Profile For Nomad Novelist

Sadly, yes. Unless you stop taking it immediately, and "forget" to list it on your medical questionnaires, which you'll hand in on Day1 of orientation. Ritalin allegedly clears the system in 24 - 48 hours, so you might get lucky. Allegedly.

I'm a flatbedder with Prime right now, but I had to wait a month and then come back to orientation with a note from my doctor saying I could function without the meds.

I miss a few exits now and then, but the pay is still good. ;)

I just trifecta'd my CDL today at Prime. I did the accelerated local night program instead of PSD. I hit the road with my flatbed TNT instructor tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM.

Thanks again to everyone here on Trucking Truth. The information has been invaluable. After I upgrade to solo, I'll start blogging / posting / YouTubing more frequently. For now, gotta focus!

Half Doberman, half Chihuahua...

;)

Actually, I have no idea what he is, but when he talks to me, he definitely has a southern accent of some kind. Could be southern MO. Could be Texan...

"You either *FUR* us, or against us."

Hmm. Leaning toward Texan.

Nice! Another German Shepherd guy...

Hey Ken, he can't be all that bad... LOL!

JJ

I'll have you know, that is a rare, Ozarkian, Dober-uahua. :)

Hi Ken. I'm starting at Orientation this coming Monday, April 4th. Not sure if you're looking for PSDs or just TNTs. Also, my heart is set on flatbed...does it even matter what you train on during the PSD phase? Or only for TNT?

I've read through some of your posts here, and you're obviously a helpful guy. So I'm interested, if you are. If not, no offense taken.

Thanks for the tips, J. Johns. Much appreciated.

Hey Daoust!

Thanks for sharing your journal. I'm interested in that accelerated program when I come back on the 4th of April. Just got cleared to return today. You'll probably be on a trainer truck by then, but maybe I'll bump into you.

Any words of wisdom for getting invited to the accelerated program?

I get your point, Brett. And I don't necessarily disagree. It was merely a review of the literature, after all. But then, if I was trying to write a research paper here (not my intent), I would have found more studies.

That said, I'm still inclined to believe what both the doctor *at* Prime, and a member of *their* Orientation department told me: "This is all about liability." The doctor also told me that she didn't personally believe Ritalin should be banned there, but that it wasn't her call.

Safety. I get it. And I'm 1,000% for it. But this is about litigation. I take zero unnecessary risks in life. Life is too short, too precious, and I've got a lot left to accomplish before I die.

As I've said before, I'm frustrated, but not necessarily with Prime. It's a societal thing.

And just because you've done something safely doesn't mean it's safe to do.

Lawyers are making the call about safety in this case, not doctors. Because I had note-in-hand from my doctor stating that I'm completely safe to take Ritalin and drive a CMV without risk.

Anyway, I respect your opinion. I hope this response isn't viewed as stirring the pot. Not my intent. The conversation never seems to go well when someone has a different opinion than the moderators.

Interesting *science* on Ritalin:

"Results

Current data support the utility of stimulant medication in improving driving performance in younger ADHD drivers."

From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2277254/

Fortunately, for me, I wasn't taking Ritalin for anything driving related. I had a perfect driving record prior taking Ritalin, a perfect driving record on Ritalin, and I'll likely have a perfect record off of it again. It's just sad that our litigious culture is actually causing companies to ignore what the science says, so they can avoid potential lawsuits in the event of an accident.

See, this is why being a girl has its advantages. We get a more derogatory term than "curmudgeon", but it comes with no age limitations.

Nice.