Profile For Chris L

Hello all like the subject title said it's been awhile since I have posted in the forum. When last I posted I just came off the road and took an instructor job with NTTS out of Syracuse NY to work at their satellite campus located at Ft. Drum New York. I enjoyed the challenging work helping Soldiers and Veterans train and get their Class “A” Commercial Drivers License. Unfortunately our parent company (A well known Mega Carrier) decided to shut down NTTS this past summer and close the doors at all the campuses in New York. The Ft. Drum Campus was acquired by the CDL School specifically their Troop into Transportation program. Besides myself 5 of my colleagues were asked to stay on and continue to run the program on post. We stood up the first class for training on the 17th of July 2023. I currently teach both the Theory portion and I also conduct Behind the wheel training for the students. T2T’s training program doesn’t differ too much from NTTS’s program, T2T’s program is 4 weeks vs NTTS 5 week program. This week I was offered and opportunity that I can not pass up! 5 years ago I took the civil service exam to become a New York State Motor Vehicle License Examiner (MVLE). During this time I received many canvass letters about open MVLE positions around the state; but nothing ever came to fruition until this past year. In February ’23 I interviewed with the Rochester NY DMV testing office (Interviewed not offered a position) then May ’23 I did a second interview with the Utica NY DMV testing office at their Syracuse Location (Again interviewed no Job offer). Then about 3 weeks ago I received and email from the supervisor of the Utica NY DMV testing office asking if I was still interested in the examiner job (The office is expanding their examiner coverage in St. Lawrence County). So I had a phone interview with the supervisor and completed the back ground check. This past Monday I was formally offered the examiner job which I excepted. I will start my onboarding and orientation in mid-January and hopefully by early summer I will be conducting road test for the class “A” Commercial Drivers License. I will miss working and training soldiers and working with my fellow colleagues; but I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my life. A New Adventure AWAITS!

Bird- One

Any updates Brother?

If you want the skinny on working a "Dollar" Account as a Rookie Driver check out Papa Pigs posting on the Dollar General account that he works for Warner Enterprises. He has worked hard on that account and has had allot of success with it. Papa Pigs Rookie Zainy solo adventures

On my way into work this morning I was stopped at a traffic light when a box truck came up along side of me I noticed that is had a "Bio-Hazard" placard on the side. It got me wondering if you are required to have a Hazmat endorsement to haul "Bio-Hazard" material. A discussion amongst my fellow instructors is the general consensus would be yes: A Hazmat endorsement would be required, The NYS Commercial Drivers manual specifically Chapter 9 dealing with Hazardous materials dose not cover any have any specific class for "Bio-Hazards" the closes we can find would be Placard Class 6.2 Infectious Substances. So the question would be Hazmat endorsement Yea or Nay and what would be the appropriate placarding?

P.S. Loving the new new instructor Job Cheers

So sorry to hear about your loss my wife and I send you our heartfelt condolences.

It’s been a little over a month since I started working my new job as a driving instructor for NTTS at their Ft. Drum location. Our team consists of 5 instructors including myself. 4 of us are Retired Army and our other instructor is prior service Army. The equipment at our location consists of 2 Volvo Sleeper Cabs, and 2 Freightliner Day cabs all 4 tractors have 10 Speed manual transmissions. Trailers consist of 2 53’ foot dry vans, and 2 48’ foot dry vans. Currently we run 2 programs: A 5-week full time program and a 13-week part time program. The max student load for both classes is 14 students. The fulltime class meets Monday - Friday from 0700 – 1700, the part time class meets Wednesday and Thursday nights from 17:00 – 21:00 and Saturdays from 08:00 – 18:00. Both courses are 225 hours. The current full-time class has a student load of 6 and they are starting their final week and will graduate this coming Friday the 13th. The part- time class has a student load of 14 and will graduate on the 23rd of October 2021. My primary mission is working with the Part time class and assisting with the full-time class I average about 43 hours a week. I’m really enjoying this Job I especially like when I can help a student overcome a difficulty mastering a skill like the Blind Side Off-Set Back. You can see a change in the student when the mechanics of the maneuver clicks - in and they master it. It gives me the same feeling I got when I was able to help a student master a skill needed to become certified as an open water SCUBA Diver. Their confidence level go’s up exponentially, my goal is to produce confident and proficient entry level professional drivers. My only drawback I currently have is I haven’t dialed in my demonstration quality skills for the maneuvers yet. When I get a spare time, I’m up in the cab going through all the maneuvers. For my professional growth I have completed the first three instructor certifications that NTTS and NY State requires for Driving School instructors. I can take students around on post but I can not take them off post until I receive my NYS Driving School Instructor certification card. I’m expecting the card before the end of the month, after I hit my 90-day employment mark, I will be eligible to enroll in the JJ Keller Instructor accreditation program and I can work towards getting a nationally recognized instructor accreditation. On a whole I’m glad I made the decision to come off the road though I do miss it- I’m still driving part-time every Sunday I still take a load of coils down to Middletown and get a back haul going back up to Syracuse. I’ll try to continue to post periotic updates. Cheers

I got it done just now. The office said they fax it. Should I call the dmv in a few days to see if it’s in the system?

I'm from NY also. I'd visit your local DMV office and take a copy of your medical cert with you and have them confirm your med cert is current if not they should be able to take the copy and fax it for you. Cheers

Anne A wrote:

Were they loaded shotgun, suicide, eye to sky?

Just wondering. I've never understood the reasons why coils are loaded in these different 'fashions.'

~ Anne ~

Here is a picture of my typical coil load that I take from Oswego NY Middletown NY. Coild on skids with the eye's in the vertical position. For this load of five coils each coil weighed about 12.5k give or take a few pounds. The fifth coil is obscured by the curtian.

Rob I feel your pain Brother. About 5 weeks ago my wife fell and broke her left collar bone - It was lucky that I had just finished loading and I was still in the yard. A quick call to my FM to let him know the situation and I was on my way back home and I got her to our local emergency room. We live out in the country and I always have a fear that she could have an accident and I can get back quickly. IMHO family emergencies are the number one concern for drivers on the road. The opposite can be the same for the families of the driver having an emergency while on the road. I'm sending my positive thoughts for your wife's speedy recovery.

Well my first week working as a trainer is in the books and what a long week it was! It started out early Monday morning driving through the “Ontario Gate” and onto Ft. Drum. It brought back a flood of memories. That was the first time in 9 years that I have been on post that early in the morning. My main focus will be working with the Part time class (We run a 5 week fulltime class which meets every days from 07:00 to 17:00, and a 13 week part time class which meets Wednesday and Thursday Nights 17:00 – 21:00 and Saturdays 08:00 – 17:00) The current full time class just finished up their second to last week of training and have one week to go. The week consisted of the students working on backing maneuvers (See side, Blind Side Back, See Side, Blind side Off-Set Back, Parallel Parking) and completing their on the road driving training. On a whole most of the students have mastered the backing skills and there are some that are still struggling a bit. Helping out the students that were having difficulties I actually had my own difficulties breaking down the movements / steps to master the assigned task. After awhile Backing becomes muscle memory and every driver has tweaked the basic movement steps, so it works for them. Going back to breaking down the maneuver step by step and teaching the mechanics was a little bit of a learning curve for me. I’m a little more confident by the end of the week Heck I actually jumped into on of the tractors and went through all the maneuvers a couple of times just brush up and sharpen up my backing skills. I’m really glad that I have taken this job the team I’m apart of is top notch most of us are retired Army NCO’s and we all work well together. Most of our students are Solders that have begun their transition out of the service and their units allow them to come down for the 5 weeks of training. Of course, Joe will be Joe and there is always going to be some Grab-Ass going on; but when it comes time to train they all get on it and make the mission. This week I will be finishing up the requirements so I will be “Field” certified and the following week when the next full-time class starts I will teach a majority of the class room portion and I will become “Classroom” Certified. Then the only thing I will have left to get certified on is getting my NYS Driving instructor certification so I will be able to conduct “On the road evaluations”. Also I’m keeping my connection with my former employer Gypsum Express I’m taking a load of coils down to Middletown tomorrow evening(Coors Light drinkers rest easy I've got your Back! . When I can I will keep posting updates. Cheers