New and Excited

[Charliebfan]

Hello everyone!
I just wanted to introduce myself first. My name is Ricky and I'm 28 and currently live in Kingsport, TN. It's about 2 hours from Knoxville. I'll be leaving this weekend for Arkansas State University where I'll spend three weeks training to be a truck driver. YAY!

After that, I've already been pre-hired with USA Trucking Company. Since I'm brand new to the industry, I was wondering what your opinions of the company are or what you may have heard? I was told it's a great company and they pay well.

I'm single, gay, no children or anyone to support and I think this will be an exciting career for me. I have no doubt it will be challenging but worth it in the end. I do have a couple of questions though.

1.) How does a Commcard work? I currently don't have a bank account and was told it's the next best thing. Anyone have any comments on that or know how it works?

2.) For anyone who may currently work for USA Truck Company or know of someone who does, any idea on how often you get to come home?

3.) Any suggestions for me before I head off to ASU for my training? I've been reading over the material that Driving Solutions sent me. They sent me a CDL Study Guide so I plan on going over that quite a bit before getting to school.

4.) Any good information on internet while on the road? I was thinking of buying a laptop in the next few months so that I can get online. I know USA has some kind of Qual Comm system they said you can use for
e-mail to keep in touch with your friends and family but I'd like to be able to get online. I'm assuming I'd have to find a wireless provider. Any good ones out there that work well?

5.) In your personal opinion, what is the toughest thing you have to face being a truck driver? Overall are you happy with your career choice?

Well I think for my first post I'll leave it at that haha! I've been reading some of the posts in this forum and everyone seems very nice and helpful, which is why I registered to this forum. I appreciate any and all responses.

Hope to hear from ya soon,
Ricky

[vavega]

good luck with your training ricky!

i'm a local driver, so i'm not much help but i do know that idleair is available in some truckstops around the country. it looks interesting and promising. perhaps some other driver can tell you more about it.

i've used verizon's wireless internet with a laptop and it was decent. sprint and t mobile has their wifi hotspots. it should be noted that tmobile's are usually busines's airports, and hotels.....not truckstops.

[wot i life]

5.) In your personal opinion, what is the toughest thing you have to face being a truck driver?

Hope to hear from ya soon,
Ricky

At first you,ll probably find the long hours and early morning starts you sometimes have to make will wear you out.
And being an OTR driver is very taxing on any relationship,although with you being single, thats not a problem just now.
I can,t really comment on much else as I,m a British driver.
Good luck to you Ricky

[vavega]

you know wot, i never had a problem with the early starts i'm a natural morning person my roadblock was working freight. not the physical part, it was staring at 3 thousand cases knowing i had to pull it off the trailer and then seperate it according to product code. :shock: those and floor loads. :? once i got over that mental block and started i could usually get into it.

hopefully ricky won't get too many of them :wink:

[wot i life]

you know wot, i never had a problem with the early starts i'm a natural morning person

You know V, I,ve never had a problem wi....ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

[vavega]

you mean i'm boring you already!?????? :P :shock: :wink: :mrgreen:

[wot i life]

Awww I didn,t mean it that way.....
Shame on you V.
It,s not FAIR!

Hey Wot, send me over a case of Cadbury Flake would ya

[wot i life]

Hey Wot, send me over a case of Cadbury Flake would ya

You serious?

[vavega]

i couldn't resist! :wink: :P

what's a cadbury flake? is that something like a chocolate covered roadhog? :mrgreen:

Love that stuff. I'm originally from Binley Coventry. My mother no longer goes over to visit and she use to bring me back some. Cadbury won't send it to me as it doesn't conform to US labeling standards.

[wot i life]

Email me kvhall40@yahoo.co.uk and I,ll see what I can do mate.
If U.S customs bang my door in and point a rifle at my head though, I,ll blame you :wink:

[mike3fan]

How does a Commcard work? I currently don't have a bank account and was told it's the next best thing. Anyone have any comments on that or know how it works?

The company will give you a card called a comcard it looks just like a credit card,you will more than likely be able to use it for fuel and oil purchases,and they will have a seperate section where they will deposit your wages into,then you transfer the funds over the phone onto a comcheck and either deposit it into a bank account or get it cashed.You can take out different amounts at different times if you want,but comcheck charges a fee everytime you use them around $3 so you will want to do it all at once.

Any good information on internet while on the road? I was thinking of buying a laptop in the next few months so that I can get online. I know USA has some kind of Qual Comm system they said you can use for
e-mail to keep in touch with your friends and family but I'd like to be able to get online. I'm assuming I'd have to find a wireless provider. Any good ones out there that work well

I have a laptop with a verizon air card that allows me to get internet access anywhere I can recieve a cell signal,cost $59.99 a month for unlimited use.

In your personal opinion, what is the toughest thing you have to face being a truck driver? Overall are you happy with your career choice?

I am an Owner/Operator so my daily challenges are different from what yours will be as a company driver,I would say that dealing with dock personel and traffic are the top blood pressure raisers,,,lol
Every day knowing that I don't have to go to work in a shop somewhere and take bathroom breaks when someone else tells me I can it makes me glad to have choosen this career.

[Charliebfan]

Well as I expected, you all haven't let me down. I really appreciate all your responses and it means alot to me knowing there is a community of people out there like you all who are encouraging and supportive.

I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about starting school on Monday and yet I'm also excited. I've never done anything like this before. I've spent the last 8 years working in call centers taking phone calls all day long. It finally hit me that I needed a major change and I think this is exactly what I'm looking for. I've never even driven a stick shift so needless to say I have lots to learn! :shock:

I'm just hoping that when my training starts with the actual trucking company that I get a nice trainer. I've read on these boards where some haven't been so lucky. I'm also worried about money in the beginning as well. I'll be unemployed during my school and training up until I get my first paycheck from the trucking company so I'm not sure what I'm going to do from the time I meet my trainer on the road until the time I get my first check.

I'm not to worried about school, they are giving us $100 each week for food and such, it's after school waiting for that first check that has me a bit concerned. I was also wondering, how often (realistically) do you get home each month? From the information I've read it says at least 4 days but then I've heard others say not to count on it.

Also, thanks for the info on the Comm Card. At the moment I don't have a bank account for direct deposit so I wasn't sure exactly how the Comm Card worked in conjunction with the paycheck. I mean obviously I'll need money from my paycheck for living expenses on the road. Is this something they will go over with us during my three week training period at school?

Thanks again for all your help. I feel like I'm making friends already and I really do appreciate you all for taking the time out.


P.S. I'll be working for USA Trucking Company. Anyone heard of them or have an opinion? I noticed they weren't one of the companies listed on this site. Thanks again!!

Email me kvhall40@yahoo.co.uk and I,ll see what I can do mate.
If U.S customs bang my door in and point a rifle at my head though, I,ll blame you :wink:

Thanks for the offer Wot but I can't be trusted. I have no snacks in my house and I would eat them all in one night only after leaving them in the refrigerator for an hour!!

[Rushman]

Hey Wot, send me over a case of Cadbury Flake would ya

You can get them yourself here..

http://www.britishdelights.com/cadbury.htm

a wee bit on the expensive side but OK for an occasional treat. If you like cadbury's flake you might like a "Ripple" too.


or you can get them from an Irish store in Lake George NY

And don't ever mention Cadbury's chocolate again....you'll make me homesick.

[wot i life]

If you like cadbury's flake

And don't ever mention Cadbury's chocolate again....you'll make me homesick.

Sorry for mentioning this Rushman, but, did you know;There,s a whole new range of Cadbury,s flakes? Scrumptious...
Gotta tell you this too, kinda funny.
When I was married, my ex went on and on and on and on bout how bloody nice Swiss chocolate was.
So, one day, I phones her up and I,m just north of Montreux and she(typical truckers wife) asks where that is. Beginning with planet Earth, I slowly scale down and get it into her head where I am.
"Ooooh buy me some choccy" she says
So in the interests of world peace, I did.
Only to get home and find Marks and Sparks selling the same stuff at nearly half the bloody price! :shock:

[Charliebfan]

Well some good news, I just opened up a bank account with Wachovia so I won't have to use that Comm Card for my paychecks YaY! We're supposed to provide a voided check when we go to school next Monday, does that mean by the time I get my first paycheck from the trucking company on 12/15/06 that it will automatically go into my account? I know in the past it has usually taken two paychecks before direct deposit kicked in.

I'm still concerned about what I'm going to do for money between graduation and my first paycheck. It would be nice if the tucking company helped you out that first week. Anyways, please feel to reply with any information you may have about USA Trucking if anyone has heard of them and if so, how often do you really get to come home.

Thanks again for all the help and support!

Oh one more thing, any suggestions on a good laptop for $2,000 or less? I'll mainly be using it to get online and occasionally play online games.

Thanks again!

Just go online and order a DELL for less than $600. Comes with wireless card built in.

http://www.dell.com/content/products...en&s=dhs&cs=19

[mike3fan]

I had a toshiba,but it did not last very long in the truck so I went a bought a Durabook from best buy online for about $1300 and it is made to stand up to a more rigorus enviroment.