From Technical Service Advisor To Truck Driver

I’ve done a lot of different things in my life. From being a lifeguard at the local community pool when I was in high school to working at McDonald’s, to washing cars at the Ford dealership, and then finally ending up in the army for almost 12 years. After I got out of the army, I went to work for a company that promoted me through the ranks and took really good care of me and then I did something stupid and got fired. One week later, I was working production in lamination at an RV factory. They knew my background, and that I had a bachelors degree in information technology, so they gave me a chance to get into the office a little over three years ago. I’ve been a technical service advisor there ever since. With the help of a friend, I recently decided to try out trucking. My friend did a lot of research determined that Keller trucking would be a great fit for him. He mentioned it to me and after discussing it with my wife and doing a whole Lotta research myself I decided that I would go with Keller as well. I got with the company and they decided to sponsor me at Trainco. DAY 1- Today was my first day learning to drive a big rig. We started out in the classroom today went through a whole bunch of slide shows and basically learned or relearned much of the stuff that was already on the CDL written test that I had to take for the permit the nice thing was that we got to actually do the air brake checks multiple times in an actual truck today and watch others do it multiple times so I think I’m starting to get it. We also practiced drop and hook which seem to be pretty easy after doing the air brake test practice. Tomorrow we start out at 7 AM on the range doing straight line backing for two hours. I guess then we go back into the classroom but I’m not really sure what we’re gonna do beyond that.

If you’ve made it this far, I haven’t bored you to tears yet, so I’ll have to try harder tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Woohoo! Be right here with ya! Holler out if you need anything. Good luck!

Welcome to our forum.

You mentioned research. Please click on this link:

Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving

This book offers truthful, practical information to help establish a realistic set of expectations.

Please tell us more about Keller Trucking. I do t think we have any information on that outfit.

Good luck.

You found the right site to get your new career off to a great start. All my research on the industry I did right here and have not been disappointed. The things I've read here have all held water in what I've seen in my tiny bit of the trucking world (I'm in training myself). Good luck, stay focused, and stay on TT learning everything you can!

Thanks, and good luck to you too!

Good luck, stay focused, and stay on TT learning everything you can!

Day 2-

Day two is in the books. They say if you find a job that you like you’ll never work a day in your life, and I’m having fun here but I’m also not making any money at the moment. I’m really hoping the fun part lasts. Today we started out the day doing straight line backing. It went pretty well for me and I learned really quickly that the earlier you catch the trailer doing what you don’t want it to do the easier it is to correct it. I think they said that the lane was 100 feet, and you had to start with the trailer wheels outside of the lane forward of it, and end with the front of the tractor beyond the last cone. Long story short, you had to make it through the entire lane with the trailer straight so that you didn’t lock down cones. For the test they only allow one pull forward to correct. I think I should do pretty well on that. I only knocked down two cones in the two hours that I was straight line backing.

The next thing we did is go into the classroom and learn about the daily log book. A boring but necessary part of the job. It wasn’t hard to ace that test. I’m not really sure if I’m forgetting anything, but we also did a section on map reading. The atlas for truckers is really nice and it has a lot of good information. Aced that test too.

Finally, we went back outside to the trucks and started learning about the pre-trip inspection. We got small pieces of it yesterday, but we really got down and dirty with the under the hood and front axle inspection. It was very informative and I think I learned a lot not only doing the inspection myself, but watching others do it too. I feel like it was a really productive day, but I’m pretty tired now, and I’m ready to call it a day.

Please forgive me if this format is all messed up and forgive me for my typing errors yesterday, even though I can truthfully tell you that it wasn’t me typing. It was Siri. I didn’t proofread yesterday. I noticed that they are using HTML for their formatting on this blog, so I decided to include my own HTML to see if it made the format better. Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed it, looking forward to tomorrow .

High Road CDL Training Program

Hi ya GAV! The link above has so much info. If you need more on a topic or want a refresher, chances are it's there.

Glad you're enjoying it there! I had a good time there as well. I always tried to keep a truck moving whenever on the range; sometimes hard to do when students out-numbered available trucks!

I enjoyed a lot of things there, but the drive time on the road was best!

TTYL

Day 3-

Long day in the books. Today started out on the range. Started out doing reverse lane changes ( I got to do two) and before I knew it, we were in the classroom. Learned about a lot of regulations and safety rules about transporting hazardous materials, and then we took a test. After the test I went out and did some pre-trip inspection practice.

There really wasn’t much to say about today because it was one of the slower days which made it hard to get too excited. I guess we could be out driving as early as tomorrow because we are supposed to take our final classroom test tomorrow morning or early afternoon. Should be a good day.

I’m missing my wife today as it is our 26th anniversary. She is the best and my support system. Happy anniversary my love! I’ll see you Friday.

Happy Anniversary!

I was there today, saw you in the classroom! I finished up my road test and saw several students heading out to the range, but didn't see you then either.

Hope your day went good and look forward to your diary entry.