Profile For Matt S.

Hello,

I will say that I am in no way a professional at backing a big rig. I'm still waiting to to get an orientation date after getting my cdl. But I do know a lot about backing in general. Before I went to get my cdl, I was a yard jockey for 4 years. Even with all that experience, I still struggled with a few details in CDL school while backing, specifically with a blind side Parallel park. IT took my lead instructor jumping up on the steps of the truck and blocking my driver side mirror before the lesson took hold in my head. Backing is all about practice, I won't repeat what more experienced and wiser posters have said already, but training and learning is up to you. While I was the most experienced in my class with backing, I was out there every day, while not in the truck, but I was helping my classmates.

The biggest pearl of wisdom I know about backing in general is this, until you get it straight in your head which way to turn the wheel to steer the trailer (And yes I mean steer the trailer, or as my instructors said, drive the trailer) the rest will never come. Once you have that straight in your head and how to use your mirrors, the rest is repetition, timing and experience, and all of it takes effort to learn and that's up to you.

Hope it helps.

Thank you,

I'm currently waiting for my orientation date with Maverick Transport.

Hey all!

Currently, I just got my CDL a week early, still have a week left on my CDL school here in southern Kentucky.

Basically it's this, I understand that getting my CDL was a step, I am now a rookie, and getting better and learning the small things will be the biggest part of my next few years. I'm currently interested in running flatbed.

Here is a brief history before I started my journey. I've been in manufacturing most of my life, except for a brief couple of years in Information Technology. I learned a lot during that time, realized that I loved working on my own computers, or own equipment, but hated dealing with the public. If you've ever tried to explain how to shut down a computer to someone who's well, not all there at 3 oclock in the morning over the phone, well... I've been there, I've also ****ed off a company CEO because I followed a work instruction to a tee on backing up important servers for it to fail. Needless to say... Didn't care for it. I never seriously entertained becoming a truck driver, because when I grew up, (mid 90s, early 00s) it was sort of a frowned upon profession. (won't get into pushing kids into going into massive debt for useless degrees) But growing up, I'm sure a lot of you might understand, Smokey and the Bandit was one of my favorite movies, wasn't for the trans am (Which was saaahhhhwweeeeettt) but it was that truck that caught my attention. I originally wanted to be a truck driver. It wasn't until I became a Yard Jockey at my last place of business that my original dream resurfaced. Unfortunately that job took a bad turn during this cursed year and it was sort of a blessing in disguise. So Here I am.

I enjoy working out in the world, not under some roof. My question to you folks is this, I'm currently deciding between Boyd Brothers, and Maverick. I am not stuck on those two, but I'm looking for a company that 1. provides good training. (I'm not interested in a week of OTR training, because even my instructors would tell you, one month in school doesn't prepare you to be a truck driver, just gets most people past their CDL exam) 2. I'm not even concerned about being home every week, I'm a single fella, who while I've not given up, doesn't have a wife and kids to worry about. 3. Really wants to get that crucial experience in this industry, learn the small things, mainly how to keep those wheels moving and my bank account fatter than grinding at a factory.

THanks in advance to any help that is provided!