Profile For Whitewolf

Thanks for all the replies. Big Scott will check out the link. Thanks.

We refer to the hours you get back as recaps. I save my clock for driving. At the end of week when you start recaps you will get it back if spent on duty at customer or driving. If you are pulling refer and you have 6 to 8 hour load and unload times, you may want to master the 8/2 split. Here is a link to my thread, Recaps explained in pictures. I hope that helps.

After doing some research on the web I discovered you get back all on duty time (driving, not driving) for back time. For example you drive 4 hours to customer and spend 2 hours loading/unloading in on duty during day 1 on day 9 you get 6 hours back. When I mentioned this to my old trainer he said not to use on duty but instead stay in off duty. His words, when you use on duty you will notice towards the end of the week you have less hours to drive. Online I was not able to find any information to confirm this. Obviously if I had more driving to do on day 1 I can place myself in off duty for 30 min and use that as my 30 min break. When sitting at a customer site is it better to use off duty instead of on and is there any truth to what i was told? Going on the assumption I still have time on my 70 come day 9. Thanks.

Yes. Stafford is around the corner from Prime and Wil-Trans. You may have passed it on your road driving. I think they road test in the areas TDDA takes students for road driving. By the way is Jay still there? Keep us posted.

I have my email in my profile. Feel free to contact me. I have a small group of CFI drivers who are very helpful. I will also help you as much as you can.

Yes. Jay is still here and a new instructor by the name of Perry. They do take us along a similar route the DMV does. Oh, I passed my cdl test. Cortney at CFI is calling me the prodigy student as I passed my test in 15 days of starting school with 0 truck driving experience. Have to stay at school for the rest of this week and start orientation Monday. Looking forward to working at CFI.

Are they taking you to Carthage? If so, ask them to tell you about the small traffic light. Good luck. Pass the pretrip and the rest you have time for.

They are taking me to Strafford. I believe its off of exit 84.

So i signed up with CFI and they are having me train through Truck Dynasty Driving Academy in Springfield, MO. I am going into my 4th week, though to be precise tomorrow is my 15th day of training. Have never been behind the wheel of a big rig. My only experience in shifting is from racing motorcycles which was fairly evident my first time behind the wheel. lol. Picked up my pre-trip quickly enough and have practiced my test maneuvers over the last 2 weeks. Tomorrow 6.11 I head to the DMV to test for my CDL. My only concern is I have a whole 3 hours of drive time behind the wheel. Half of that is highway miles. The instructors have said I picked up driving quickly and feel I am ready to test. Only issues I am having during driving is pressing the clutch in too far, have been getting better, and not revving the rpm high enough when downshifting. Needless to say, I am on the occasion still grinding gears. Have not stalled and know how to keep the truck from rolling back on a hill, which I know are automatic fails. I would feel better had I more time driving but I am confident enough to give this a go and do my best. I will get to drive to the dmv which will help. Understand what are automatic fails and the things like grinding the occasional gear which will count towards points. Will be testing out at Strafford. Any advice is much appreciated.

It was a long time in the making along with lots of patience but is finally happening. Received my diabetes waiver in the mail Monday. Went to the DMV this morning and passed my tests for my clp. Big Thank You to the High Road CDL Training Program. Spoke with my recruiter at CFI and start training this Monday May 21st. Just as I look to this forum and the people that are part of it for knowledge, i hope to one day be able to bestow my own knowledge to the vast pool. Thank you all.

White wolf, I'd suggest creating a thread in the general category section in the forum titled something like "homeless trucker," or "living out of the truck". You'll likely get much better answers.

Rob thanks for the suggestion. Have been looking through threads having searched for homeless trucker. Reading through those and will start a new thread should I have questions.

Jmart am I correct in assuming orientation in paid and the rest of training is not until you start driving with your finisher?

They provide transportation, housing, and meals. After, school you go to orientation and are paid $100.00 cash. While out with a trainer you are paid 26 CPM. They will also reimburse you for the coast of your permit, DOT medical exam, endorsements, HazMat background check, and CDL. Just get receipts. Hope that helps.

Thanks Jmart and Big Scott. Tells me how much money to have with me, for things i may need and to get ahead on rent for a month. Does any one know if CFI has dorms a trucker can stay at during his off time? Have no family to come back to and paying rent for a room I will only see 3 or 4 days a month seems wasteful. If I have to so be it, just looking for other options.

It sounds like your going the "homeless trucker" route. If I didn't have a wife and kids at home I would love doing that. Not sure if you're aware, but Brett (site creator) has said numerous times that the vast majority of his 15 year career he lived in the truck. He was able to go to numerous NASCAR races, and other sporting events. He took plenty of "hometime" in Las Vegas, and New Orleans. If you ever want to get out of the truck for a couple nights you can always get a hotel somewhere. As long as your company has freight going to an area, taking hometime there won't be a problem.

Thanks for the info and this is certainly an option. A few logistics questions for any truckers who travel the "homeless trucker" route. 1. If you purchase online, what do you do for shipping options? Perhaps ship to a friend or a location you plan on being at a few days out. Or do you not online shop and purchase locally. 2. What address do use when renewing your cdl? My rent is fairly inexpensive for the austin area and wont have a vehicle to worry about. If I have to pay rent im ok with that but rather save the money. It would be cheaper to get a hotel (if I wanted a break from the truck) and rental car (to tour the area) once a month, if that. One of the several reasons i want to get into trucking is to tour the country, see the sights and find a state i want to settle down in years down the road. Not that i expect a lot of time to "tour the area" during down time. We work with what we got, right.

Jmart am I correct in assuming orientation in paid and the rest of training is not until you start driving with your finisher?

They provide transportation, housing, and meals. After, school you go to orientation and are paid $100.00 cash. While out with a trainer you are paid 26 CPM. They will also reimburse you for the coast of your permit, DOT medical exam, endorsements, HazMat background check, and CDL. Just get receipts. Hope that helps.

Thanks Jmart and Big Scott. Tells me how much money to have with me, for things i may need and to get ahead on rent for a month. Does any one know if CFI has dorms a trucker can stay at during his off time? Have no family to come back to and paying rent for a room I will only see 3 or 4 days a month seems wasteful. If I have to so be it, just looking for other options.

Jmart am I correct in assuming orientation in paid and the rest of training is not until you start driving with your finisher?