Profile For Chris L.

Thanks MG. Keep your head up! Dont get down because some folks are jerks. Do you gig when they call. Get there when they tell you and do the best you can. Sooner or later they will realize what a great person they have and start treating like the special person you are. I have seen it in the military, girls cant do anything, like drive forklifts. Truth be told one of my best drivers is a girl. I just sent her to WI to work for a week on a FL and they all looked at her like "Oh man this is gonna take forever" Right up until she hopped on the FL and showed them what it can really do. Then it was "Man we need to get her number for the next time!" You will do just fine. I am sorry people are jerks but you will just have to smile, no matter what you are thinking, and show them you are one of the best. They will get it because you will show them everyday. Good luck to you and I hope your son gets better soonest.

Sorry guys off subject, but you two are up all night :) What are your hrs going to br like? I have been following both of you thru your adventures, and I must say because of ya'll I am trying to get into line haul. I dont mind working nights, but know it can be strange to begin with. Just curious when you start and when you get off. Thanks and good luck!

Well come on MG! I am hanging on the edge of my seat here. I filled out an app for Conway, really appied for two different places, Charlotte and Columbia. I fun to hear you talk about a fork lift like that. I have been driving all kinds of different ones with the AF for the last 30 yrs and never think about it. You would love the 10k AT's. They turn in the middle and go anywhere, almost. I have got them stuck before. Ooops :)

Ya'll dont know nothin. Ofcourse they will have robots drivin trucks! I cant wait until 2000 when we have flying cars and we live in outer space. Ooops an 80's flash back. Where is my flying car? I would have to agree with Dustin J. I wouldnt worry about robots just yet. They military is using drones, unmaned aircraft, of which half crash because they have software issues. We are quite far from mastering anything that will take over driving for us.

No Chin, Dude that sucks. I found in the last ten years of my service that people just dont want to do thier jobs at all. They work harder at getting out of work than just doing thier job in the first place. One thing you can do is call your congressman. You should not have to suffer for the stupidity of others. He/she will have a local office in town. Call or stop by. Tell them exactly what is going on. Its amazing what they can do with a simple phone call. Dont be shy tell them you are now in finacial straights because of an error on someone elses part. Good luck brother!

In SC you must have your card to test for your permit. $109 from the walk in clinic.

Nomad girl, simply put NO! If you arent planning on getting a bus job you dont have to study that. You only have to do the three main ones, make sure ya'll check me on this, in SC I studyed Cobinations, Air brakes and the main one. dont recall what it is called. The HAZMAT, doubles- triples, and tanker are seperate tests, which you can take at the same time but it is alot of info. Wieghts and balance isnt on the test but Brett put it there and suggestes that you should read it, good to know stuff. Most of the other stuff is informational, not that you shouldnt read thru it but it wont be on the test. Just so you know I only went thru what Brett has set up and I have my CDA A w/ HAZMAT and am going back for tanker and doubles-triples. When they tell you to remember something, please, remember it.

Also before I was aload to test I had to have my medical card, again I am in SC, dont know how that works in TN. I went to the walk in clinic, 109 bucks. Good luck!

Ms. Donna Welcome to the club! Most of us here are newbees, with a big mix of experianced folks. Just a few things for you. I am more of a lurker than a poster but that is only because I am a "hater"! I hate typing! My two fingers cant keep up with my brain soooo....Anyway. Please do go to the CDL training part of this site. I am military so I didnt have to go to school or take the road test. I just had to take the knowledge part to get my CDL. I went thru the program here and I now have my CDL with HAZMAT and will be doing tanker and doubles and triples. My biggest suggestion to you would be read, read, read. There is so much information on this site it will spin your head around. I am suprised MG didnt tell you but there is a womens trucker section on here. My assumtion is that you can talk with women about women things. I havent been there but Starcar says there are plenty of male lurkers there, i guess just curious folks. Who knows? Your a cop you know how strange the public realy is. :) I do have a question, for both you and Larry B, I thought Law enforcement and Fire fighters only had to do 25 years before retirement. You both seem to have 24. Please stay for the retirement, you earned it!

I am sure you will get tons of help here and by all means dont be afraid to ask any questions. The folks here are so great and as MG said I dont think there are any haters here, except me ofcourse. And you could always suggest to Brett to put spell check on here so people like me dont look so silly when we cant spell. :) Good luck to you!

Jimbo, Daniel B did a great post of his fist year in trucking. Brett said someone else did the same a few years ago, but I think Daniels is most up to date. The pay stinks for the first year. But after that it gets better. You have to do that first year. For us, mmmm, middle aged guys? I hate to say older I sure dont feel older, its hard to go backwards in pay. The way I have been looking at it is 35 grand this year gets me 50 soon enough. You will never become rich doing this, but form what I have read the harder you work the more you will make. I like that. Let it be my fault I dont make money not someone elses.

Stay off the other sites, this is the only site you need. All the folks here are positive and helpful. You dont get all the complaining about how tough life is. You get facts. Daniel B and Old School both did a thread, diary, whatever, about a few weeks of work. Look those up or maybe Brett will jump in and give you a link to them, I'm not smart enough to know how to do that. :) Good luck!

Enrico, I was going to make a thread on this but I just never did it and I am sure it has been done before. Anyway I "studied" the CDL training program here on this site, only. I went through it once. With all the repeditive questions that Brett has put in there, ugg what a pain, by the time you get through it you can answer some of them before you even read them. I tryed to memorize what they told me too. And found some of the stuff just down right interesting. I took three days just reading it all. I should clarify, when I say all I mean the basic ones. You know just enough to pass the first test. It took three days just because I felt like my brain was going to explode after a while :) After that I went down to DMV and tested. I live in SC so there is now such thing as a 100%. There are two 20 question tests and one 50 question test. As soon as you get enough right the test stops. And yes they ask the stupidist questions. Most of the silly ones you see on the study material will be on the test. Or at least were on mine. I flew through the test so fast. It was simple only because the material here is so outstanding. Side note just incase you didnt see this before, I did but diddnt pay any attention to it. They made me go get my physical before they would let me test. $109.00 at the walk-in clinic.

I felt so confident after my test I went ahead and studied for the HAZMAT endorsment. About 4 or 5 hours of going through that and I went to test again. I got a P (Pass) for that also. The study material here should relieve any stress you have about the test. If you go through it, click on all the ? marks, pay attention, watch out for the "except" questions, pay close attention to the "except" in questions, oh and watch out for that stupid "except" you will pass with flying colors. I am going back to do the Wieghts and Balance one. This is not on the test but would be a benifit for me to read.

From what I have read here if you go to a paid school you will spend the first week studying for your permit test. What a waste of time in my mind. Study the stuff here and you can walk in with your permit. Maybe they will let you get in the truck sooner. Dont know if thats true but...

Good luck and let us know how things work out.