Profile For The Flying Fireman

Hey Asher,

Welcome to the forum. I will throw my 2 cents in, since it's a bit in my wheelhouse. I started with McElroy, which was 4 weeks on the road with your trainer, then one last week in Cuba, Alabama to finish up. We tarped EVERYTHING at McElroy, except for shingles and most days were between 12 and 14 hour days. The money is good, but you earn every dime.

I then moved to Schneider, in the intermodal division in Fort Worth. (Haslet) I was with them for 18 months and the only reason I left is because I moved 3 hours away from the rail yard. I would recommend Schneider to anyone. I was treated really well as a driver, paid fairly and enjoyed special perks for safety and performance. (free jacket, boots, crock pot, yard games, etc).

If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out.

Thanks everybody! Thanks Parrothead for the info and especially the picture! I will be expecting visual aids from you for every place I deliver to! Today went as smooth as I could ask for!

After completing 7 weeks of company training, I have updated my profile to rookie solo driver. I picked up my truck, and my first load yesterday to deliver to Shawnee, Oklahoma on Monday morning. I chose the flatbed route with McElroy Truck Lines and have been most satisfied with my choice. As it has been stated many times in this forum, I think it is attitude that will make you or break you in this business. (or in life, really)

I feel like the real learning is about to begin........

Hello again! Yes....I have just finished my 2nd week on the road with my trainer. My experience has been FANTASTIC. My trainer is a great guy, very relaxed and is actually a "trainer" who has taught me a lot so far. He told me from the start that I am going to grind gears, (I do) and make mistakes (I have made a few) and that it is all part of the learning process and that I should not beat myself up over it.

I have 2 more weeks with him, then I will go to Cuba, Alabama for the final week and then be assigned a truck. I could not be happier with my choice of McElroy Truck Lines and I like the flatbed work so far. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Congrats Deke! I’m just 2 weeks ahead of you (Ennis, Tx terminal) and go out with my trainer on Monday the 29th. I’m really happy with McElroy so far! I’m sure our paths will cross somewhere down the road.

Sorry for the delayed response as I have been fairly busy with orientation and training. I will give a quick recap of weeks one and two.

Week 1 - New hire paperwork, drug testing (hair follicle & urine), physical agility test and dot physical. We watched several training videos and took quizzes after each one. There was also a 100 question test that was given to us on Monday and we had all week to complete. We practiced backing and coupling and uncoupling trailers and took a road test on Thursday.

Week 2 - More videos and quizzes, more backing practice and more driving. McElroy teaches the Smith system to its drivers so the more familiar you are with that, the more ahead of the game you will be. We took another road test and had two conference calls with safety trainers out of Cuba, Alabama. On Friday we met our over the road trainers and had the opportunity to talk with them a bit. We finished up on Fridays around 11:00 for the weekend. I leave out with my trainer on Monday so wish me luck.

I can say that I made the right choice with McElroy. The training has been top notch and the drivers and trainers that I’ve met over the past two weeks are all friendly, helpful and happy to be working for MTL, and I think that speaks volumes for the company. If you have any questions, please ask and I’ll do my best to answer when I get the chance.

Hey Chuck! Welcome to the forum!

I will be 50 in 3 months and I am in my 2nd week of orientation/training with a company and couldn’t be happier. After almost 20 years in public education, making a career change was a huge decision, as you well know, and was a shock to a lot of the people that are close to me. (My Wife is super supportive so that’s all that matters)

I weighed all the options after deciding what was important to me, in terms of hometime, pay, equipment, benefits and type of freight hauled and finally applied, and secured a job.

Like I say, I’m a newbie in training but couldn’t be happier and have not once regretted this decision.

This forum was a source for me as I was trying to sort it all out and even the geriatrics on here are super helpful. 😬

Good luck!

Hey Roy B. I will describe the physical agility test to the best of my memory. It’s been a full week!

Obviously the physical agility test is designed to ensure you can perform the tasks required of a flatbed driver. They first took my resting blood pressure and pulse. I then stood on one leg for 30 seconds, then stood on the other leg for 30 seconds. I then moved to the next station. It was a table where I was required to go to each corner, squat down and read a number that was placed underneath the table. You go around the table twice and then they take your pulse.

The next station is a step ladder where I went up two rungs, then down and then climbed up on a table on my knees. You do this 10 times and then they take your pulse. (Your pulse is taken after every event). The next event is unfolding and folding a blanket on the ground (tarp folding). Their are two stations where you pull and push about 100 pounds on a weight machine. (only about 6 inches)

The last exercise was lifting the tarps up onto a 5 foot shelf. There were a total of 3 tarps, a small, medium and large. (25, 50, 110 lbs) You first lift the tarp up onto a waist level shelf (simulates the truck tire), and then flip the tarp up and over onto the top shelf. (that simulates the trailer).

The test wasn’t bad at all. I am not a big, strong, young guy. I am 5’7, almost 50 years old and am not the specimen of physical fitness. If I could do it, so can you.

DAYS 1 and 2 have been similar. We start every morning at 7:00. The first day consisted of a lot of paperwork, providing hair and urine samples and taking a physical agility test. We also watched a few safety videos, took quizes and also did some cbt. (computer based testing) We went outside and looked at some live loads and did some tarp unfolding and folding. We ended the day a little after 5:00 to return to our hotel to finish up homework for the day.

The 2nd day began with a DOT physical first thing, and then we began classroom training which consisted of more videos, cbt, logbook exercises and an introduction to the Qualcomm. Being organized and being able to manage your time seem to be important traits to make orientation and training less painful. I am enjoying this process so far and am very happy with my choice. The drivers and office staff have all been very friendly here at McElroy.

McElroy recently increased their Texas orientation and training pay to $750.00 a week. Not too shabby.

It is late, so I gave a very brief overview of the first two days but will be more than happy to answer any questions.

I begin orientation tomorrow morning at 7:00 in the Ennis, Texas location. McElroy has provided the LaQuinta Inn for the hotel. We will be here for two weeks before going on the road with our trainers.

I’ll try to give daily updates for those interested.