Profile For ObnoxiousQueso

Sorry I have been absent. This course has me exhausted every day. However, I would not change a thing. I have been thoroughly enjoying this. Last week we finished all of the classroom work. I ended that class with over 97%. Saturday and all this week we have been driving. We have driven in cities, mountain passes, and highways. It took me a little bit but I finally got the hang of it. Next week we will be spending all week backing. Next Thursday or Friday is our test. I think that is what I am looking forward to the most. I can not wait to have that license in my hand and be on the road in my new career. I should be updating again next week.

Ok Guys here is my first update.

Day 1.

I honestly felt a little bit overprepared for this. On the first day we went over hours of service the whole day. In going through High Road I learned everything they were teaching us and was kind of helping the class get it a little bit. We only have 5 students in the class. But our instructors are fantastic at this point. Harold is a veteran that is now an instructor, and Norm is an 80 year old that spent 40 years in trucking before becoming an instructor in 1996. These are the people that are best to listen to, as they have a ton of knowledge of how to do things effectively as well as what not to do. But hours of service was drilled into us as that is probably the second most important thing you will learn. Which leads me to.....

Day 2.

Most of the day was spent on air brakes. This is the single most important thing to know. This section is literally your life on the road. At USTDS they actually have a working 1/4 scale setup on their lab wall. We got to work with the parts and learn literally what every part is and does. This is something that I was also prepared for, but it was nice actually seeing and working with the parts. We also went over injury prevention and adverse conditions. Basically that was all self explanatory. Slow down, don't follow too close, etc. I am honestly enjoying the school and all of the knowledge that I am receiving. I honestly have nothing but praise for this website, as it has literally cut the school difficulty in half. More to come as I go through school. Much love to you guys and good luck in your own journeys!!!!

Welcome Robert. I do not work for TruckingTruth but I can say please take the high road course. I am on my second day of school and it has helped immensely.

To the rest of you, I will give an update after school today. The first day was a little overwhelming and I went to sleep early. Stay tuned!!

Best of luck Anthony. The people here are always willing to help.

My guess will be that you have to wait at least a year. Stating "no tickets in the last five years" is a little deceptive. It implies you were driving but did not receive tickets which wasn't the case. Your driving privilege was revoked and therefore you were not able to accumulate tickets. Big difference.

Kinda like a bank robber saying "I haven't robbed a bank into ten years" then finding out he was in prison all that time. How could he?

Sounds like you are going to have to prove your driving abilit by keeping a clean record.. Plus...if you haven't driven a car in that long...how comfortable or safe could you be driving a big rig? I'd think long and hard about this.

Like I said swift hired me under similar circumstances so maybe there is a chance there.

But u also said you got your license back in July and are going the end of January right? So that's close to seven months having your license back?

He's got one month so.most likely won't have anything soon. Swift sounds like a great choice and I hope things work out for both of you

That is true. But I had actually started talking with my recruiter while my license was still suspended and while I am not saying every experience will be like mine, he did everything he could to keep me on track and focused. I received the contingent letter in May and I stayed on him as much as he stayed on me. It is worth a shot and the worst he can hear is no. But if the O.P. wants to give it a shot I will definitely pass the info on. I know what it was like in his situation and always hearing no. I am thankful for the opportunity I have and want to pass it on to others.

My guess will be that you have to wait at least a year. Stating "no tickets in the last five years" is a little deceptive. It implies you were driving but did not receive tickets which wasn't the case. Your driving privilege was revoked and therefore you were not able to accumulate tickets. Big difference.

Kinda like a bank robber saying "I haven't robbed a bank into ten years" then finding out he was in prison all that time. How could he?

Sounds like you are going to have to prove your driving abilit by keeping a clean record.. Plus...if you haven't driven a car in that long...how comfortable or safe could you be driving a big rig? I'd think long and hard about this.

Like I said swift hired me under similar circumstances so maybe there is a chance there.

G-Town I think those are all valid, and spending the last year on this site has shown me that it is going to be difficult. Currently, I am a karaoke DJ. If I wanted an easy job, I would just continue doing that. I am fully prepared to work hard for my money. I am 27 years old and its about time I try to find jobs that I have to earn my money. I have read the ones you posted, but have not read Paul's story. I will definitely do that.

An update for everyone following this thread, and even those of you reading this in the future. This morning, I completed the CLP test and obtained my CLP. The one thing that I can say is that the High Road Training Program is what made me pass the test. If it wasn't for the 300 plus unique questions in the permit sections alone, I would not have passed. I read the Colorado CDL book a couple of times and I could have read it until I couldn't see straight and still would not have retained the information the way I did here. So a HUGE shout out to Brett who started this site and put all of this together for free so that we can all succeed at this. I recommend this site to anyone I meet that is interested in this career.

So I start my trucking school On January 30 at the US Truck Driving School Denver Campus (referred to as USTDS after this) in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. I am going to continue to use this thread as I go through school. That way you can keep up with me as well as those of you reading this that are considering using that school or any of its branches as a private school or as a Swift sponsored school. I am super excited that everything is coming together. And more than anything else I am glad I found this site for both the studying as well as the blogging. Hopefully being that I will be on the road, I will be using this site to blog and let everyone know how life on the road is going for me.

I can actually speak from current experience. I recently got my license reinstated in July. Prior to that it was suspended for 3 years. Mine was a different scenario (unpaid traffic fine). I didn't have my own vehicle so at the time, I figured it could wait. It actually really harmed me in choosing a company. I called every starter company I could find. Probably all 20 of the largest carriers. Also I had a misdemeanor theft charge about 8 years ago so I don't know if that effected any of their decisions. With my income I found I would have to attend a company sponsored school, which also reduced my options. In the end with the one charge and the limited time my license has been reinstated as well as the fact I needed company sponsored school, Swift was the only one that would take me. I now have everything set and will be starting their school on the 30th. Sometimes you just have to look at all options, even if they are not your first choice. Once you have your year or two experience, more companies will be willing to overlook your past mistakes. Hope I was able to help you.

Also if you need my recruiters info, I will give it to you. He fought hard on my behalf to make it happen and he probably will do it for you too. Just please do not ask for my info. I do not want to receive a penny for helping my fellow man start a career that will further their future.

Thanks for the responses guys. To G-Town thanks for the support as literally every other site I have researched has had people bashing all of the Megas. But I am pretty sure that at one point, probably in the start of their career they drove for one of those companies. And like you said people bash companies for their own shortfalls. If you only deliver at 85% on time rate (and still have a job) you aren't going to get the good loads until you prove yourself, kind of like a probation. But many are quick to blame it on the dispatchers. Your success or failure on the road is up to you. That is why I will never say no to a load unless I am heading toward hometime and the load is the wrong way. What these people don't realize is if you turn down that short load (say El Paso to Las Cruces) you won't get that bigger load waiting for you there (like Las Cruces to Seattle). That is why I won't be turning down loads.

Brett, I will be getting all of my endorsements but won't be able to do that immediately due to the same financial strap that has me going to a company sponsored school. But when I take hometime I will probably drop in and do that. Also on top of the two you mentioned, I fully plan to complete the entirety of the training program. I never know when the Coil endorsement may help me even being based in Denver. There is so much information on the program and I fully believe that I will learn more here than I will at the school.

For the rest of you reading, I do have an update. I am going tomorrow morning for my CLP test after I spend tonight finishing what I need on high road. I want to make sure it is fresh in my mind when I test. Also I am pencilled in to start my schooling at the USTDS in Denver on January 30th. I completed everything I need except the CLP. Tomorrow I will update with how the test goes and continue to use this thread while in school. My goal is to help anyone going through schooling. Also as USTDS is a private school as well as a SWIFT authorized company school, I can give feedback to anyone that may be looking to use them for their own schooling.

Until next time, be safe out there!

Also to give you guys an idea (not to put you off at all but rather show you how much it gets drilled into you do you don't forget) through 12% of the program which is 20 pages in, I have been asked 110 unique questions. Some of these questions are repeated as I stated above, so I have actually answered 325 questions. To give you an idea, I have been asked 50 separate questions 4 times. Also I have been asked two questions seven times, as those were to this point the only two that I have missed. This program is very reactive and will make sure that you understand questions by asking them more if you miss them. This allows you to basically memorize those. So far I really like the system and recommend it to anyone trying to get their CLP.