Profile For Paul J.

Question#2: I realized I didn't completely answer that question. I really don't know what your options are but so far, at least with kraft training, I wasn't allowed to smoke in the truck and had to get out to smoke. Again this is a question you can ask your recruiter about. I do remember my recruiter asking me if I don't care about trucking with an OTR trainer who smokes, so whether you train with a smoker MIGHT be an option but I never asked.

Question#4: I really don't know. I never heard of those chains. But this is another question you can ask about to your recruiter. I do know for example, from my kraft trainer, that I think you can request a deer guard if you go company as I am planning on becoming a company OTR driver.

Question#5: Yes! I got this question answered by my recruiter before I even showed up for training. I personally don't have a home to go to. Lost my home in the pandemic and have been living with my family for the last 4 years. I put all my stuff in a few tubs from walmart in my sister's shed before leaving. I too, will be living out of my truck for the nest 2-3 years to avoid paying rent anywhere and to build up savings more rapidly.

Question#6: My personal financial goal is to use the method you mentioned to save up 150k because I want to immigrate to Mexico. I talked to the fleet manager about the pay, and she said that a solo company driver makes .50/mile, and you'll average 1,900-2,500 miles a week regardless if you're OTR, or dedicated OTR.

There is a higher pay if you decide to team drive OTR and I think you get more miles. But to get "information from the horse's mouth" on specifics of pay, depending on what kind of driver you want to be, and specifics on how many miles you get per week, you have to talk to whoever your fleet manager is going to be.

Question#7: I didn't get any lies from my recruiter. However you do have to DYOR(do your own research) and you need to learn "what questions to ask". Since questions are different for each person, that's up to you to find what the right questions are to ask. My recruiter, Bradley, has been very transparent with me.

Question#8: If you're a company driver, I think you have no say in that matter. The only acception that I learned about so far is if you go the lease route. But like I said, this is what I learned "so far". The fleet manager mentioned to me something about a delivery/economy bonus if you deliver your load withing x amount of time and are good with your fuel economy but that's literally the extent of my knowledge on that subject.

Question#9: Answered that question in answer#6.

1) don't know.....

2) NO you can't be picky right out the gate. A LOT of truckers smoke, period! It probably would take longer to be paired with a non smoker. I smoke, and had my first 2 co drivers that didn't. The trick is only the smoker cracks open HIS window, so it sucks the smoke out of the cab. I HATE stinky smoked in smelling cars or trucks, mine never have stunk! As a pig? eh luck of the draw.

3)How are you gunna know right away if he is or isn't training you right? lol.....Go with the flow, and worry about that later if you feel that way. You can "request" a new trainer, but who knows it that will work out...

4) No you can't ask for special "stuff" lol you get what they pay for, and those onspot chains probably won't happen. Don't be lazy, IF you ever need to chain up, it's not THAT hard to do.

5)Sure lot's do that , I did it for the most part.......6) it's do-able 5 years, depending how much you actually "save" maybe 300k is a long shot, that'd be 60k a year. Depends on your annual income too, it's gunna take you probably 2 years to know enough to make very good money.....Last job I had, 4 months solo, I pocketed, and saved 20k+ in Jan-March 2022, for my early retirement.

7) Never had that problem...........8) That don't get you raises, those are usually on some form of a schedule. All companies vary greatly. Taking every load you get, is what you should do. BUT, you have to have, and keep a great attitude with those, you work for. Being a P.I.T.A.,a whiner, complainer won't get you very far, but sitting alot lol. Having a Go getter attitude, and doing it safely, and on time, keeps you rolling...Your manager ain't your baby sitter out there, and you're not their only driver they manage daily.

9) Everything depends on your positive attitude, and getting things done as needed. You wanna be the "Go To" driver as best you can be. And the freight market needs to improve greatly soon, since it's been in the crapper a couple years now....

Don't worry about things you haven't even experienced yet. Focus on the task at hand 1st, LEARN to drive, DON"T wizz & moan over training time, it goes by FASTER than you think. Take 1 day at a time, and learn something everyday....

Hello, I'm currently in the training program with Wilson Logistics and I just finished my second week of training. First week was orientation, learning maneuvers on the pad and studying the pre trip.

I was at the HQ in MO but me and 7 other students were provided a rental minivan and we drive to Dallas, TX for Kraft training. I just finished my first week of Kraft training. As I'm still learning all the answers to your questions, I'll share with you what I've learned so far.

Question#1: If I understand your question correctly, this is my answer: First week: orientation, learning basic maneuvers, studying pre trip Second and Third week: Kraft training. Basically, you'll be driving what they call a "day truck". It's basically the same freightliner cascadia, but without the sleeper cab because you'll be in a hotel the first 3 weeks. Kraft training consists of a trainer picking you up at the hotel in a bobtail, drive you to a warehouse, and you basically haul kraft products back and forth between two warehouses. Most of the time it's delivering a loaded dry van or refer van to one place, pick up an empty dry van or refer van and return it to the first place, rinse and repeat the whole two weeks of kraft training. You'll also be going over your pre trip and be getting some basic lessons on backing up into the dock, but you don't get any REAL training on backing up into docs until your OTR training phase. The purpose of Kraft training is to basically prepare you for the CDL test.

After two weeks of Kraft training, you'll then return to HQ and do the actual CDL test. If you pass and get you're CDL, that's when they'll officially hire you and then you begin OTR training with a different trainer, live out of the truck with him as you go OTR, etc.

Question#2: As far as "if you HAVE to go OTR, from what I understand this is mostly an OTR type of career path. The only local driving I've observed are the Kraft trainers but I could be wrong. so ask ur recruiter.

Question#3: Right now, I don't feel my Kraft trainer is training me correctly. He mumbles when he speaks and I have to constantly ask him to speak up. Also he only really speaks to me when I'm doing something wrong and teaches me how to do it correctly, but the only indication I get from him that I'm doing things right is when he doesn't speak at all. Last night I almost got booted out of the training program because I turned too sharply and my tires grazed a pole. He didn't say one word to me and literally looked out the window as I slowly grazed the pole and didn't speak up until AFTER I hit the pole.

I confronted him about it and his excuse is that it's not his responsibility 2 speak up every time I do something wrong and that I should be paying attention. But my counter argument to him was that I WAS paying attention but this is literally my first week driving a semi truck/trailer and I don't know exactly "what" to pay attention to. It wasn't until last night he finally told me I was using the wrong convex mirror to watch the back of my trailer when trying to avoid a curb on a sharp turn. I was using the convex mirror on the sides of my doors. He finally showed me that I can see more clearly with the second set of convex mirrors that are towards the front of the tractors.

The other kraft trainers are not like him and I can't get ahold of my recruiter until tomorrow or monday to call and ask to find out if I can change trainers. I know for a fact u can change trainers in the OTR phase of training but I don't know about the Kraft phase of training.

Will continue answering questions in a 2nd reply.

Hey all,

I'm new here and I am planning my career change and I have a few questions. I've looked at a lot of companies and I think I've settled on Wilson Logistics for CDL training & employment. I have a couple questions though before I decide 100% for sure.

1. After you've successfully obtained your cdl, can you choose to do driver training on their Kraft account or do you have to go OTR?

2. If you have to go OTR, can you be picky on who you train with? I don't want to live in a box for 8 weeks with a smoker or a pig.

3. If the trainer is not training me properly, what are my options? I will have a lot of questions because this is VERY important to me so I want to make sure I'm trained by someone who takes it just as seriously as I do. SAFETY first. I want to come home alive.

4. As a company driver, can you request options for your truck such as OnSpot auto chains?

5. I don't care about home time because I'm alone in this world so I would plan on just living in my truck and saving all my money. Is this an option as a company driver?

6. I want to work a max of 5 years while living in my truck to avoid all regular life bills and save all my money. Is it possible to be able to put away $300k as a company driver in that amount of time?

7. What are some lies the recruiter will tell me to get me to sign on?

8. I plan on taking every load thrown at me. Will that get me pay raises?

9. What is the max pay I can get as a company driver?

Thanks to all for your guidance.

Ok I made multiple attempts to share the picture and the picture wouldn't upload. But I was on my phone.

I'm now trying on my laptop to see if this works. if it works with this reply, below or above is the picture I've been referring to in this thread:

Oops forgot to attach the image to that post. Here’s the image:

There’s this funny video floating around social media. This is a screenshot of it.

As someone who is earning a CDL through Wilson’s apprenticeship program, am I correct to understand that this is what happens when you check the hub seal sight glass to make sure the oil level is according to manufacturer specs, find that it’s low and then drive anyway?

Or is this the result of not using engine breaks like you should after going down a mountain?

Asking because this is the back/left tandem wheel. The tandem wheel in front of it is not glowing in the center.

Just hoping to learn something from this meme instead of just laughing at it haha

There’s this funny video floating around social media. This is a screenshot of it.

As someone who is earning a CDL through Wilson’s apprenticeship program, am I correct to understand that this is what happens when you check the hub seal sight glass to make sure the oil level is according to manufacturer specs, find that it’s low and then drive anyway?

Or is this the result of not using engine breaks like you should after going down a mountain?

Asking because this is the back/left tandem wheel. The tandem wheel in front of it is not glowing in the center.

Just hoping to learn something from this meme instead of just laughing at it haha

My experience with my trainer has been an interesting one. The guy mumbles more than he speaks so I have to constantly has him to repeat himself and/or speak up so I can understand him.

He really knows his stuff though. And he's not lazy. He doesn't mess around and is quick to point out everything I'm doing wrong and teach me how to do it correctly. I'm thankful for that because I know that my training is more of a "crash course" on how to be a truck than an actual "trucking school" and I want to discover and solve as many problems as I can before I take my CDL test the week after next week.

Because when test day comes, it sink or swim. I only have two attempts for the CDL test but I'm training like hell to pass on the first attempt. That way I'm not dependant on the second attempt. I'm trying not to stress out over the fact that if I fail, I don't just miss out on getting employed by Wilson Logistics, but will have to pay my own way back home and then back to square one in terms of trying to earn a CDL.

To keep that serious issue from stressing me out too much, and therefore creating a distraction with my training, I worked hard to get "memorizing" my pre trip inspection out of the way so I can focus on other things such as making tight turns without hitting the curb, getting through the turns quickly enough, staying inside my lane, etc.

I've focused so hard these first two weeks of training that now the only real issue I need to focus on is re-learning how to use the gas and brake pedals. It's all about foot placement for me.

Yesterday I made MASSIVE progress and was WAY more consistant at braking/accelerating smoothly. However I noticed a pattern of accidentally defaulting to my normal braking/accelerating habits. From what I understand, solving that problem is just a matter of practice.

My trainer does not have the kind of personality where he's quick to tell me that I'm getting better at stuff. From what I observed, he just gets on me when I'm doing certain things wrong, and when I do them correctly he doesn't say a word. Like me, he's not that big of a talker when it comes to interacting with people in person.

However he is showing more confidence in my developing abilities through his actions. For example, we're at the point where when it comes time for me to drop one trailer and go hitch up to another, he just gets out of the truck and walks away and goes to talk to someone until I'm done, instead of staying in the cab and talking me through each step when I first learned how to do that. Last night he only double checked my "back to front" method once in terms of picking up a trailer but that's because it was the end of the night and I was getting tired and for some reason forgot to raise the landing gear haha.

Also the fact that last night he had me get on the freeway must mean I'm getting better at driving in general. He's on my ass though about the hard braking because he's been a CDL driver for two years now and earned his CDL the exact same way I'm earning it and he's making it clear to me to fix that hard braking problem or they will fail me on the CDL test.

He doesn't say it, but I know he can tell that I may be new, and I may be a little sloppy due to being new, but whenever I do make mistakes I do learn from it and improve. The only thing I'm struggling on is just the hard braking.

Wish me luck! I've only got tonight, and five more training nights next week left before I go take my CDL test!

I've spent several months just to get to the point of being able to show up to trucking school. I'm focused and working as hard as I can and learning as quickly as I can so I can pass that CDL and get the job.

I've been working the night shift during what Wilson Logistics calls "Kraft Training".

Basically this second week of training, I've been driving what my trainer is calling a day truck. It's the same Freightliner Cascadias I was training with on week one when I was being taught the pre trip and simple maneuvers. Only difference is that the truck i'm driving this week is a Cascadia with no sleeper cab and the fuel tanks look smaller.

From what i understand the purpose of this "two week Kraft training phase" is to finish preparing me for the CDL test that I'll be taking once I return to Missouri the week after next week. I've been going back and forth from one warehouse and another just picking up a load of Kraft condiments at one place, delivering it to another, picking up an empty dry van or reefer and taking it back to the first place, swapping it out for a fully loaded dry van or reefer, then repeat the process.

Also the trainer has been letting me bobtail it to the jobsite from the hotel and from the job back to the hotel I stay at, so I can gain experience just bobtailing it.

I always considered myself a good driver. I'm 38 years old and STILL have never gotten a speeding ticket, never been pulled over for anything accept for something simple like a non-functioning headlight or forgetting to update tags on my pickup...but that was WAYYY back when I was like 20 something years old lol. Also, I've been door dashing for the last four years on and off, as well as several months worth of van delivery driving for Amazon through JPAX (a contractor for Amazon).

However, this phase of my CDL training, just the simple pickup and delivery work I've been doing in the semi truck, with a trainer riding along with me has exposed many MANY bad and unsafe driving habits I didn't even know I had.

I'm at the point where whenever I do a full pretrip inspection, I've gone from always forgetting a couple of things, to memorizing too much. Last night my trainer told me that now that I've got the entire pre trip memorized, I need to start re-memorizing it in a way so that it is more simplified so that all the extra stuff I memorized that's not on the test doesn't throw me off.

I'm at a point now where I'm no longer nervous or jittery driving the semi truck. I was very nervous at first because I've never driven anything that big before, let alone never driven anything with air brakes before. But I'm over that nervous phase and very comfortable now.

The only real issue I need to work on now is learning to feather my brakes. My foot placement has been off like crazy. I was wondering why in the heck I keep hard braking even though I'm barely touching the pedal. The trainer had me pull over and took at look at exactly how my feet are placed on the brake pedal or gas pedal and I was doing the heel-to-toe thing correctly and was swiveling on my heel correctly...I just had my feet too far forward on the pedals.

Looks like the only way I don't do hard braking is if I just have my big toe on the brake pedal and then I'm able to really stop smoothly and really control the brakes. Same thing for the gas pedal.

Now that I know how to properly feather the service brakes and gas pedal, all I gotta do is just practice...practice like hell.

Thankfully, I still have tonight's shift, and 5 more night shifts next week worth of driving to develop the "new habit" on how to properly use the brake and gas pedals.

Last night, when we ran out of loads to do, my trainer had me get on the freeway for the first time (just bobtailing it, no trailer). I don't know if this is normal for a newbie like me, but it felt WAY EASIER driving that thing on the highway than off the highway haha.

Next week is when I'll be doing almost all the driving and possibly drive on the freeway occasionally with a trailer hitched to my tractor.

Oh wow, I never considered that! Thanks for this very helpful information. This kind of info gives me the peace of mind I was looking for in regards of making the decision to be a company driver for "at least" a year before considering the lease path. :)

Here's a question...do you think you could make mistakes, have an accident, be late, or waste fuel getting lost?

If you answer is yes.... the. Leasing isnt for.you yet. Cause all of.those things cost money and eat yiur profits.

You did not include in your calculations:

Company paid health insurance:

$8,000 a year

Worker comp: $8,000 a year

Employer 401k contribution:

$5,000.to $10,000 a year

That is $20,000 a year in benefits you wouldnt have as a lease op.

Also realize a cpm wont be taxed while on the road away from home. At prime it is 8cpm. Wilson could have a different amount. Its "per diem". Prime calls it "travel allowance".

Yes, you are so right. Unfortunetly I'm so new to this I didn't really consider this until after I read what you said. I will give this subject a rest and focus on the basics right now. Cuz even if I do go lease one day, I would obviously have to be a company driver for a while just to explore the trade and become an experienced driver anyway.

Thank you so much for posting this!

It's good to have long range plans, but it's better to have short range goals fulfilled first.

Most new drivers fail to make it a year in this career. Heck, many fail to make it through training.

I'd recommend setting up your short term strategy like this.

1. Make it through your training peroid with 100 percent of your focus. Your future life depends on you accomplishing this. Accident and incident free.

2. Next, make it through your first 6 months solo, accident and incident free. Soak up every bit of knowledge you can about how to operate your truck safely, on time and efficiently.

3. Make the following 6 months a repeat of the first. Always operate safely, efficiently and on time. Establish a great relationship with your office by being the safest, most reliable driver you can be.

This is a trade. It's going to take you a couple of years to really become effective and efficient. If you're running OTR, once you have learned the mechanics of shoppers, recievers, freight lanes, dispatchers, load planners, hours of service, weather and a host of things other than physically driving, your mileage should easily average 3000 miles per week.

Once you reach that level, or if you reach that level, then revaluate what your effective rate per mile is and where you want to guide your career. Understanding your effective rate per mile is crucial but not right now.

You're looking at things down the road and you need to be gaining the fundamentals. If you do not concentrate 110 percent on the fundamentals of being a safe, productive driver, you're very likely to fail in this industry.