Profile For Justin D.

Without the shifter on the floor your living room is BIGGER TOO!

Tractor Man looks to remodel. Will he go with a cozy fireplace, or that oft desired breakfast nook?

In my short time behind the wheel I've driven a ten speed, an automatic, and a thirteen speed. The ten speed was fun to drive once I got the hang of it. The automatic was very nice. The thirteen speed was a nightmare for the two hours I attempted to drive it (different pattern than the ten I learned in kept causing me to skip 5th and go into 6th when I brought the shifter around, and those high and low gears were baffling). Given the choice give me the automatic and let me save my left from the clutching, just don't through me back into a thirteen, lol.

Yes, I have my CDL, out of Arizona.

The company I went through orientation with, but couldn't get a trainer with was May Trucking. Due to the minimum pay structure I agreed to during orientation, they were also paying me $90 every day after orientation that I was available to work, but they couldn't provide work (or in my case a trainer).

Since then: The Trans Am recruiter ended the conversations with my AZ address. The US Xpress recruiter informed me of the necessity to drive team after training. I forgot about Interstate Distributors, that said no because they only train new drivers from schools that their Saftey has vetted. And the email about the freeze in hiring/training new drivers was from Pride Transport.

So there isn't an industry wide hiring slow down at the moment due to declining freight levels, or something? The announcements in the news Tuesday kind of worried me.

Maybe I'm just having some bad luck, or maybe the problem is more widespread (I'm beginning to think so).

I just received my CDL at the beginning of the month. Hired on with a company that has a terminal within 25 miles of where I live. Went through orientation with two others, and was told trainers are hard to come by at the moment due to the time of year (vacations, trainers taking riders along, etc.) I sat for over a week waiting with still not even ballpark guess on when a trainer would be available. As I waited, I watched another 5 complete orientation the following week. Now there were 8 of us sitting around waiting to be placed with a trainer. I went to the terminal manager and we agreed it'd be best if I looked into other companies (as the others even in my orientation group were from out of town the company already had more invested in them due to transportation, lodging, etc. and would be looking to place them first). This was Friday.

Tuesday this comes out in Bloomberg: Trucking Stocks Plunge After Werner Warns of Sluggish Demand and the Wall Street Journal: Trucking Stocks Plunge on Earnings Warning, respectively.

Yesterday, of the two companies I contacted: One won't hire me because of where I happen to live. It seems irrelevant to me as I have no intention of coming back here, and is why I want to go OTR in the first place. The second, is only hiring teams out of my area and would expect me to drive team after training. A no go for me (however, apparently they have enough drivers to be so selective). Still, I don't see the relevance of the location where I am currently sleeping at night as I have no intention or desire to return to here at any point in the future. I digress (apologies).

Today I received the following from in an email from another company I contacted, " Unfortunately, we are halting our scheduling / recruitment of the Training Program for an indefinite period of time"

Am I just having a poor run of things, or is this less than an ideal time to come into the industry?

@ Freebird,

I know the company of which thou speaketh... They aren't going to deprive you of miles nearing the end of the quarter. It wouldn't make sense for them to. Sure they've already paid you out for (or factored in the cost of) the 2100 miles per week, but they will be paying you out at the same rate per mile for the bonus as they did the guaranteed 2100 miles. So it really isn't costing them any more per mile for your additional miles accumulated than the initial 2100 they guaranteed to pay you for.

even came on my truck to play with my cat.

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours.

How did kitty handle it? I'm concerned about bringing mine on the truck with me in the event of something like this happening.

Glad to hear your okay, even though it wrecked the remainder of the day. Hopefully they catch the idiot.

Went back to school today to pick up my certificates of completion, transcript, etc and stopped by the 'local' May terminal (Phoenix) on the way home. Dropped off copies of my CDL, DOT Physical long form, and school paperwork. Looks like I'm just waiting on a review of my work history next week and I'll be good to go. I've only worked for two companies in the 10 years, so it should be finished up next week. That'll put me in orientation the following week on Tuesday (as that's when they start orientation each week).

Only downside is that it appears they won't be paying out tuition reimbursement to me. As I had a government grant pay for tuition it self, they won't pay me a thing for it. So May gets to save $4,000 to $6,000 on new hires with the same circumstances. Works out great for them. I tried explaining that their were other expenses associated with schooling like not working, 5 gallons a day in fuel commuting, etc. No dice. You'd think a Trucking company would understand that fuel costs can be a major expense. I digress; small rant on the matter is now over.

@ James: Do you know how long it will be until you meet up with your trainer yet? Also do you know if the training truck will be a manual or automated manual? I here MTC is phasing out manuals and going entirely automated with future purchases.

Thank you sir, and thank you sir.

If all goes according to plan it looks like I'll be going with May Trucking out of Salem Oregon doing 48 state Reefer. They seem to be a good fit for my particulars.

As for the test today, I forgot to mention how I did (other than passed). I racked up 2 points on my skills test (you can have up 12 and still pass). I couldn't get seem to get lined up for my offset, and took an extra pull up. Missed nothing on my straight, or parallel. And I missed 17 on my road test (up to 30 is still passing).

And here and now I vow: I shall no longer so much as twitch my left foot while shifting. **** double clutching (pardon my language, lol).

Like wise, sorry to hear things have gotten to this point.

Not to minimize what this experience has been, but a word of advice you can heed if you like: Don't quit on a bad day. Sleep on it. Look at things tomorrow and decide whether or not quitting now is in your best interest going forward.

I'm sorry things have gone this way so far. Try to keep your spirits up as best you can.

I finally finished. Took two attempts, but I'm now done with school (except for picking up my certificate of completion of completion tomorrow) and have my CDL!

Next stop: Company orientation and training. I hope the trainer I get has miss placed rage issues and a mental disorder or two. Think of the stories I could have by the time I solo out! Or he could turn out to be a normal guy, or a Trucking Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master) I suppose. I'll hope for the best and prepare for the worst either way, as soon as I figure the difference between the two.

In any case, I'm done with school and couldn't be more happy.

Looks like we had a truck or here make a boo-boo and didn't read the signs showing the weight limit of the garage. I wonder how much trouble he's going to be in.

Just needs a little more,