Profile For Chris

I went to Heavy Metal and they didn't have any classes that long or that expensive at the time. My class was three weeks Monday through Friday and then the 4th week you had two random days for one on one with the instructor before your road test. We drove all over the city for a few hours.

I would highly recommend them. The first day was pretty much all classroom and by the 2nd or 3rd day I was backing and shifting pretty decent. Of course it got better and better everyday. The instructors were very patient and good at teaching and helping newbies. The trucks were in pretty good shape considering the abuse they go through.

I passed the dmv road test the first try thanks to them. They are also great at helping you find the best company for your needs. The company recruiters stop by almost daily as well.

I highly recommend Heavy Metal. I went with them a few years ago and have a great job now. The instructors know their stuff. They are patient even though it's a fast paced three weeks of training. Bob and Pat were my favorite instructors. Some of the trucks were older but they all were in decent shape. They had an 8 speed, 10 speed, 13 speed, and an automatic truck as well.

I don't know anything about those schools but I highly recommend Heavy Metal Truck Driving school in Inver Grove Heights MN. It's about two hours from the Winona school you were looking at so it may be out of your range. The guys at Heavy Metal are awesome though. They are patient and great at teaching you how to drive the big rigs. Never thought I would be driving one so fast and every day we all got better and better. It's a small class and they have a lot of stations set up on the driving range for various practice. I went in not knowing a single thing about trucks and three weeks later I passed my road test the first try and got the Class A license. :)

Can't say enough about them and they also have a lot of company contacts and they will get you as many prehires as possible before you even pay them a dime. In fact they won't even accept money until you have a possible job lined up. That's how they keep up the 100% job placement for the students. Most students had at least a dozen prehires before they even started.

The cost was $3,995 when I went last year.

The school I went to was three weeks. They had a pretty big driving range so that helped. I was the same way though. With our school we probably had just a couple hours of actual driving out on the public roads during training. Then when we were scheduled for a road test they gave us two hours of one on one with an instructor. We could do whatever it was we wanted. I did my backups once each and then spent the rest of the time out driving.

Like others have said they wouldn't have you test if they didn't think you could pass. Our school wouldn't even let us onto the public roads until they were confident we would be safe and keep the truck under control.

The test itself isn't as scary as you think it is. I was so nervous waiting for my turn at the dmv I felt sick. Then it started and before I knew it everything was over and she said I passed.

I know it's hard to not be nervous but just do your best to be confident and go out there and just concentrate. You're not going to make any mistakes they haven't seen everyday. I missed a gear during my test and here in Minnesota if you coast in neutral more than the length of the vehicle it's an automatic fail. Well it sure seemed like more than the length of the vehicle!

Anyway just go out there and be confident and do the best you can. You will be fine. Good Luck!

Thanks Brett,

The reason we would have to do logs I believe is because of the hours worked. We don't have a scheduled end time but almost everyone is as close to the 14 hours as possible by the end of the day. They just send us out to different areas until we can't drive anymore for the day or until the work is all done whichever comes first.

It just seems kind of shady that the company doesn't have answers to employees questions about the logs. They didn't seem to know anything about the 30 minute break rule after 8 hours on duty. As far as I know everyone just works straight through the day and takes a few short breaks to use the restroom or get more water.

Maybe I'm just really confused since it was my first day. For now though I'm going to keep my own logbook just to insure that I'm legal.

One last question. Even if I only work 5 days a week can I still use the 8 day 70 hour week and reset every weekend or does it have to be the shorter 7 day 60 hour week? That 10 extra hours is important.

Thanks again.

I just started a local job driving a garbage truck. Yes it's a dirty job but someone has to do it! Haha it's not my first choice but I'm home everyday and the pay is great. :)

What I'm trying to figure out is the logbook deal. We are required to do a logbook because of the hours we are working. My company doesn't seem to know much about them and everyone just does what they tell them to do.

They have a system for us after our shift to come in and fill out log on a printed sheet of paper. We don't get a copy of it. Wouldn't that be illegal because I need to show my logs on demand at a weigh station?

I drove through one weigh station yesterday on 94 west coming from Hudson WI to St Paul MN. Luckily they just waved me through but I was wondering how to handle it if they would have asked for my log.

The driving we do is a lot of stops as you can imagine. I worked for 13.75 hours yesterday total on duty time. They basically told me where to put my drive time and on duty time. I ended up with 7 hours driving and 6.75 on duty. We logged it as multi stop driving and put how many stops I had with an average of 10 seconds on duty time for each stop to collect the garbage.

I drive Monday through Friday. So basically I'm just wondering if anyone could give me any help on how I should be filling out this log and if I need to have proof with me at all times. Do I need to go with the 7 day work week so I'm limited to 60 hours. I will be resetting every weekend. I'm just really confused because if I'm on duty for close to 14 hours everyday that's too much for a 7 day week. I'm a new driver so I'm just trying to stay legal and avoid any trouble.

Thanks for any help and if you have any questions please just ask. I know this sounds confusing.

As far as Werner goes I think they would be a great company to work for. I went to orientation with them on Monday. Unfortunately I was sent home due to a misunderstanding. My driving record isn't the best. I had a violation for reckless driving that I thought was dismissed but it is still on my record for a little bit longer. They couldn't continue with my employment until that is off the record.

If I don't find suitable employment that I enjoy before that goes away I will be going back to Werner. They treated me awesome and they really seem to value their drivers. Their equipment seemed top notch. They are very big on safety.

The orientation was quick and painless. It is only two days and then you go out with a trainer for about 6 weeks before being issued your own truck. They have a wall full of names and pictures of drivers with one million to over 6 million miles. We had a guy come through the terminal during orientation with over 4 million accident free miles with Werner. He was great to talk to and loves working with them.

Jeez I sound like I'm a recruiter for them but I'm just trying to get some good out there about them. You read a lot of bad things about every company out there. That's because they are the drivers that didn't work out for one reason or another. The good drivers are out there on the road driving. Stop at a truck stop and ask drivers questions while they are fueling or something. Many of them are friendly and you will get honest answers.

The thing that surprised me was even though they had to send me home for the time being I received pay for my days in orientation and they also paid for my travel home when they really didn't have to. Plus a free dot physical. :)

Yes we had the red Volvo today in Plymouth. It shifts really nice compared to 101.

James did excellent on his road test today and almost got a perfect score it sounded like. I was watching him on the backing and he didn't even need to use any pull ups. I had to pull up on the 90. The cones seemed tighter than at the school and they were small so it threw me off a bit.

I'm going to go ahead with Werner. They offered me an Eastern Regional position which pays .04 cpm more than otr. Heading out on Thursday to Omaha for Orientation.

How about you?

Awesome news! Great Job Ken. This is Chris from the school by the way. You tried to show me your shifting tips in the grey truck. I also did my road test today in Plymouth and passed. It was a bit nerve wracking though. I missed a gear and almost didn't recover in time. It was just the nerves but man it sure feels great now doesn't it? :)

I'm not sure if our school wants this posted but I figure its on Youtube so it shouldn't be a problem. It's a really good in depth pretrip inspection. If you go to hmttonline.net there is also a pretrip video for the automatic trucks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfeOwjeWaw4