Going To Schneider 10-13-15

It has been awhile since I last posted. I got my CDL June 29, 2015. Was supposed to leave for Schneider in July, but had my fourth kid, and well, I been busy!

A few weeks ago I searched for what jobs were available in my area and lo and behold, I applied for a local dedicated CHEP account. Home daily! Yes, but its all night driving, which I guess is better. Starting me out with decent pay by the day. I respect Schneider, they are giving me a chance...been disabled 15 years, stay at home (homeschooling) dad for 7, and they are giving me a in.

My orientation is like 18 days in Carlisle, PA. I am driving my own car there on the 12th to be setup for the 13th. It's been a few months since I was in a tractor trailer and Smith and Solomon will not return my calls for yard and driving time. I even went down and was told to call the next day.

I went to EZ Wheels and bought two hours of time. I am glad I did, because it helped me feel more confident . Anyway, nervous and excited, and can't wait to work again! My wife is to since she turned down her job after the baby. I have never been away from my kids longer then a week, so it will be interesting, but it's a journey I am looking forward too! Time to put my big boy pants on! I will do my best to update through out the next few weeks about my experiences.

Congratulations Walter, on both your new family addition and your new job!

Congratulations Walter, on both your new family addition and your new job!

Thank you! I finally have everything packed. Hitting the road at noon. Can't believe how fast it came up!

At the car care center, oil change, tires rotated, wash, air filter change, then on my way to Carlisle! It was hard saying good bye to my wife and 4 kids, but we all know this opens knew possibilities!

My second day here is about to start! Whew I was exhausted last night. It's funny how we always get ourselves so nervous, just to find out it all works out! The Schneider DOT and agility test was a breeze. The exercises are designed more to see your heart health then anything else! Long days, and mostly non stop. There is always something to be doing! Today I believe we will get on the road, practice backing, and drop and hook -- I think. Every test is open book, even pretrip, and air brake, and drop and hook is all open notes. You can use your cheat sheets.

Great people! They are not here to fail you, they are here to help you succeed! Based on what I learned so far, they are safety first in the way they train. They vary from my school, but they want you to learn the Schneider way, it is safe. The first day we learned how to bump and run on the simulators. That will make down shifting so much easier! Three gears instead of 10! I will do my best to keep you posted, very tired at the end of the day!

Congrats Walter! Tomorrow is my last day here at the Green Bay Academy and I'll get my truck in the afternoon. It has been a great experience from top to bottom with everyone I've dealt with here. It truly is all about safety here and you are the Captain of your own ship. Good Luck this week and next with your TE. If you have any questions feel free to message me.

Congrats Walter! Tomorrow is my last day here at the Green Bay Academy and I'll get my truck in the afternoon. It has been a great experience from top to bottom with everyone I've dealt with here. It truly is all about safety here and you are the Captain of your own ship. Good Luck this week and next with your TE. If you have any questions feel free to message me.

That is awesome! The instructors are great here. It is fast paced, but they give you every opportunity to succeed! Good luck on your first load and thank you!

What a busy week! I passed my qualifier without even knowing I was taking it, which is a great I think. My pretrip, post trip, TIV, logging, driving, and backing. I get to move on to phase 2 at Schneider. I meet my TE on Monday at 6 am. His park location is about an 1.25 hours from my house. My instructions were to go home Saturday, and wait for my call from the TE. I got that.

I am excited because my trainer is on the same account I applied for, so I will really learn the role of the account I'll be working. Needless to say I thought I was going to be away from my family of 5 for three weeks, but phase 2 I will commute back and fourth from home. If I make it to phase 3 I'll be back in Carlisle for my final SQT week. I would think with the 80% driving time this coming week I'll be much more comfortable with the test.

On a side note, I got to do the slow maneuver course. It was tight and intense, but very doable, and I made it through with minimal instruction, I was excited about that! The instructor I had for the week was fantastic and very helpful. Out of the 24 guys that started, 18 made it to phase 2. Few couldn't keep their heart rate down for the agility test, and a few couldn't make it through the skills part of phase 1 I presume. We had three students per instructor. One of the guys in my group who was older was just having a hard time. I felt bad, it ended up being only me and this other guy, needless to say we became friends. Had a great week, great to see the family and very nervous and excited about delivering loads tomorrow.

Schneider is a great company with what I see so far. They are very safety oriented, and they expect you to do it their way. I don't think I'll have a problem passing everything, but either way I learned a tremendous amount of material about safety that I plan on using the rest of my career. The extra few minutes and checks are worth it!

What a week! I just finished phase 2 of orientation/training! I am happy to say I passed and moved on to Phase 3. The local driving account is serious, very stressful at times, but I had a good time. The shippers and receivers can be intimidating figuring out where your supposed to park and their process of doing things. If I pass everything I will be sharing a new Cascadia automatic for my account. I am being trained on the 10 speed of course. Overall I had a great trainer and learned a lot. I was on a day cab all week, but nervous about taking my test using a sleeper. He said I'll be fine. I got to back into I can't even count how many docks. It can be stress backing up when people are waiting for you, and/or watching you. I'll check in later! I need sleep!

Keep up the hard work. Good to hear it's almost done for you.