Profile For Errol V.

Zomer asks:

Is this something companies let you do as a rookie or do you need to prove yourself first for a few months? And is this only possible if they assign you your own truck? If you don't have private property to park the tractor at, where would you stay on off days?

Yes, indeedy. Once you get your CDL and some company hires you, the first several weeks or more you will be riding with an experienced trainer. That will polish you a bit better to drive your own truck (that you're company issues you). Your trainer gives your company a thumbs and you're good to go.

Then you pretty much live in the truck. If you plan to really go home, just find a truck stop nearby. You didn't need your own property to park at.

You might be interested in:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

All right then! Congratulations!

The High Road program is the manual.

You read a bite-sized piece from the manual then you get questions. You check your test score on the High Road tests then as you work though the sections you will see your percent grade.

BTW the manual for every state is the same. There is no "federal" manual. And there is no shortcut. The questions are very much quotations from the state manual.

Your DOT Medical issue is a common misunderstanding on the driver's part. I don't know this when I went and got my second medical in my own and presented it to Swift. No good, I need to see their Dr.

Once you're an employee, you need to see the physician they select. The old phrase is "your paper isn't worth the powder to blow it up with." It's a way to avoid doctor shopping on the driver's part.

And if they are willing to get you re-examined, go for it. Protein in your urine (I just looked it up) can indicate some serious problems through to minor issues. Since you had one "hot" ("traces") and one not, check with your GP as you could be on the borderline for something. I believe it's in your best interest to double check just so you can stay healthy and drive trucks for a living.

Drew says:

However, their compliance department is giving me all sorts of grief with my DOT medical card which is an entirely different topic.

What seems to be the problem with your medical card? Usually your medical is ok or it isn't. Can you put more light in this?

It's been a while, but about five years ago I taught a four day Permit class at Swift before this students moved into the CDL class.

But isn't hard to do your own study. Kearsey is pointing you in the right direction. The score keeping in the High Road program will help you know when you are ready.

I use the Highway Weather app, too. Once you set a route, the Summary tab has a graph showing forecasted wins and gusts, among other things, plus some available live road cams.

As a daily + local job, intermodal is a good idea.. (Sometimes this type of trucking is called "drayage" so look for that term too.)

As for updating your license you will need to get the whole course. Many vo-tech schools offer subsidized/free training.

"Southern California" is a big place. Fontana has developed into a huge trucking center. Maybe seaports are an option for you. For that you'll need a TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential) card.

Probably int he TGTBTrue category. Read the fine print (I'm just guessing here) and you might read that "Our top drivers make..." next to the Big Money.

Rookie drivers will be more in the $50k range. But Kobe Bryant had to start somewhere.

This "Jessica" person only signed in to Lazarus this old post and preach erroneous information. Any company can use nearly legitimate any reason to not hire you, including a hair follicle test. The hair test had been proven to indicate party drug use in the previous 90 days. If this was challengeable in a court, said company wouldn't do it.

Jessica says there's no "DOT requirement". But the FMCSA does have this to say:

... Including any consequences for a driver found to have a specified alcohol or controlled substances level, that are based on the employer's authority independent of this part. Any such additional policies or consequences must be clearly and obviously described as being based on the employer's independent authority.