Lone Wolf: An Introduction And A Thank You

Hello ladies and gents. Gary here, aka Lone Wolf. Long time lurker, first time contributor. A little about me... I'm a 48 year old ex-marine from North Carolina, and the single dad of two beautiful and wonderful kids. Driving a truck and living life on the open road has been a life long dream of mine. I had an uncle that was an OTR trucker and as a junior high and high school kid my cousin and me would get to hit the road with him for a couple of weeks during summer vacations. Man did I love those trips! I looked forward to them every year. Uncle Bill passed away many years ago but the memories of him and those trips live on. Now I'm at a point in my life where I am able to make my dream of being an OTR trucker a reality. Joining the Marines, getting married, having kids, and raising a family put this dream on hold for a bit. Not that I'm complaining mind you. I love my kids and I love being a dad and I loved being a Marine and serving my country. But now it's time for the next chapter in my life. So... Started looking into trucking companies that offered paid CDL training a few months ago. After much research, talking to recruiters, etc., I finally decided to go with Prime. I leave for orientation Saturday May 18th. Will be arriving in SpriMo Sunday May 19th. Orientation to start Monday May 20th. I can hardly wait to get started. I feel like a kid counting down the days until Christmas. So just wanted to say hello to everyone. Especially the Primates on here. One last thing before I go and the main reason I wanted to leave a post. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this site! I was on a lot of "trucker sites" before finding Truckers Truth and to be honest I was seriously starting to question if this was something I still wanted to do. All the other sites were soooo negative. They had nothing good to say about any trucking companies or about trucking in general. Everything was about how bad companies treat drivers, about how much they'll work you and how little they'll pay you, you'll never get home, sit for days waiting for loads, be treated like trash, about how often and how hard you'll get screwed etc, etc. They made modern trucking sound like a horror show. So thank you Brett for Trucking Truth. This is a great trucking forum. Also, thank you to all the moderators and to all the other members that contribute their time and expertise to answering questions and making this site not only informative but fun. I've read so many posts and have gotten so much information from some of you that I feel like I know you already... Old School, Turtle, Rainy, G-town, and of course Brett. I can tell you guys (and gals) not only love being truck drivers but you equally love helping and sharing your knowledge with others. For that I thank you all. May 20th, 2019- Prime Orientation here I come...!!!

Welcome LoneWolf, we're glad to have you! You've come to the right place for the honest info you'll need to get off to a great start.

A little heads up though: You posted this thread in the diary section, an area less visited by the masses. So you may not get a ton of replies. Postings made in the general discussion section will be seen by far more readers.

Please check out our starter pack, and you'll be way ahead of the pack at Sprimo. Good luck Primate!

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Welcome aboard, Gary. Orientation is right around the corner so if you have lots of questions, this is the one place for great advice and honest answers.

Hey Turtle, thanks for the heads up and for the info. And thanks to both you and PackRat for the well wishes. That's what I love about this site... everyone's willingness to help.

Welcome aboard! We're really glad to have you in here!

Welcome to the forum Lone Wolf.

Stay in touch. We’re here to lend an ear or offer advice. Good luck!

Welcome to the boards, keep us updated on your progress through Prime's training. We love to read the diaries of others succeeding at becoming truckers. :)

Awesome, keep notes for us from time to time when you need a study break but focus on your schooling first.

So the day has finally come! I'm at the Greyhound station waiting for the bus that will take me to Prime Orientation. Bus leaves out of Greensboro, NC at 12:10 pm and if all goes according to plan I should be arriving in Springfield, MO around 1:05 pm tomorrow. Couldn't sleep a wink last night. Have been looking forward to this day for a while now. I'm both excited and nervous. It was a little more emotional saying goodbye to my kids and parents than I thought it would be. Is all good though. I'm looking forward to the opportunity and the experience. Can't wait to get to SpriMo and get started. Wish me luck!

I hope if you have time you'll keep us updated how things progress. If you're too busy we completely understand! One piece of advice many students that have gone through the process have mentioned is try to get everything done ASAP. They've mentioned many students slack and then it's a mad dash at the end to finish simulators and computer based training.