Napier Truck Driving Training....Hamilton, OH

I like Prime but you have to team for 8 months or more and dont want to do that.

Hey, if that's the case then that's a change in their policy. They weren't doing that in the last few years that we've been following their program. When the recruiter comes in, make sure you verify that. If they've changed their policy I'll have to call them to get some updates.

I could have misunderstood. Like I said when their recruiter came he talked about everuthing but the company. So, Friday was our last day in class. Today we started with oreintation on the range. We have a female instructor. She is very nice. She is leading us thru pretrip. One great thing about working with her is besides being an ex driver and company trainer she is a former cdl examiner for ohio. So she knows everything the state is looking for.

We saw Covenant Transportation. Good company, especially for teams. They claim to be christian based. Not looking for teams. They have solo operations but make on like .23 cpm and that won't work for me. Tomorrow U.S. Express is in for new class. I have already saw them. We also have ISupply in tomorrow. Dont know much about them. But we wilm see what they have tomorrow. Night and God bless.

Wow. Sorry guys and gals, I know it has been a while and I am sorry. I am getting close to graduating. My graduation date is Monday, but since I have missed a few days of school for illness, I am required to make those days up. Which, to me, is not a big deal. I am scheduled to test on August 6th. My school still allows us to come and in practice up to the date of the test. Which I plan on taking full advantage of.

I have been on the road for a total of 5 hours. I went out with the same instructor twice. Once for an hour and a half and the other for time for 3 and a half hours. He told me that I need a bit more work, but it is just to put the finishing touches on. I still have a bit of trouble with turns and downshifting. I will get there though. It has been a long and arduous journey, but one I would not trade it for the world.

Oh and I got to drive some really cool trucks to. I think the neatest one has been an old 1995 Ford Aeromax. It isn't road worthy anymore, but she makes a great truck to straight line back in, and her transmission is in great shape too. It has the best shifting of all the trucks on the pad. I asked them the chances of getting that thing road worthy to take my test in, you know old trucker style, but they won't do it. Oh well, I guess I will just have to stick with the International daycab that they have designated as the state truck. God bless.

Hey, just keep on practicing - you'll have it down when the time comes - no problem. Of course you won't feel like you're ready for testing - nobody ever does. But you'll get through it just fine.

Thanks for encouragement Brett.

So, I test August the 6th. I have met the school's requirements for hours. They are still letting me come in everyday and practice though, which I am grateful for. We didn't have a lot of people around on Friday so the lead instructor assigned me to go out on the road, giving me an extra hour than the minimum so I could be ready for my test. I did well, according to the instructor. He didn't have to tell me how to do anything. If I made a mistake or missed a gear I corrected it before he could say anything. I am feeling very confident for my test. If I don't let my nerves get me I will be fine.

Sewell Motor Express came on Thursday and brought doughnuts. Anytime they do that it is a good thing. The man that came in was actually the company president. He is a nice guy, but they have no medical insurance, no apus , and no rider policy, so I wasn't interested. On the day before, Wednesday, Knight Refrigerated came in. He came in not promising the world and was bluntly honest about the trucking industry and what we should look for in any company that we go with. He seemed sincere, but he only talked about his company for 4 minutes and refused to give out applications without talking with you first, because he wanted to make sure that we were a good fit for him and his company a good fit for us. I know who I am going with, but he has me intrigued enough that I am tempted to call him. So, we shall see. Ozark Motor Lines was in last week. They were good, but 17.5 cpm during training for all miles truck runs, but they don't run you as teams. I can survive on that barely, but why bother when I have other offers?

Just need to finish learning the 90 degree backing maneuver. It is the only one that I don't have down. I am close to getting it, but it is strange to do it having to look out your window. I am not used to that, but I will get it. We shall see how it goes. I will keep you all updated. Thanks for reading. God bless.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

On the day before, Wednesday, Knight Refrigerated came in. He came in not promising the world and was bluntly honest about the trucking industry and what we should look for in any company that we go with. He seemed sincere, but he only talked about his company for 4 minutes and refused to give out applications without talking with you first, because he wanted to make sure that we were a good fit for him and his company a good fit for us. I know who I am going with, but he has me intrigued enough that I am tempted to call him

I think you should talk to recruiters from as many companies as possible. A lot of companies have their own unique little perks that you might not have thought about otherwise. It might turn out to be something that's really a game-changer for you. And besides, it never hurts to get all the information you can.

Now recruiters are generally paid some sort of commission for bringing in drivers so I'm guessing the real reason he wouldn't give out applications without you calling him is to make sure he gets the credit for recruiting you guys. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. If he took his time to go to the school and talk to you guys then he's going above and beyond what most recruiters are willing to do and he's likely doing it on his own time without pay. I would give him a call and talk to him about the company. You might like Knight, you might find a better fit elsewhere. But it never hurts to find out more.

Hey all. Sorry it has been a while. So, I tested August 6th and passed pretrip and manuervers but fadd road. I coasted out of gear too long. So, in Ohio since I passed first two all I had to do was pass the road portion and so on August 15, 2013 I fulfilled my dream of bdcoming a truck driver. I am so excited. Alot of hard work, dedication, and prayer went into this. I graduated school with a 96% average and I have doubles/triples, hazmat , and tanker endorsements. I appreciate everyones encouragement and will be posting in general section about training. Oh yeah headed to Shaffer on Sept. 3rd.

Congratulations man! Schaffer is a great opportunity for you, I wish you the best. I'd like to hear how it's going for you when you can take the time to jump in here. It can be a really busy time during training, so do what you got to do, but we'd love to hear from you when you're able.

Congratulations and good luck with Schaffer.

Thanks guys.