Profile For Weatherman

Chicago has to get at least honorable mention for worst.

Great company. Good Luck!

Check out Roehl Transport. They offer a 7 day on/7 day off schedule (among others). Thats about close as you can get to part time in the OTR world. They are also one of the top starter companies out there and have a terminal near you in Ellenwood Ga.

Been driving about the same amount of time as six string and he is spot on. Keeping proper distance and speed are huge as new drivers are going has slower reaction time and make some mistakes. A big things I had to realize is there is never a good reason to be in a rush while driving. Even if you get a run with a very tight (or unmakable) timeline, other than sticking to your 10 hour break and not making too many stops along the way you really have little control on when you are going to arrive at your destination. The best advice I can give so far is to be calm, focus on your driving, and try to get better each day.

I have noticed at the truck stop I have been to so far that there are at least a handful of trucks that say the heck with backing up and pull forward into the parking spot. I am still extremely new, but it seems like it would be hazardous trying to back out of a parking spot, especially if you lack the skill to back into one.

If you look on YouTube at trainerjames2013 he explains why some pull in instead of backing

Thanks for the video. Trainerjames makes some good points. My only concern would be that many, if not most, truck stops do not have the space he had to back straight out of the spot. I guess it depends on the situation.

I have noticed at the truck stop I have been to so far that there are at least a handful of trucks that say the heck with backing up and pull forward into the parking spot. I am still extremely new, but it seems like it would be hazardous trying to back out of a parking spot, especially if you lack the skill to back into one.

I have ADHD and recently completed my physical and received my DOT medical card from Roehl. Here is what you need to do if you are on an ADHD med.

First, Go see your doctor to determine if you can safely operate a commercial vehicle to while on your medication. If you and your doctor determine that it is safe to be on you medication you MUST have your doctor write a letter stating that it is safe to drive while on your medication. Do not stop taking your meds just to get into truck driving, if for some reason you decide to quit your medication you will still need a letter from your doctor stating that it is safe to drive while not taking your medication (I am not kidding about this). Bottom line: you will need a letter from your physician before taking your DOT physical. Make sure the letter also includes your doctor's contact information. Also bring the medication with you to the physical in its original bottle. I discussed this topic with my companies DOT physician and she only knows of one company that will not hire those taking ADHD medication (specifically Adderall). There might be a couple places out there that will not hire you because of your medication, but you should have no problem finding a good company to work for if you take the proper steps and have the documentation to back it up.

Day one is complete.

I would recommend letting your hair grow out on at least part of your body to make the hair test easier.

Hair from your @ss crack acceptable?

Haha, Sure why not. Go for it.

Sorry for missing a day. The Hotel internet connection has not been the greatest lately

Day 3:

We once again started the day practicing our alley dock throughout the morning followed by lunch and then a pre-trip exercise. Best of all though our drug test results arrived meaning we could finally drive on the road! I went out with two other students in the truck where we each took turns driving a short loop. I did okay, grinded a gear or two, but nothing unexpected.

Day 4:

Started with pretrip inspection and backing practice again (notice a trend yet?). I am feeling really good about backing at this point which is pretty sweet considering I failed the alley dock portion of the CDL exam twice. Now it is starting to feel like second nature.

I wish I could say the same about my road drive in the afternoon. I mean seriously WTF! The trucks have 10 speeds and I could not downshift to 6th gear to save my life (was trying to shift at to high of speed). To make things worse I let myself get frustrated and need my instructors help getting into a gear (several times). The good part is my instructor gave another short drive after the other students took their turns. The good news is I corrected my shifting problems but totally ran over a curb making a right turn. By far my worst drive in a long time. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.

Day 2: Backing, Safety and Maps,

I started the day with breakfast at the hotel before catching the shuttle to the terminal to begin training at 7:00 am. Training kicked off by going over pretrip procedures for about an hour before starting work on alley docking.

The instructor showed us Roehl’s alley docking method then we took turns practicing. I was a bit nervous on my first attempt but got threw it pretty well and the instructor were all pretty laid back and really helpful. We continued working on our backing skills until lunchtime at noon.

Bag lunches were provided at the terminal then we hung out for a while until the instructor returned at one.

The afternoon consisted of classroom material starting out with several safety videos with heavy emphasis on not using your smartphones while driving. The last hour was spent going through our road atlases with class ending around 5:00 PM. Oh, We also received our medical cards right after lunch.

Once again the pace and atmosphere was pretty relaxed but we got a lot accomplished. I am really enjoying training so far. Looking forward to working more on alley dock in the morning then hopefully some road time in the afternoon assuming our drug test results come through.