Quality Driving/Celadon Trucking Here I Come
Topic 6156 | Page 2
Gonna fill everyone in on the story. Back in mid June I attended CRST training in Cedar Rapids, IA. I knew that I had a high chance of sleep apnea. I would doze off occasionally during class. Instead of them earl on in the program saying, hey let's get you home so you can do a sleep study, they waited. I went through the whole training, got my permit, passed my state skills tests, pre-trip and drive test. The day before graduation they came over to me and said I needed to go and have a sleep study done. ONE DAY BEFORE OBTAINING MY CDL!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??!! 
They told me after I got the test done and was in compliance, I could return and pick up where I ended. This was in mid July. It took til early October to get everything done. I left message after message for my recruiter, no response for weeks. That is when I contacted Celadon.
I was contacted by CRST on Monday afternoon. Apparently, my old recruiter was no longer there. They said they could have me back in Iowa on Dec. 1st and only repeat the last week on driving because of scores being over 60 day. I'd do the orientation and then head out with trainer for my 28 days. Looking at 2 weeks and gone, I told them I had to think it over.
I got talking with many students at Quality and the one's who just got there CDL had been there a minimum of 9 weeks. And a few of them had previous experience. Some of the 1's I talked with had been there since July.
While the accommodations and food are much better at Quality Driver, I cannot afford to be there waiting around for another 7 to 8 weeks just to get my CDL. Then another week or two waiting on a trainer.
So, I got to go home and spend turkey day with the family and now I'm getting ready to head back to CRST. I leave out this evening and get there Sunday afternoon. Here's hoping I made the right call.
I will update this again on Tuesday
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Sleep Apnea:
A physical disorder in which you have pauses in your breathing, or take shallow breaths, during sleep. These pauses can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Normal breathing will usually resume, sometimes with a loud choking sound or snort.
In obstructive sleep apnea, your airways become blocked or collapse during sleep, causing the pauses and shallow breathing.
It is a chronic condition that will require ongoing management. It affects about 18 million people in the U.S.
Got to CRST on Dec. 1st. They had me retake the testing and skills testing. Then last Monday I went and got my CDL. Had to stay in class through Wednesday and started orientation on Thursday. Became an official employee as of Saturday. There is a shortage of lead drivers so they routed everyone home in rental cars for Christmas and should hear from a lead come next Monday.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
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Sorry for the delay in posting. Well, we have now ended week 1. Going pretty good. On Wednesday I took the Indiana state license test and CDL general knowledge test. Some yahoo at the local BMV deleted my test scores. It took them all day Thursday to get them re-scored. Yes, I passed both. Friday, I took and passed(thank you HRT training guide) Air Brake, Combination, Tanker and Doubles & Triples. I took Hazardous Materials, but hadn't looked it over yet. Needless to say, I failed.
Now we have a weekend of studying and pretty much nothing else to do. I am at the Greenfield Quality Motel. If I was on center, I could study the Pre-trip better. Talked with several students and the general consensuses is that while the training is great, the wait time to go through the skills portion and road driving takes time. Several get bounced back and forth from lanes 1 and 2 because trainers are not talking back and forth with each other.
We'll see how week 2 goes, even though it will be a short week due to Thanksgiving. We only have class til Wednesday. They offer to send you home for the holiday, but they will only pay 1 way. You have to find you own way back to center.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Doubles:
Refers to pulling two trailers at the same time, otherwise known as "pups" or "pup trailers" because they're only about 28 feet long. However there are some states that allow doubles that are each 48 feet in length.
Bmv:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.