Millis Transfer Training, Richfield Wisonsin

I officially start my training at Millis on February 18th in Richfield Wisonsin! After 20 years in the soul sucking world of retail its time for something new. After looking over this forum and youtube videos I really like what i see from Millis. I still need to pass a DOT physical and my permit test in the state of Indiana, been studying pretty hard on the guide on this site which is amazing. I seem to be doing pretty well on practice tests but I do have some questions. Specifically is the permit test basically the same difficulty as a regular CDL A test? Are there questions regarding pretrip on the permit test? Also any advice on what to do prior to my training starts would be really appreciated. I'm a very analytical and organized person and like to have as much information as possible prior to doing something. The downside of that is I'm a very nervous test taker which worries me for the physical and upcoming cdl tests. That's the main reason i picked Millis, low class counts mean more drive time so i can start to develop instinctual driving habits. I plan on updating this journey along the way so I hope to keep you guys informed as I move forward. Feel free to give any advice or criticism, like i said 20 years of retail has numbed my soul to getting upset over criticism.

-Noob

Welcome to our forum Noob Student!

Your permit test is the written CDL A test. After you've passed that you get your permit, allowing you to drive a commercial vehicle with a properly licensed observer in the passenger seat. From that point your next test is the driving test. Once you pass the driving test you receive your CDL class A license. I don't think you'll see any questions regarding the pre-trip inspection on the written test. The pre-trip inspection is part of the driving test, but it's not a written exam - you actually perform the inspection with the test observer watching you.

I start with MTI in Cartersville on February 11 myself. Regarding the DOT physical, it's not as much a test as a check-up so don't sweat that. The matter of the permit test in my case in the state of Georgia, studying exclusively the High Road Training program I passed easily. When going through the program focus on the sections with the permit label on them if you aren't also going to test for endorsements. With MTI I know you need to have General Knowledge, Air Brakes and Combination Vehicles tests. Now I know different states have different tests so there may be one or two questions that are worded differently. I saw a couple of questions that weren't the same as the High Road material, but by going through the stuff here on this site I knew the answers. The only questions I remember encountering on any of the three sections regarding pre-trip inspection a couple were in air brakes and combination vehicles. Before I tested I went through each permit section twice, resetting my score after the first go round. Best of luck to you, and if you prepare accordingly there is no reason to worry about how well you test, you will KNOW the material so nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the replies Old School and Pete. I kinda figured the permit test would be the written test and i wouldnt get away with an easier version of the CDL written exam but a guy can hope right?

Its gonna be great hearing from you Pete as you go through MTI a week ahead of me, ill expect some tips and heads up on what to expect, lol. Also should be interesting to see the difference between locations with you in warmer weather down in Georgia and myself up in frozen tundra of Wisconsin.

Don't count on a major weather difference as a given between the two states. In 2017, it snowed in Cartersville before it did in Richfield.

I really wanted to start earlier so I could get experience after graduating school driving in winter weather with a trainer. Was accepted mid November and Millis doesn't run school in December and January was already full.

Generally from what I understand the main difference between the various MTI locations is class size. Somewhere on the Millis site, or maybe it was Facebook, the post photos of the graduating classes. Typically the classes in Cartersville were the larger classes, whereas Eden, Trenton, and Richfield were small. I don't know or rather haven't really decided if I will write a training diary, but I am contemplating it. Will decide once I am at the hotel whether or not that is something I could fit in. Either way right now I am soaking in as much information from this site as I can. These fine folks as far as I can tell will tell you like it is and I for one appreciate that.

Just a quick update, thanks to the High Road Training Program i passed my permit test easily! Flew through general knowledge, air brakes (which worried me) and combination vehicles. No endorsements are required for Millis so i didnt get any but I'm thinking i might when I finally get my state cdl. Also passed my DOT physical easily although there was a odd embarrassing moment I'll explain in a bit. I was worried about diabetes, last summer i was diagnoaed with prediabetes with a ridiculous glucose level of 397 at the time of the test and a super high A1c test. I immediately changed my diet to a low carb atkins diet and lost 50lbs in the next 3 months and passed all my tests with flying colors. I cycled slowly off my diabetes med metaformin and eventually stopped all together. Then the holidays came......... Damn holidays. I fell back into bad habits and was very worried about where i would be. I decided to get another A1c test prior to my DOT physical because i didnt want to lie on the forms about previous conditions. Everything turned out great though, A1c was low, my blood sugar hovers around 100 or lower and nothing in the urine.

On to the akwardness....... These things happen to me alot. I guess somewhere deep inside my brain meat I enjoy humiliating myself. So i went to concentra for my physical, everything went really smooth only waited about 20 minutes go in pee in a cup, eye test. Height and weight, the expected "wow you are tall" comments. Then i get in the room and im nervous because thats who I am. Thoughts running through my head about waving my arms around squating down. Is she gonna hear my knees crack???? Hear the bone on bone grind???? Why did you play sports through college you big dummy???? These are my thoughts. They ask some more questions, take my bp and ask me to take off my jeans and put on these paper shorts for the hernia test. So im sitting there on the table in my tiny blue paper shorts remembering the early 1990s basketball shorts and the doctor walks in. Shes a very busy lady thats apparent right away. Checks my ears, range of motion looks at my gait listens to my heartbeat and breathing. Basically everything i read up on prior to going in. She tells me she will be right back to finalize everthing and to go ahead and take the shorts off and....................................... I have no idea. She walked out while she said it and I couldnt hear her. I stood there in my John Stockton nut hugger paper shorts staring at the back of the door is disbelief. For 30 seconds i stood in the middle of the room trying to make out what she said. I know she said take off the shorts......... And she hasnt done the hernia thing of turn your head and cough. Thats gotta be what she meant right? But why would i do that ahead of time and stand in a room with my twig and berries out waiting??? I havent had a hernia check for about 17 years, i played sports all through high school and college. Physicals were normal and the doctors always did it as the last thing. But they never left the room while i dropped my shorts. Its 2019 maybe things are different now i dont know, shes also a woman maybe there are different rules in these modern times???? So i think back to everything i read up on DOT physicals and Im positive they do hernia checks. So i say screw it and drop trou and wait. And wait. Its like 2 minutes of waiting. Which is a long time to stand naked in a unfamiliar room in a public building surrounded by tons of people just on the other side of a door. I think about sitting on the table. I quickly reject that idea. It would look wierder if i was sitting down naked, these are my thoughts as im standing there staring at the door. So in typical busy doctors office fashion i hear a knock..... .... IMMEDIATELY followed by a young nurse who i havent met yet. She screams.... Not like a horror movie scream just a quick yelp as she stares at me. Now we're both freaked out and for some reason she doesnt leave and we just lock eyes refusing to look anywhere else. She tells me im all set and ready to go and hands me my paper work. At this point im mortified obviously as is she, a normal person would say thank you and snatch the papers get dressed and run out a fire escape door. In my freaked out brain i can only think of the physical and what it consists of. She has literally told me i passed, heres your 2 year card please get dressed and leave. For some reason all i could think of was the hernia test it was at this point things got wierder. I asked the young scared nurse " dont you want to come and give my my hernia test". As soon as i was halfway through it i knew. I could hear my normal brain screaming at my crazy brain to stop but i couldnt. I dropped my head and apologized, closed the door got dressed and ran outta there apologizing to everyone i saw.

Serious question though, is that normal? Do they not do hernia checks? I apologize for bad grammar im on a phone and sometimes pushing that extra button for upper case or a comma is just too much.

Noob, you just about gave me a hernia with the hilarious way you told this story! If truck driving doesn't work out you've got a shot at stand-up comedy! I was literally laughing outloud.

I've had D.O.T. physicals where they checked for hernias and some where they don't. Typically your company will require a new physical and usually that one will include a hernia check.

Thanks for the laugh! That is a great story, and only the beginning of many others you will develop as a truck driver.

Thank you for that great laugh to brighten up my night lol. Good luck with training

Funny stuff!