Profile For Dave

I attended and graduated the Wil-Trans "On Boarding" training and have been officially promoted to a full "A" seat driver.

I am currently in Southern NY getting snowed on.

My backing skills have improved some but still need a lot of improvement. Honestly when I'm alone or at a place where it's not very busy I do pretty good. If it's busy or a lot of traffic then I seem to struggle. I know it's mostly mental and nervousness.

Winter weather has given me more than one close call. I know driving in varied weather is all "part of it" but I'm thinking a route in Southern AZ or Florida is sounding pretty good right about now lol

Hope all is well and everyone stays safe!!!

Honestly I have just become eligible. Soon as I have some info, I'll try to pass it on.

Hey there. I've noticed on Wil-Trans and Jim Palmer's website that their health benefits are offered through something called True Choices marketplace or something like that. Can you briefly speak about this? I apologize for prying, but can you give a ball park of what your premiums are? I'm currently on the general government "affordable" care act marketplace and it's anything BUT affordable! ;) Thanks for any insight

I'm in Maine, dropped off a Tyson load and get dispatched to pick up a paper load to head back to mid west.

Just before I get to the shipper it snows 16 inches. I get my drop & hook done and the trailer has at lease 6-8 inches of snow on top. Shipper doesn't have any snow removal. I drive to closest cat scale :

FM advised to try truck wash to get snow removed. Nope, they watered my snow.....making things a bit worse lol :

Finally get to a place that will remove the snow :

Sadly there are not many places in our network that remove snow, even in the NE. Obviously the weight was an issue, but so is safety. That's a lot of frozen solids to be tugging around unsecured.

PS: They charged $180.00 to climb up w/a ladder & shovel the snow off. There seems to be money to be made..... lol

This will be a life changing, for I have been a emt/Paramedic for 18 years now. I'm just to the point where I don't want to see that much pain any more.

I'm a Paramedic also, 28 years. It was time for a change. So far I'm very pleased that I did!!!

Well my Solo time is drawing to a close. I'll be headed to Springfield this weekend.

I'm being assigned the very first truck I drove on the road. My 1st trainer quit, I asked and they gave me his truck.

I'm super duper excited!!! It's a very nice truck, especially for a rookie.

I haven't decided if I'm going to name "her" lol.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Dave

Nice truck. I think it's the same as Lazarus. Best of luck to you. Please keep us posted. If you don't mind, when did you receive your first pay? How soon after you started? Did you get the $200/wk advance? During training is your pay direct deposited into your bank account? Hope you can answer these questions.

Hi!

Thanks. I'm super excited to get into it and make it "mine" lol. Haven't decided if I'm gonna name "her" or not ;-)

I got my first pay the Thursday the next week after getting back on the road w/my trainer after passing the CDL. First 10,000 is $0.12 per mile or $600 whichever is greater. After 1st 10K it went up to $0.14 or $700 per week. I started 9/26 and got first pay 11/10.

I did take the $200.00 advance for 5 weeks. They are deducting $25 per week now to pay it back. Pretty painless really

My pay goes on my comdata card, I have deposit to my bank set up. Soon as it hits my card, I can get online or call Phone # and deposit as much as I like to my bank. It works pretty well.

Feel free to ask anything that you would like. I'll do my best to give you the straight poop 💩 on it lol

Happy New Year

Hello all! Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas.

My Solo time is wrapping up. I will be back in Springfield over the weekend and will start the "on boarding" upgrade training next Tuesday.

Solo time has flown by. I've put lil over 4500 miles on this Freightliner since I recovered it in PA back on the 14th.

I feel good about everything EXCEPT my backing skills. They are horrible. I know they will improve with time & experience. In the meantime, G.O.A.L is my BFF and I use it frequently. I'm surprised none of my backing fiascos have made it to YouTube or one of the "Shame" FB pages lol. While back in SpringMO I am going to spend a lot of my down time on the practice pad backing, backing, backing and then I'm going to back some more.

I am also getting assigned an amazing Truck. It's my first trainers truck, the very first truck I drove on the road. My 1st trainer resigned and I requested the truck. Low and behold, Wil-Trans became my Santa and approved it. I'm super excited to be getting such a nice truck as a rookie.

Hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!!!

Dave

Congrats on the permit.

I'll be back in SpringMo end of this week or latest Monday of next. Holler if you want grab a soda or anything. I will be getting my assigned truck & will be in town through Thursday.

Dave

Thanks you everyone for the kind words & encouragement.

I'm almost to my 3rd delivery. I've dealt with bad winter weather (ice), I parked and waited lol.

I've made a few silly rookie mistakes (make sure your ENTIRE trailer is on the scale or you will get a really strange look on your face when they hand you the scale ticket)

I'm taking my time & making sure I do and cover everything.

Merry Christmas!! 🎄🎁