Profile For Glenn G.

Thanks Old School,

Well, I'm not afraid to work hard, and thank you for the feedback of "toughing it out" . I will certainly keep myself focused on the big picture.

I only weigh 150 lbs., so on windy days, I may have to put weights in my boots when tarping

I watched the video, and the only thing I can figure out is that the cop must told the driver of the red truck that he didn't go straight far enough before starting his turn, and if I was the person in the Volvo, I never would've entered the intersection with a trailer turning in front of me like that.

I just passed my NYS CDL A road test, they would have failed me if I was in the left lane when there are two left turning lanes. It was part of my road test, and I stayed in the right lane to make my turn.

So, I would really like to know what the reasoning behind the ticket is. What exactly was the driver in the red truck at fault for, because I would think that you are absolutely correct, that the driver of the volvo should have gotten the ticket instead.

Maybe it depends on what state this happened in.

Tarren,

I did the 602 hour course, which was 18 weeks long, and was out in the parking lot during Jan, Feb, and March at least 4 hours a day, so, it was cold as hell. The trucks used in the lot for backing procedures aren't the greatest, but you will certainly learn how to straight line back, offset and reverse offset, see side and blind side, parellel, and serpentine.

I liked all the instructors, they're human, so I didn't expect them to be perfect, and they were all long time truckers before becoming instructors at NTTS. That said, going out on rides with them was interesting, because one instructor might want you to shift a certain way, and another instructor might have you shift differently.

Shifting seemed to be the only thing they differed on.

While you're training in the parking lot, you're not going to get out of first gear, unless you're in reverse of course, or nuetral. The way some of the students treat the trucks, I'm surprised that they ran at all. The parking lot trucks are not road worthy at all, and I doubt if any of them would pass inspection, but, I looked at them as something for me to train on and that is what I did, I trained on them.

Now for road rides and crew rides the trucks are allot nicer. I did 10 road rides and 10 crew rides, during Feb. and Mar, so I got to drive on snow and ice. Great experience, and I'm glad I learned to do it at school.

Each instructor has his or hers own personality, and some of them I didn't like, but I didn't let that stop me from learning from them. I kept myself focused on why I was there, and for me, that was to pass my NYS road test.

Hi, Well, I finally graduated from NTTS and got my CDL A(on my second try, so nervous on first road test, couldn't even straight line back .

Second road test went allot better, wasn't nervous anymore. I'm going to Nashville TN, I leave on a Greyhound tomorrow(5/5) at 12;45 pm and get into Nashville TN Tuesday morning at 6:15. My recruiter told me that I don't have to be to orientation until Wednesday, He just wanted to get me down there early.

Weather is going to be in the mid 80's in Nashville, which is allot warmer than Syracuse, where I am right now.I'm going to be flatbedding with Western Express, and I'll be going Over The Road, so I hope I'll get miles with them.

I'm looking forward to the experience.

Hello everybody,

Well, things seem to be moving along pretty rapidly at NTTS. Monday is a holiday, so, I'll be taking my physical on Wednesday, than, going straight to DMV to get my CDL permit and endorsements. I have to take the Air Brake and Combination endorsement for school, the rest are voluntary, but from everyone I've talked to at school, it seems the easiest thing to do is just get them all while I'm there. NY state also has a separate endorsement for Metal Coils, don't know if other states have this or not.

At this point, looks like the only 2 I won't be going for are the passenger endorsement, and the Tow Truck endorsement. So at this point it's the Air Brake, Combination Vehicle, Doubles and Triples, Hazmat, Tank and Metal Coils.

Since I'm 50, and just starting out, I figure with all the endorsements it'll make me more sellable to the company(whichever one that is). I'm going to wait until I get my CDL permit before I even think about pre-hires.

Every month NTTS has 6-7 company orientations, Swift, Roehl, TMC, H.O.W., Werner Enterprises, US Express, Crete Carriers. These companies came in July and August. Not sure yet who is coming in September, but I know TMC will be back in October. Since my schooling won't be finished until Dec. 31, that still gives me quite a bit of time.

So Long for now, and by the way, I love the High Road Newsletters, very helpful. Since this is a holiday weekend coming up, it'll give me time to work more on the CDL test course here at TruckingTruth. Had 4 written test today, got 100 on 3 of them and 90 on 1. Taking the CDL quizzes here put me way ahead of the game at school, today we were going over Air Brakes in the NYS DMV CDL manual, and I felt like I only had to review the info. since I've already learned so much here.

Hello everyone,

My name is Glenn, I just turned 50 yesterday(Aug. 15), and the same day I got my letter from NTTS(National Tractor Trailer School) stating that I've been accepted to start school on the 26th of August. It was like a birthday present that I wasn't even expecting that day.

I'll be taking the 18 week full time course(M-F), and my completion date at this point is going to be Dec 31st. It's the Advanced CDL 602 hour course. Even though it seems like a pretty expensive school compared to some others, I'm fortunate that I've been blessed with some grants and other funding from the VA (I'm a US Army vet), so there will be no out-of-pocket costs for me at all. I live in Syracuse, so the school is only a 20 minute drive from my apartment.

I read your book Brett, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I've also been getting the newsletter, which I also enjoy reading.

You are SO RIGHT about negative info on companies. I've been surfing the web for the past month looking up info on trucking companies, driving, getting a CDL, the new hours of operation, which ones hire new Grads from a CDL school, and so on.

I've even taken the practice CDL test online which I have down to under 20 minutes at 94%. Regardless of the bad press truckers get, and the bad press some truckers give companies, and even driving an 18 wheeler, nothing will detour me from achieving this.

I've told many people before, that I don't mind starting from the bottom, as long as the view is good. Well, I think that is totally my frame of mind on trucking. I'm not going to mind paying my dues, doing the hauls no one else wants, because I will at least gain the experience of driving an 18 wheeler through all of it.

In 1970, I was in second grade, and we did a play, with a song we sang called "Freedom isn't Free". The song went on to say "You have to pay the price, you have to sacrifice". So, if I have to start at the bottom, well, sounds good to me, because I will just be following in the footsteps of all the other successful 18 wheeler drivers that have come before me, and with that many footsteps ahead of me, I can certainly say the the path is clear to me.