Starting Orientation With Schneider National

Is anyone reading this? Shall I continue?

You better believe I'm reading this Richard I can't wait every morning to read about your previous day, so keep it coming.

I'm VERY interested in Schneider. Sounds like they're a good company, so I'm following this thread with GREAT interest. Sounds great so far!!

Well the classroom and local part of my orientation has ended. I was a fun and fast paced 2 weeks. The training at Schneider is very professional. I can't believe how far I have come since orientation began. My confidence is also a lot higher than it was before. Being from GA I had very little experience with any driving in the snow. Now I have driven a big rig in the snow. I'm still pretty scared about that. Schneider has a support system in place where I can get help with anything I need. I have been told that driving around Coraopolis will give you experiences that can't be matched at the other facilities. The roads are old, narrow, hilly and there is a lot of sign pollution.

I have an appointment to meet my training engineer tomorrow at 03:00 to start the OTR phase.

Congrats Richard. I just finished my OTR and test out in the morning. Mine was fast and furious, but you will do fine.....Keep up the great work sir!!!!

Great Richard, good to hear that everything is going well. Your OTR are you going to be going coast to coast or just regional? When you finished with your trainer do you know what terminal location you will working out of? This is my last weekend of school going to take test at DDS on Thursday. I put my resignation in this past Monday with the school transportation it made me realize that all this is really beginning to happen , in less than a month I will be in Wisconsin starting my orientation and training. I can't wait to hear about your experiences with your driver trainer and what it's like to be on the road. If you get home for Christmas send me a PM and maybe we can get together if not hope you have a good Christmas.

Congrats Richard. I just finished my OTR and test out in the morning. Mine was fast and furious, but you will do fine.....Keep up the great work sir!!!!

Congratulations to you also PJ, keep us posted on your time on the road also. Have a good Christmas.

It has been a fun and fast paced 2 days. My first delivery was to deliver a load of aircraft de-icing fluid to NYC. Are you kidding? NYC on my very first run. Not so bad if you have a navigator riding shotgun. I have seen people do incredibly stupid things to pass a big rig. Afterwards we dropped our trailer at our OC in Keasbey, NJ and spent the night there.

Day two was a lot calmer. We picked up a loaded trailer at the OC and dropped it at a tank wash in Cincinnati. Someone else will pick it up and deliver it at a later date. I drove almost all of my 11 hours then my trainer took over to get us to a truck stop just north of Louisville. We have a pickup appointment for 08:00 Monday so we are spending the day at the truck stop. Movie day. My first day off in over two weeks. A day off will be nice but I am ready to see home.

My trainer has been driving for 8 years and we get along great. He has been giving me tips on how to get the most out of trucking. He runs hard when he is working. He uses all of his available hours and only stops when required by law, for fuel and to eat. He told me from the beginning to eat fast.

Wow Richard - thank God your first run to NYC was with a trainer, and one you get along with at that! What a lucky break!

Sounds like you're off to a great start but I hear ya on the missing home thing. When do you expect to get home next?

Is anyone reading this? Shall I continue?

Absolutely! I'm considering Schneider so the first-hand information you are providing is invaluable.

Trust me, I'm reading and very interested. I just started Trucking School on Saturday Jan. 18th. I'm seriously looking into Schneider. One thing I have some concerns about are my knees, I spent too many years laying carpet and floor covering without knee pads. I don't have a problem walking or climbing, it's squatting and crawling that give me some trouble.. Any thoughts?