Profile For Dragon Slayer

Just completed my first week of training here in Indianapolis. This is a wonderful facility and program! The accommodations and meals are great and provided at no cost. The staff is fantastic and extraordinarily helpful. everything my recruiter told me was true! All I've done so far is paperwork and classroom training, with a little simulator time thrown in, but Monday we go out to the range to start on maneuvers! this is pretty much a self paced program, so the pressure isn't quite as intense as the " 3 and out" programs at many other company sponsored schools. Some of the students complain about the food and rooms and instructors, but I don't interact with them much. I've got a good group of about 12 people who keep a positive attitude and are focused on success and we all help each other and are so far doing grand! I'll keep you guys posted as best I can in my progress through this program. Truck on!!

Did you do your application online? Every company I contacted through the web sent me a confirmation E-mail within an hour. Its really easy to hit the wrong button and off it goes into cyberspace, never to be seen or heard from again. Most recruiters respond to calls, its their paycheck! I would double back and confirm my apps receipt.

Hey Kimberly A. ! if you filed out apps, they may be doing an initial qualification check before they respond. It doesn't hurt to e-mail and do a once a day voice mail follow-up. Good luck to you and don't lose heart, If you want it you'll have to work for it from beginning to end.

Thanks for the info C.S. I appreciate all the info and advice I can get at this point. I wish I would've found this site 6 mos. ago when I made my final decision to go truckin again. Are you with celadon? Do they have a flatbed division?

They do count truck miles, I'm sure of that. But to run team, you've got to be ready to put your life in someone else's hands. That takes a big boatload of trust. I couldn't do that with just anyone. I'd prefer to go solo and take the extra time to fulfill my commitment. But if team is the only option then I'll make the best choice I can watch closely for the first couple of weeks. But either way, I'm gonna be out there hauling freight and jamming gears. Truckin' is the most secure job in the country right now. Hell, the only things in the country that aren't delivered on a truck are bad news and babies!! I just have to remember the greasy side goes down! Later Bro!

Yeah, I have a really good feeling about this, and I'm really excited to get going again. I still wish you could float gears on the test, but it is what it is. Another question for ya. They told me I need to run team for 120000 miles to fulfill my school obligation. Any way to that solo with Celadon, or does it have to be team? Do they team you up with an experienced driver or do you have to "pick a partner" from your classmates? Any advice or insight on this would be helpful. If I have to pick my own partner from my classmates I'll be looking at these people from a different set of parameters then otherwise. Thanks again brother, you've already been a big help to me and I'm looking forward to a continued correspondence and possible friendship in the future!

Thanks Nathan, that's exactly what I needed to know. I've been seeing a lot of stuff about theft and things of that nature at the Indiana facility, but all that was over a year old. I want to bring my laptop and digital camera with me. What's your thoughts and observations on that? I've heard a lot of great stuff about the company, and only about 5% bad, which is a great ratio from what I see with other companies. I know there's always cry babies, whiners, snivelers and just plain old B!#!**&@S out there, and I don't put any stock in that till it passes about 40% or so and then I do deeper research. I guess my first post could've been seen as the beginning of a bi*^!#fest, but that's really not me. Sorry I gave you and old school the wrong impression. I get ticked off and upset, but I get over it quick and start looking at things from both sides which generally brings forth some level of understanding. When you can understand something you can almost always devise a plan or method to overcome, circumvent or eliminate the issue or problem. Anyway, that's what works for me. But I did have an instructor back hand slap me in the chest because I was having problems double clutching. I learned to float gears, never taught double clutching. So when the "stress times" I subconsciously resorted to what I knew. I didn't retaliate, but that was the beginning of the end for me at swift.

Thanks Nathan! How do they work the license test then? Do I go back to SC to take my tests or do they use 3rd party testers or what? I know it'll be crowded and that a lot of people think its a game, but my entire future is riding on this. Thanks again brother, any input is most assuredly appreciated!

Old School, Nathan, Thanks for the replies. I'm really not a "newbie", in 1980 I drove an R model Mack for about 6 months. But that was many moons ago, before CDLs, E logs, and the log jamb of bureaucracy we've seen in the past decade. I'm 59 yrs. old and nobody has given me anything in my life. I've kicked an fought for everything I've ever done, been or had. I ran a successful construction co. for 20+ yrs. I got my GED at 35 and went to college when I was 40. I rode and flew a patch in my younger years, when I caught my one and only felony, I realized that wasn't how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I know how to tolerate a lot of crap. But no man is going to steadily degrade me or put his hands on me EVER! I know the trucker life, and will get my CDL, and no person, school, instructor or circumstance is going to stop me. A thinking man can always find a way.

and all I really wanted to know was if I was going to have to gat an Indiana permit and license or how they worked that.

Had some personal situations at home that couldn't be left un-attended. Was told I would have to start over when I came back, and I wasn't impressed with the training I got in the first place. Hence, my decision to start fresh somewhere else.