Profile For Tom M.

Well y'all....ive racked up over 6k in miles and 150 hours behind the wheel time....doing pretty good I think

Update y'all....i have been on the road a trainer for 3 weeks now...got around 2500 miles and 120 hrs behind the wheel..the trainer i believe is locco....she has serious mood swings all day...i still have problems with docking the rig...learning from her is almost imoossible...she circles a truck stop for the easiest parking that hopefully doesn't require her to back in...when backing in she blames her problems on other trucks and obstacles in the way...she doesn't like allowing others to enter the freeway unless they SPEED to get ahead of her...scary

I just started with Covenant....need a mentor that I can look to for venting and advice. I've been waiting for seven days to be contact by my trainer...still nothing. e-mail me: tazzman300@yahoo.com

I'll give a quick review of Covenant.

My wife and I started with them first of the year as new drivers. They trained us together - something that drew us to them.

Training for us was good, but took longer than they said it would - about 8 weeks. We had 2 different trainers and learned from both.

After upgrading at the end of training, we've been running solid miles. We estimated how much we'd earn making this career change, and we are right on the money. In fact, we should exceed it with holiday bonus $/mi.

We are in the reefer and expedited groups and run a lot of east west lanes. Mostly 2000+ mi runs.

They seem to have one of the highest pay scales. I look around just to keep up to speed, and they are definitely in the top tier.

There are several other perks as well. A tuition bonus for new drivers, home time calculated as 1 day for every 6 on the road, and an ok insurance plan.

There have been some rough spots. Trainers saying things that can set you off, poor dispatch communication, policies not always clear, but generally the company does try to make things right, even if they don't always succeed.

That coupled with all the things you can read here like sleeping issues, space issues (hey, I drive with my wife-guess who gets the room?😊), eating habits and excersing,etc, have made for quite a change in our lifestyle. But so far, we like it!!

I will echo what's been said here. The 3 most important factors to success are attitude, attitude and attitude! Expect rough spots. Don't let them throw you. Take the upper road and things will work out.

If anyone's interested, we blogged our experiences for the past year. From CDL school till the present. If interested, let me know and I'll send you the link.

UPDATE YA'LL

I passed my DMV drive test and am an official Class a license holder. It took me two tries, but I DID IT! Now i am hired with Covenant Transport and waiting for my Trainer to come to me from TN. I'm still a lil nervous but eager to get rolling and learning this job. Pray for me and give me any advice. I would appreciate it. See ya'll out there!!!

SO EXCITED. I started trucking school three weeks ago. Aced everything so far except for skills. Can't get the straight backing down yet. Anyone with pointers on this skill would be greatly appreciated. Greg is an awesome instructor at this school. He is very patient and doesn't sugar you. I've even been fielding trucking companies with regards to benefits and pay. I've narrow it down to PRIME, Schneider, Wil-trans and CRST. If anyone has suggestions or advice for a new driver, please do so. I'm raring to go as soon as I pass my DMV drive test.

I started CDL training 3 weeks ago. I will be in a truck to practice skills and actual driving this week. I have gotten my endorsements with exception of hazmat and passenger. So excited about getting this career going. It's amazing how much i've actually learned. I have new students asking me questions about the rig.

I know this blog is mostly in regards to Swift, but i am in school right now. I'm looking for input about trucking companies that have good medical and modest or good pay. I will be graduating in 3 weeks, hopefully. I am looking into Knight, CRST, CR England, and others that accept new drivers with no experience. Please help with useful information. Thanks everyone. Really excited to get started in trucking.