My Official CDL Training Diary

Hello this is my official training Diary. I'm also started a vlog my journey in trying to become a trucker.

Everything that I would say in my first training diary entry is in this vlog episode of mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbcCPWIpuk0

only thing to add to that is something really funny I had to do today.

There are two things my Wilson Transportation recruiter is requiring of me before he scoops me up since I have a 6 month DOT certification and a class-A permit.

1. Get a CPAP and start using it (Can't get my CPAP until after October 9th's second sleep study) 2. I need to provide proof of employment from September 2021-September 2024. (36 months)

The second one would seem simple but I've been doing mostly DoorDash since 2020 thanks to the pandemic. Apparently a beuracratic nightmare exists between DoorDash and 3rd party companies that makes it impossible for me to get my 1099 forms but I did recently discover how to find/download monthly income statements.

My recruiter told me that he would accept them as proof of employment but I have to send them to him. So I literally downloaded all 36 PDFs and emailed it to him today, haha.

I'm looking forward to not having to deliver for Amazon and DoorDash anymore and start driving those biga$$ semi trucks. WOOT

Just a little update. Finished my second sleep study and learned something interesting worth sharing here for any other noobs like me who find out they got to get a CPAP machine.

If you don't have health insurance, I found a way to save money on a CPAP machine. Aparrently there are health supply stores that sell used CPAP machines for the fraction of the cost if they are brand new. You just purchase the machine, bring it to the sleep lab and they'll re-program it to your needs.

I got lucky and a family member of mine just got his CPAP machine replaced with a new one. Nothing wrong with his old one though and it was in good condition. I showed pics and make/model info to the guy running the sleep study on me at the lab and turns out he has the exact same model. Just waiting for a phone call thursday next week to hear my test results and in that phone call, the sleep lab worker will tell me when to bring that used CPAP to him to re-program the chip and then I can begin my "using a CPAP for 30 days" task that I have to complete in order to meet the requirements to have a second DOT physical that will upgrade my 6 month DOT certificate to a 2yr version.

Meanwhile, I had a talk with my recruiter at Wilson Logistics and he told me as soon as I got that CPAP reprogrammed and used it for 1 night, he'll hook me up with a rental car and I'll be heading off to Missouri for training. He told me they'll work with me in regards towards sending me to a clinic when it's time for the 2nd DOT physical.

Today I've started packing up my stuff that I was going to put in storage because I plan on living out of the company truck for a couple years and my family offered to let me stash my stuff in their shed to avoid a storage bill, which is awesome.

I just put in my 2 week notice at my Amazon van delivery job yesterday! But if I get my CPAP going before then I'll just quit early so I can get to Missouri quicker. Not like I'm ever going to go back to driving delivery vans again, lol.