Profile For Vykarius

C.R. England and Swift will take you and send you to a 10 day refresher at their school. Not sure any commitment.

Hey gang been awhile since I've posted. After 2 months and a week driving an automatic doing aggregate bottom dumping (July-Oct 2014) then a 2 month unemployment stint, I think I'm ready to try my hand at getting some OTR experience for the skills and resume. C.R. England is offering $5,000 sign on bonus but I hear horror stories about screwing you on bonuses and forcing lease purchase plans. Applied at DOT foods and have pre-hire letters from Covenant, CRST, Swift as well as Western Express. Licensed since June 11th and hoping my lack of seat time lately doesn't put me in refresher territory? Looking for input on above options or any other company recommendations/stories you might have for me? Thank you kindly. ~ Michael E. King

Thanks to all!

Congratulations Vykarius!

The same kind of tenacious attitude that you showed in sticking with this when you had some troubles at the start will see you through as you move forward in this job. There will be a few days/weeks when you are certain that you've made the wrong career choice, but hang in there and it will all begin to come together over time. Trust me, it just takes a little while to get the hang of this job. You are going to make some silly mistakes, but always try and learn from the things that happen. Take it slow and careful, the main objective of that first three or four months is that you don't hit anything.

The second objective is that you concentrate on the main objective - don't hit anything.

That's the best advice I can give to ya.

I was officially hired as a new rookie company driver in training for Poppy State Express, Inc. yesterday. They are a division of Northern Refrigerated Transportation, Inc. headquartered in Turlock, California with a service are of California, Nevada and Arizona but infrequent loads to Oregon and on rare occasions Washington and Idaho. It is a reefer fleet of Peterbilts usually no older than 2009-ish. Everything seems to be moving like a whirlwind lately for me after failing the skills portion of my CDL exam 3 times before re-permitting and finally passing the CDL test on June 11th to now being hired with a company as of June 25th! I appreciate all of the words of encouragement and solid advice I have received here...very grateful for Trucking Truth! Question...this company doesn't pay cents per mile but rather 20-25% Gross value of the load and is LTL. They claim low end annual earning potential is 37K with median being about 49K and high end earners getting up to 70K...we'll see. It claims to be dispatched for 2-3 days home 1-2 times per week and most weekends off. We'll see about that lol.

~Michael E. King, Rookie Company Driver (in training) Poppy State Express, Inc.

Thanks to all for kind words and well wishes. Interview with Northern Refrigerated Transportation went well. I have a drive test on Monday morning. If that goes well then I believe I am an employed rookie driver-in-training in a reefer fleet. Glad I didn't give up on trucking before I even got started. A weird and odd ride thus far lol.

After unsuccessfully taking my Class A examination 3 other times since graduating from CDL School on 3-21-2014, today I finally passed it on my fourth attempt. I guess perseverance finally paid off?!!? I have a job interview this coming Friday with Northern refrigerated out of Turlock, California. Wish me luck guys and girls. Thanks again for all the support.

Well, it is official! Round up the kids and head into the bunker. They gave me keys to a 2014 Freightliner Cascadia today. My status will officially change from training to solo rookie. Have no doubt, I am still in training. There is some much to learn. Hope to see you guys and gals on the road soon!

Congrats Wine Taster!

Congrats!

After finishing school on 3-15, I was scheduled to take the CDL test today, 3-20 at 1000. I left in plenty of time to get to the site and it's a good thing. When I was about 10 miles from the testing site at 0820 I received a call from an instructor at my CDL school informing me that the test truck had a major air leak and they had to cancel my scheduled appointment. I told him I was 10 miles from the test site and told him of the hardships this would cause me if I didn't test this week ( i.e. I am scheduled to attend orientation on Monday 3-24). He called me back and said they cancelled someone else and gave me his 1400 appointment. Being so close to the site I decided to just go there. When I entered at 0835 the DDS lady asked me "Are you the 10 o'clock" to which I replied yes. She let me go ahead and check in. Then at 0910 the mechanic from my school informed everyone that the test truck was fixed. So it turns out my school had tried to postpone my test to an indefinite time next week (or later) because of a 1 hr downtime with the test truck.

The student who had the 0800 appt. got started about 0930 and ended up failing air brakes test. So I actually started my test around 1030 (on a 1000 appt). I missed checking the steering wheel play on in-cab PTI, touched a line on straight line backing of all things, and missed a downshift when entering a left turn which I quickly recovered. Considering how upset on top of nervous I was, I'm surprised I was able to get the key in the ignition. All in all, after being cancelled then rescheduled to 1400 I was holding my brand new Class A CDL at 1230.

I attended the cheapest school in Georgia and every single day I found out that you get what you pay for. In retrospect, I would have forked over the extra 500 bucks. But that part of the journey is now over and I'm so excited to be moving on to orientation and getting with my trainer. I will be going to Paschall Truck Lines, PTL, in Murray, KY on. Taking the dog on Sunday, 3-23.

Thanks Brett will do! Trying to stay positive as is the theme here. Appreciate all the advice.

I am thinking of watching some you tube videos to learn different techniques and styles. Any suggestions?

Listen...don't over-think it. You know how to do what you need to do to pass the test no problem. You'll get it next time. The DMV knows you failed the first time and it's pretty rare for anyone to be failed twice. I think the second time is going to be more of a formality than anything. Don't change what you're doing. Don't think you have to come up with new techniques or ideas. Just relax, try to put it out of your mind for now, get a little practice in between now and then if you get the chance, and stay confident. You'll get through it no problem. On April 29th you'll be celebrating your new CDL with a big ole steak dinner. Nothin to it.

Thanks Bill.

All you can do is pick yourself back up again and give it another crack in April. Just one more month... hang in there! The time waiting is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of time you can have driving that big rig.