Profile For Jaguwar

Hey g'luck with the tests, I'm sure you'll do fine there! Waivers are nice! LOL

I should have said "At the time he left", and I stand corrected. Thank you.

I see no one answered on your last post, that's probably because anything we could say is pure speculation. I'm gonna venture with one guess, however: the flatbed companies? Flatbed apparently very physically intensive and demanding work, and while they might not want to discriminate against you, they might be hesitant to hire someone who, by nature of no longer being a "spring chicken" might, maybe, be more likely to injure himself on the job. Yes, there are older people who do that work, but most have been doing it for years, and one would hope they would make up for some of the difficulty with the simple experience of knowing how to move around without hurting themselves just looking at a damned load.

Just a possibility.

Hey man

THE Captain? Really? That's cute! (and I mean that with a grin, just joshin' ya) Seriously though, I feel ya. While you can't run away from your troubles, sometimes going away is the way back to yourself. I hope you find what you need. And yeah, you're young, but there's a certain maturity in realizing nothing is guaranteed, or forever. Best of luck and happy trails.

Soo... how's your training going?

It sounds ideal for someone returning to trucking, though. Thanks for the info!

Do not worry about the hijacking! Yes, last Friday I aced my DPS test in Waco. The Corsicana academy takes its students to the Waco CDL testing site. I did the pilot's test which included everything under the sun. I was relieved it was done. Without any reservation, I one million percent recommend the Swift Corsicana, Texas academy. They took me, a book nerd, and molded me into a safe and functional driver in 17 days. Amazing. Instructors are fantastic! Other cool thing is because I was one of the pilots, my mentor was already waiting for me after orientation ended yesterday. Since 5 pm yesterday I have already delivered a load to Houston and now I am driving a load to delaware! Happy trails everyone!

Awesome, congratulations!

I just realized your thread said where you were, derp! I'm a dweeb. I'm glad you're feeling confident, it boosts my outlook too. Happy trails, be safe!

It occurs to me we've hijacked bwr's post.. sorry man!How'd it go? You should either have your CDL by now or be close, right?

G-Town, Thank you very much for the quick response. [...] The camera had spooked me but need to learn more and thank you for pointing me in the right direction. [...] Cooking in cab, relieved and thanks again!

Thanks again for your help!

So I have a truck driving friend with whom I traveled for 3 months as a passenger. He has 17 years of driving experience and is objectively a really good driver. He has worked with, among others, Schneider (where he got his start), Swift (I think he was there the longest) and now PTL.

He left Swift indirectly because of the camera. It does face the driver (and the road, I believe), and my understanding is it triggers whenever a severe "bump" is detected. The idea, of course, is to record in the event of an accident or at the first sign of an unsafe maneuver. But my friend didn't like that, he felt it violated his privacy. Here's the thing: those cameras are currently NOT on OTR trucks. rankly rather than switching companies, he probably should've just switched back to OTR.

Thanks to my experiences with him and his evident regret at having left Swift, I'll be signing up with them in a few months. G-Town is right, it's easy to sh*t on Swift because they are, literally, the biggest (aside from FEdEx UPS and the like). That makes them a frequent sight, but it also means in terms of sheer numbers, as opposed to percentages, you will see more actual mistakes: accidents, bad choices, the occasional dumb person who managed to get the CDL because they didn't act like an ass when studying, that kind of thing. Plus they'll have the largest numbers of plain YOUNG drivers, guys (and gals, I suppose) with potential but who sometimes lose track of what it is they're supposed to do simply by virtue of being young.

Congratulations! Where did you train? Sounds like TX or AZ LOL not fun, 115 degree weather, yuck! I mean to start with Swift in a few months, got a few loose ends to tie up first. Best of luck, and enjoy.