I Have My CDL Permit. Does This Give Me A Leg Up At A Company CDL School

Actually, if you got kicked off a truck for getting up to pee at night, that would say a lot more about the trainer than the student.

Actually, if you got kicked off a truck for getting up to pee at night, that would say a lot more about the trainer than the student.

I was referring to the part of the student peeing on the top bunk, not the getting up to pee. That would be a terrible reason to get kicked off the truck!

Actually, if you got kicked off a truck for getting up to pee at night, that would say a lot more about the trainer than the student.

I was referring to the part of the student peeing on the top bunk, not the getting up to pee. That would be a terrible reason to get kicked off the truck!

Lol, I hadn’t even read rainy’s or your response when I posted that-a thought I forgot in my first post.

Actually, if you got kicked off a truck for getting up to pee at night, that would say a lot more about the trainer than the student.

I was referring to the part of the student peeing on the top bunk, not the getting up to pee. That would be a terrible reason to get kicked off the truck!

Lol, I hadn’t even read rainy’s or your response when I posted that-a thought I forgot in my first post.

Oh wow, it went so well with my reply that I thought it was related to that!

You have your CDL permit and medical. You are ready for CFI. They will pay all your travel, hotel and food while in CDL school at one of two locations. At Crowder College it is 3 weeks on automatic transmission trucks or Truck Dynasty 4 weeks of training on manual transmission trucks. Then it's back to Joplin for 4 days of orientation where you are paid $100.00 cash. At the end of orientation you can go right out with a trainer/finisher for at least 7500 miles about 3 weeks. During this time you are doing all the driving and are dispatched as a solo truck. This means your trainer sits in the passenger seat while you drive. You are stopped for your 10 hour break. You can go to the bathroom as much as you need. You may have a trainer like me who you won't disturb.

So you know, I love CFI. I am treated with respect by everyone. I get nothing for bringing students to CFI. Just call them ask your questions and let them know when you want to start. Classes start every Monday. Here is a link to the Student Section of their web site. Good luck.

So I paid for my medical and all other associated expenses to obtain my CDL permit. The nationwide company that I am scheduled to train and work for still requires me to go to the classes for people still needing to get their permit. This is a red flag for me because I am seeing right out of the gate that I am just a number and they are not oriented to the person.

Hello Steve, and welcome aboard!

Okay, I'm assuming that you have been all over the internet doing research into the trucking career. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that. I always want to see people succeed at this career, and spend considerable time volunteering to help them. I watch so many rookies kill their own careers by starting out wrong, and one of the major stumbling blocks is just not understanding the nature of this business. You demonstrate that problem with your statement above. Forgive my bluntness, but in this career people are going to be blunt with you - this is a great time to get accustomed to it.

You consider the fact that they want you in their training classes as a red flag. Then you give two reasons why you feel that way.

First, you seem to think you're special. After all, you showed the initiative to spend your own time and money to get your physical and your permit. That's great, I did the same thing. It doesn't give you any kind of a "leg up." They are going to give you another physical. They want to see what kind of a person you are, and they want to see how you interact with others. All of your character will be scrutinized while you are in class, and you will be surprised at what you learn, if you participate with a slightly more humble approach than you are taking now. The part you are missing is that this whole time of training is one long interview, and you've already started sending bad messages with your attitude.

Second, you've already determined that you are going to be treated like a number. You put it this way...

This is a red flag for me because I am seeing right out of the gate that I am just a number and they are not oriented to the person.

Again you aren't even involved in this industry yet, and you make these strange declarations as if you are an expert on it. You are so far off base that it's almost embarrassing to read your remarks. Trucking is completely oriented to the individual persons, and that is the reason so many people fail at it. Let me explain that. Trucking is a performance based business. Each of us must establish himself. Many rookies never figure this out, and therefore they put themselves into the category of mediocre employees. To be honest, they might be considered a number. They are non productive employees who make no difference at all. They can come or go and nobody really notices.

Then there are the producers. These are the drivers who excel at this. We like to call them Top Tier Drivers. You don't want to be, or have to be, simply a number in this business. The only person who can keep that from happening is you. Did you catch that phrase, "performance based," that I used earlier. You will either establish yourself or ruin yourself in this career. Whatever company you've chosen will give you every opportunity to excel. They will let you decide what kind of employee your going to be.

I recommend you check yourself now. You've still got time to take a new approach. From everything you indicate in this first post you've got some work ahead of you. Hang out with us here and educate yourself with people who've struggled with and overcome the obstacles to success at this career. It's going to be up to you to Hang With The Big Dogs.

If you are going to attend an out of state CDL school you have to have the permit, your permit has to be issued by your home state. As far as age and peeing, I would recommend while on the road with a trainer/mentor you drink less. Not to the point of dehydration but don't gulp down 8 gallons a day either. Most don't have a problem stopping for pee breaks but if you have to pee every 50 miles that could be an issue. When you are in the team driving portion of training the problem you are going to have is the truck is almost always moving. You will be driving 60-70 hours a week. You will need to be able to sleep enough to drive safely . You will be sleeping while moving, he is listening to the radio, slowing/stopping with traffic, rough bumpy bouncy roads fuel stops etc. and he is sleeping while you are driving. I am a light sleeper also and am having a hard time sleeping while moving but it's only for a short time then I get my own truck and I sleep when and how I want in a non-moving truck. Earplugs help while training. Other than some OTC sleepaids most are not allowed. If you can handle it for the training period, you are golden! Good luck!

In reality, until we prove our value to any company, large or small, we beginners ARE just a number if you think about it.

We really have nothing to offer that a bunch of other newbies don’t.

I’m not trying to say the company fella like we are just a number, mind you.

If you are going to attend an out of state CDL school you have to have the permit, your permit has to be issued by your home state. As far as age and peeing, I would recommend while on the road with a trainer/mentor you drink less. Not to the point of dehydration but don't gulp down 8 gallons a day either. Most don't have a problem stopping for pee breaks but if you have to pee every 50 miles that could be an issue. When you are in the team driving portion of training the problem you are going to have is the truck is almost always moving. You will be driving 60-70 hours a week. You will need to be able to sleep enough to drive safely . You will be sleeping while moving, he is listening to the radio, slowing/stopping with traffic, rough bumpy bouncy roads fuel stops etc. and he is sleeping while you are driving. I am a light sleeper also and am having a hard time sleeping while moving but it's only for a short time then I get my own truck and I sleep when and how I want in a non-moving truck. Earplugs help while training. Other than some OTC sleepaids most are not allowed. If you can handle it for the training period, you are golden! Good luck!

Hey Michael B. Any suggestions in regards to team driving during training and trying to get some sleep while the truck is moving? I am also a very light sleeper. Thanks.