better and more comfortable with my ability to do the simple things of driving. Also had some terrain that got me more familar with the engine brake.

Overall it's been going good, but I still have so much to learn.