Profile For Errol V.

Do you have your CDLs yet?

If you want to team up, I suggest you check out this video about expediting.

How expediting exclusive use makes money

A good overview of a freight sector you may not have heard about. My wife and I are going to team up with Hyfield next spring. (The delay is a "ducks in a row" thing.)

Great sleeper, actually a small RV.

Small loads, go anywhere.

Don't forget TomTom. I've been using a TomTom "Go Expert Plus" for years. Add that to your options. (I prefer TomTom to figure maps over Google maps even when I'm driving in unfamiliar cities.

Hi, Lora. I'm sorry no one has answered your question about updates. I didn't know myself. Those reviews are valuable for describing many companies.

What is it you're looking for? Quality as a workplace? Size? Areas of operation? Do they provide CDL training?

Just how new of a newbie are you? Looking for a career? Do you have a CDL permit? Many companies are represented through our members. If you want to know our opinions about any given company, it might be better to be more specific here. You will get a real answer to any serious question,

Old School has the main point: If you are planning to go OTR, get OTR experience, not home daily stuff.

If your trainer says to watch his signal not the trailer when you are backing, tell him he will have to continue with you when you get your own OTR job. Otherwise you must learn to back a trailer without his kibitzing.

On any turn, watching the inside (right) mirror is your job, not a passenger's. Answer this question "Who's holding the steering wheel?" That's the person who needs to be watching the mirrors and the trailer at all times.

Contact the dispatch/training office and ask for another trainer, one that is OTR.

(Here's a secret: Trainers often get paid well for having a student on board. Extra pay for training you, and the trainer gets paid all the miles you drive, as well as his own. You get some minimal pay as an employee in training. Some trainers are in it just for the money.)

I'm a CDL instructor. It is my opinion that you should not forget all the stuff you learned once you get your CDL license. It is true there are a few things done on the road differently than in school, but our job is to get you that license, and nothing more. So crank the landing gear handle with two hands, come to a full stop at all stop signs, and stay reasonably around the speed limit until you pass the CDL license tests.

OP Seth said:

I transfered from warehouse to fleet through the cdl program with DollarG

So the plan was to move from DG warehouse to DG trans. He took training, went on to road training, but had to go though three trainers then

did they do me wrong? Did they break contract?

So Seth thinks Dollar General is the side tearing up the contract. That's why I asked to hear how Seth did on his training. DG isn't about to dump the average noob driver for "no reason". So I want to know what Seth did that would cause DG to tell Seth "fuggetaboutit".

So Seth, if you're still checking in, what are some problems you were facing on your training runs?

From Papa Pig:

breaking a contract ... try other companies

How about that when any company you apply to finds you tried to break out of a contract, they put your application in the round file. You would be bringing baggage with you they don't want to deal with.

Pinky has a point. So, Alan, at those half-off prices are you going to take all comers and have large classes with limited wheel/instructor time in those four weeks, or are you going to go the quality route with four students at a time? I'm a CDL instructor with a large nationwide company and I've seen both extremes. (I'm simply an instructor, I have zero to do with the pricing.)

If you have one truck and six students, compared to a truck with four students, the fixed costs will be nearly the same, but what will be the student achievement and first-time pass rate between the two classes?

I'd say it may be the difference between a $40 Ozark Trail (Walmart) fishing rod and an $80 White River kit from Cabelas. You get what you pay for.

I would suggest don't do such a cut rate.

There's half a story here, Seth. Six weeks of training before they let you out on your own is a standard thing. Then you wrote that you were "recycled" through two additional trainers, but you haven't explained why.

I have to assume there were problems in how you handled the job, either from misunderstanding, missed training, or worse, some problems with your attitude.

Fill in those blanks and you'll get better advice.

I've seen Clean Harbors trucks in many areas around the US. I looked them up, they require Hazmat for their class A drivers.

So your not allowed to drink or eat a snack when you drive?

Not even snacking on Oreos: Swift In Cab Camera