Starting With Wilson Logistics

I am still a permit holder, and he was sitting next to me. What happened was I followed the gps when he wanted me to take a different rout that would have skirted the city. He gave me a good five mile warning, but I was locked in on the gps because I’m new and haven’t learned to follow alternative instructions or think for myself. When we hit the ramp he saw what was happening and said something, but I couldn’t get over. He took it in stride and said, “Well, tonight lesson is about tunnels.”

He took it in stride and said, “Well, tonight lesson is about tunnels.”

Following your thread with interest, best of luck out there!

Nothing really special to report. Had a 34 hour cut short by dispatch so my trainer is down to three minutes on his 70. Grabbed a load up in New Jersey, and had to flog it pretty hard to get it to Indy. Now here’s the fun part. We shut down about 1:00 pm, and we get dispatched at 3:00pm. The load was 40 miles away, and had to be picked up by 9:00pm. Yea. No good. My trainer calls dispatch and explains the situation, and we’re laid up until 7:00am. The good news? There a race track across the street and they were running.

Thanks for the thread. I’m waiting for more.

Sorry the posts have been so infrequent. As most of you know, life on the road can be a little hectic. We’re back in Springfield so that I can get a couple days of pad work before my test which is Thursday. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little nervous. I feel like now is a good time to reflect on what I’ve seen during my first two weeks on the road. I’ve driven through 15 states, crossed the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, and Potomac rivers, been to the home towns of William Faulkner, Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, and the lead singer of the band Surviver. I’ve seen the Gateway Arch, the capital building, the Washington monument, and where the national anthem was written. I’ve shut down in Amish county and across the street from a horse race track. I’ve met all kinds of people, some good, some not. I’ve had someone unhook my trailer air when I walked in to get a scale ticket. But by far the coolest thing I’ve done is let a little boy blow that air horn on the truck. If you were asleep in the pilot in Whiteland around noon last Saturday, I’m sorry. But be honest. You’d have done it too. Now the next step is to pass that test and earn the coveted title of Driver.

Aaaaaaaaand... I failed.

So, what’s your next step?

Retest on Monday. There’s a 48 hour rule. Whipped through the pretrip, hit the straight line and offset back no problem. Then I died and went to blind side parallel hell. Made a stupid mistake and guided off of the wrong cones. Couldn’t recover, and tried to reset. Ran out time. After throwing my hat and cussing for about an hour I went back to practicing. Nailed it first time out. I’m still pretty upset, and could make a million excuses, but at the end of the day it’s on me. No one to blame but myself. But I’m not the kind to lay down. I’ll rally and get it next time.

Make it happen!

Aaaaaaaaand... I failed.

Phantom 850, in the big picture it's no big deal. There are hundreds of thousands of professional drivers out here who didn't pass their CDL driving test on the first try. Some of our members tried 3 or 4 times. It's just a minor irritation. I understand how disappointing it is, but just stay in the game and you'll get there.

Hang in there, there's no shame in not getting it done the first time. The only real shame is giving up. We're all confident you can do this.