Slooooow Progress…

Thursday:

There hasn’t been much to report over the last 10 days.  I’ve spent most of the time being generally lazy and bored.  I’m still reading the PumpkinDriver.com forums regularly.

I did get to watch two of our grandchildren for a few days last week, which was a treat and a bit of a challenge at the same time.  They’re wonderful kids; an 8 year old girl and 4 year old boy.  Amanda is normally as sweet as can be, but can switch to full ‘female attitude’ mode faster than any woman I’ve ever seen (well, at least since her mother was that age).  Addison is all boy in the classic sense; sometimes I can already picture him asking Poppy Bill to grab him a beer.  We have three other grandchildren to date, but unfortunately we don’t get to spend as much time with them as we’d like.

Today was finally the date for my DOT physical.  It wasn’t all that in depth and I passed with no problem.  Mainly I was looking forward to getting the DOT Medical Card and a Specimen ID number, as that is all that remains before starting the school.

I planned to call my recruiter with the new information and get the final nod on my school date, however his voice mail says he is ‘out of the office’ until 09/06.  I was looking forward to hearing that my DMV, background, and previous employment checks were complete and satisfactory, but I guess I’ll have to wait another week.  There’s not anything in any of that history that I’m worried about, but it will still be a relief to hear it is all settled in SNI’s mind.   

There’s not much more in the way of progress to report.  We’re headed to Destin, Fl. Saturday for our annual anniversary vacation and we’re both looking forward to that.  From what I read it’ll probably be the last one for a year or two.

Another Step or Two…

Monday:

(Admin note: I’m still trying to find a theme that I like for this blog, so bear with me)

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon studying for the tests for a CDL-A Permit.  North Carolina has the CDL study guide online in .pdf format, which was handy. Besides, standing in line at our local DMV office for the book was out of the question. 

Rant On: Speaking of the DMV office, I was there at 7:15 this morning; sixth in line for the 8 AM opening. By the time the office opened there were at least 50 people in line.  This office has not changed or added personnel in the past 20 years, in spite of the fact that the population/density of the area has multiplied by a factor of 5 in the same time span.  Therefore if you’re not in line by 7:30 or so you have to plan on at least an hour or two wait before even beginning your journey through their little world.  Rant Off. 

Anyway I passed all of the tests I took; General Knowledge, Combination Vehicles, Air Brakes, Tanker, and Hazardous Materials.  I probably won’t need the HazMat right away, but since it can take quite a while to get through the security process involved it seemed prudent to get things started early.  The DMV officer also gave me an information sheet with directions on how to submit my application for a Hazardous Materials Endorsement with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). 

Once back home I called my recruiter, then faxed an arm load of documents and copies to him.  After he received the fax and verified that he had all the paperwork he needed I was transferred to the SNI Medical Dept. to set up my DOT physical and drug test.  It took a few calls, but they were finally able to get through to the local medical center office and scheduled me for next Thursday.

Next was the HazMat application with the TSA. This could actually be done online; it was just another questionnaire, and of course a form for your credit card number for the $94 fee.  All that remains is to go by their office to be fingerprinted.

So…another few things out of the way. I’m happy to have passed the DMV tests, but I’m still anxious to get in school and get this little adventure going.

Trimmin’ the Fat…

Monday:

Once I decided to go to truck driver school I set a goal to get rid of a few toys before starting training.  From what I’ve been reading I won’t have a lot of spare time to play with them once it begins.

I put my motorcycle on eBay (twice); first time it didn’t sell but two bidders got fraudulent ’second chance’ offers.  One guy contacted me immediately and therefore managed to cancel his payment before the crook could claim it.  The other sent off $5,200 via Western Union and then waited a week before contacting me to ask about shipping.  I’m afraid this poor guy just gave away his motorcycle money.

It did sell on the second try though you wouldn’t know it by the way it’s still in my garage.  This idiot won the bid, then kept putting off paying the deposit and giving me a pickup date.  Finally he started dodging my calls and stopped answering emails.  I’ve filed a complaint with eBay so I won’t be charged for a successful sale.  So much for eBay; I’ll try advertising it locally next time. 

Speaking of which, remember I said I put the RV in the local paper last Tuesday?  Well three people looked at it on Saturday, and one of them drove it home on Sunday morning!  At least that one went well.

This is supposed to be a BLOG about my new truck driving career, but there’s nothing new to report on that subject.  I did talk to my recruiter last week, and he told me to call back on 08/23 to get a date for my DOT physical.

Conditional Job Offer…

Tuesday:

At exactly 3 PM this afternoon Joe Guyette, an SNI recruiter for the Southern Region, called for my phone interview.  We spoke for about a half hour; most of what he told me about the job matched what I had read during my research.

He also reviewed the job openings available. Turns out the bulk (tanker) job that Jennine told me about yesterday is a little different than she described.  First, you’re not home every weekend, but you do get 6 days off a month.  The starting salary is a little higher, but there’s more training required to cover the special conditions involved when hauling chemicals and oils.  I did think about it, but frankly the extra two days a month didn’t seem worth the stress of extra training on top of an already aggressive training schedule. 

We had a nice chat that ended with a conditional job offer pending a background and DOT check.  I’m also tentatively scheduled to start training in Charlotte on Saturday, Sept. 16.

After that I was transferred to Rochelle to go over a medical questionnaire. I was a little concerned about one prescription medication I’m taking, but she OK’d that right off, saying it was quite common and not a problem for Schneider.  So now I’m also approved by their medical department, assuming I pass my DOT physical.

As I said above, training seems a bit aggressive.  I’m not particularly intimidated by that; in fact I like the idea of getting it done without messing around.  Here’s the plan: 

• You start on a Saturday with 14 straight days of classroom and lot/local driving, followed by a weekend off.
• Then there’s what is commonly called CDL week, where you study for and take your state specific skills tests for your Class A Commercial Driver’s License.  (The written tests have already been taken before class began to obtain your CDL Permit).  This is also followed by a weekend off.
• Next you are assigned to a TE (Training Engineer), which is a more experienced OTR driver that you ride with for two to three weeks.  The actual length of time depends on your performance.

Assuming you get through all that with no serious problems, you’re then assigned a truck and off you go.

On a personal note, I put the RV up for sale this morning.  I obviously won’t be using it for any more monthly photo trips, and we didn’t see any point in letting it sit in the driveway unused for the next year or two.  Hopefully we’ll be able to get rid of it soon.

And so it begins…

Monday:

I spent a good bit of time this morning reading a BLOG authored by a guy that started with Schneider in 2002.  It’s interesting to read about his experiences, even if things may have changed a little in that amount of time.

Jennine with Schneider called a little after noon.  She told me a bit about the jobs available, and asked a few questions about my application.  Since I’ve been self-employed for the past three years I needed to provide a couple of business references as well. She also gave me a chance to ask a few questions.  I suppose you’d call it a pre-interview screening. 

I thought that all trainees started out as OTR (over the road) drivers pulling vans (53′ conventional box trailers).  They are on the road for two weeks and home two days.  However she did say that I could opt for a job pulling tankers (chemicals, no fuels).  The good part is that they are home every weekend and get a $2000 sign-on bonus.  The bad parts; the training is in Dallas, Tx., and no facial hair is allowed!

OK, so it looks like if I get hired I’ll be training in Charlotte to drive OTR.  My official phone interview is scheduled for tomorrow at 3PM. 

Let’s give it a shot…

Friday:

After sleeping on it (or more accurately, NOT sleeping on it) I decided to go for it. This morning I submitted my SNI application online and got a confirmation email very shortly afterward. 

I also spent a few hours this afternoon looking over the study guide for my NC CDL permit.

Research and Decisions

Thursday:

For the past few weeks I’ve been glued to the PC doing research on over the road (OTR) truck driving.  I think it may suit me well; I’ve always loved being on the road, my mechanical abilities have served me well in past jobs, and working alone sounds fairly attractive.  My family life is much simpler these days with all our children grown and on their own, so the time away shouldn’t be as much of a factor as it could be (and did I mention my supportive wife?).

What did we do before the Internet?  There’s more information than I can begin to digest on the subject.  Much of what I’ve found came from several forums ( Pumpkindriver.com is my favorite so far).  I’ve also found BLOGS to be quite informative; nothing like following someone’s daily life as they describe it.  One of the most interesting I’ve found to date is authored by ‘ opposablethumbs ‘. His timely (for me) postings of his first experiences in truck driver training and OTR driving with SNI were exactly what I needed to read.  I’ve also found the experiences and opinions of a much more experienced driver (namely Orange Boy ORT ) quite valuable. A big thank you goes out to both of you for your postings. My research suggested that joining a company that provides training in exchange for an employment commitment would be my best bet.  Of those that do, it seems that Schneider National, Inc. ( SNI ) gets the best reviews overall.  It doesn’t hurt that their Charlotte training facility is only ~10 miles from my home.

With that in mind I went by their Charlotte Operations Center (OC) this afternoon and met with Enterprise Recruiting Manager Joe Jennings.  He spent a good deal of time describing their training and OTR driving in general, as well as answering all the questions I could think to ask. 

But you can only do so much research; at some point you have to form an opinion and act on it. What are my impressions of the career thus far?

 Good:

• Being on the road
• Working alone much of the time
• An ever changing schedule (hate the thought of going back to 8 to 5)
• Mapping and routing; I’ve loved map reading ever since being in the army
• Driving a big truck

Not so good:

• Being on the road
• Waiting…a lot
• Making deadlines in spite of obstacles (poor directions, problems w/ hours, etc.)
• Weather
• Traffic

A year from now I’ll probably look back on my first impressions and laugh (like I’m sure some of you are now), but you gotta start somewhere. We’ll see how it goes…

Introduction

 

My name is Bill Jordan, and for the last 3 years I’ve run my own business as a freelance photographer. I started this venture after retiring from BellSouth in 2003 w/ 32 years service. 

wJordan Photography has enjoyed some success, but lately it isn’t doing that great (financially or otherwise) and I’m finding that I’m not all that happy with my day to day life . It recently occurred to me what the problem was; I badly miss all those years working with the “guys” doing “manly” jobs.  It’s time for a change. That’s the environment I grew up in and how I spent the first 20 some years of my adult life.  I guess you can say it’s “where I belong”, at least psychologically. 

Don’t get me wrong; my life’s NOT at all bad. I’ve been married to a loving and supportive wife (who also happens to be my best friend) for 28 years. We have adult children of whom I’m extremely proud, and 5 grandchildren. I draw enough retirement to make my bills (barely) so technically I can afford to be retired. We’ve had our share of challenges over the years and have worked through them all and grown stronger for the experience. 

I’m very grateful for my life, and you’d think that’d be enough, but sitting around the house (home office) most of the day ‘working’ on piddlin’ crap is chopping away at my self esteem. 

That’s enough background for now. In the following entries I’ll be sharing my experiences with you as I begin yet another career.