I Am Hired

After a lot of agreements with myself, I decided to do it. I got my cdl permit. Ok, now what do I do with it? Local trucking companies, family owned, Can not let me borrow their truck to practice with, I tried;) I researched the internet and made many calls. Down to Roehl and Knight. Believe it or not, it is difficult to get a company to hire you, I am in northern michigan and other companies would not hie me. Guess difficult to get home time.

Comes down to Roehl offers flatbed and Knight offered dry van. Sorry, not sure about tarping in the middle of winter. I quit my job and go down to Indy for orientation with Knight and physical, I just got my medical card earlier that month this is a piece of cake. Nope, I was wrong. Blood pressure and everything else is fine. I have to do a sleep apena test. I am calling my old boss back, can I come back to work because I will be now without a paycheck until the test comes back. She is great, I have my job back, I guess she was excited to have me back.

The testing machine came in the, I strapped everything on, it is a home test. First night, oh my goodness, I can't sleep, I am hooked up like a lab rat. Call up the company that reads it test, they say do a second night,another night it is difficult to sleep. Week latter, get this phone call from the lab, oh I am normal, not really;) but test says I am good to go. Knight calls, I am hired, down side,, work needs me for a couple of weeks to make it easier on my replacement, small sacrifice for letting me come back.

I am nervous about backing up and passing my cdl test. But for me, this is a dream come true. I can't help but turn my head and check out every truck I hear, ok, too mushy.

Yooper Princess, where are you in practicing? Your posting says you got to Knight in Indianapolis, then the apnea thing. But at the end you are worried about backing.

So have you gotten any practice yet? If you are in the U.P. you are out of the main freight lanes. If a trucking company doesn't go there, they don't need drivers who want to take home time where they don't send trucks.

Hello Errol,

I was in Indy for orientation earlier this month. Their dr sent me home to do a home sleep study. I got the go ahead from their dr, I don't have sleep problems. I have spoken with local companies, friends, but they are unable to let me use their trucks, insurance purposes. I am just an hour (40 miles) south of the UP.

have you been up here? A called a lot of companies and most larger companies will not hire from here. I actually lucky that two that I was really interested in would hire me from this area.

I did back a truck up once but I ran over the imaginary building, in my defense, I didn't see it.

OK, Ice Princess. My apologies. You did say "Northern Michigan", not "Upper Peninsula". I lived in Novi for a while years ago & learned about U.P. "Yoopers"

Question #1: If you are making a career change, and hopefully you have a Knight start date, can you stick with that over any feelings you might have for the "old" job? Which is more important to you: your Future or your Past?

Q #2: The truck. If you have a CDL permit, you can't drive by yourself, you need a licensed driver. Even then who will take the time when you're going to go to school for this? Knight will teach you what to do, and let you drive in their truck on a "range" where you can practice without breaking anything.

Backing is nearly everyone's big hurdle. You will get plenty of practice in. Check your my diary entry: Swift Academy, Memphis, TN especially the fourth entry down.

I liked your dairy entry, I am excited thanks for the words of encouragement.

Hey I. P., how is your CDL coming along? Been almost two weeks.

I passed my physical, yes. I was so excited. This week, I picked up where I left off last month. We did Smith training, which is very interesting and helpful in thinking about safety. On Friday, we worked on the pre trip. They remind us that it is an accelerated program and that we will be testing in two weeks. I have been working on memorizing the pre trip today and tomorrow since they expect us to know it on Monday. If I fail the test in two weeks, I will be brought back for one more week then retake the test. I can't wait to get some time behind the wheel.

After that I will be out with a trainer for about 4 weeks then solo for 30k miles, come back to Knight and do a test to be off probation and truly a knight employee.

All in all, everything that I have heard from other drivers us that it is a great place to work.