[nobotox]

Originally Posted by EasyRolln

nobotox,

Congrats on getting your permit and tanker endorsement, and many thanks for the link to cyanide's post! It answered a lot of questions for me. Best of luck to you.

Easyrollin,
Best of luck to you also. I'm holding off on tankers for now. Want to get use to driving a big arse truck pulling immobile objects first.
nobotox

[WildK9]

Originally Posted by EasyRolln

My background: Veteran (6.5 yrs Army) Communications/Cavalry Scout

BOL fellow 19D!!

[EasyRolln]

Originally Posted by WildK9

BOL fellow 19D!!

Thanks WildK9! I miss my .50 cal and SAW

[EasyRolln]

Well, school started this Monday (9/18), and I am extremely happy that I went and got my permit before then! I have been taking it easy and helping my fellow classmates study for their permit. Today we had a couple of recruiters come in (JCJ Trucking Inc. out of La Salle, IL & Modular Transportation out of Wyoming, MI) and we went over log books. Keeping your log book up to snuff is no joke, and I definitely wouldn't want to be caught by DOT trying to get over! Tomorrow we're supposed to complete a log book entry on our own, Friday morning we have a pre-trip inspection test (naming steering components and suspension), and then in the afternoon, we go down to the yard.

Uturn2001 & teamster,

Thanks for chiming in. Your advice is much appreciated.

nobotox,

Best of luck to you! As for me, I'm leaning towards going with Modular Transportation right now. It's a small company with a flatbed fleet and even though they don't have all the bells and whistles on their trucks (Qualcom & satellite), they offer excellent benefits (paid for by the company - even for dependents). They're regional and pay by % instead of mileage. I'm not crazy about it, but I understand that I have to crawl before I walk.

[EasyRolln]

Next week is our last week of school, and we (I & classmates) can't wait! The whole experience has been a roller coaster ride due to the schools realtionship with the Secretary of State (not good), shoddy equipment, re-testers, and being caught in the middle. Some of our training trucks have crappy transmissions, but good brakes. Others have great transmissions, but crappy brakes. The yard trucks seem to have been pieced together, but we still manage to have some fun. The instructors are great, and our best instructor is a female. She's yells, barks, and will bite if provoked. She also tells you when you've done good and encourages you to do better.

For those of you looking into getting into school - do some research on the school before enrolling. Ask questions about the passing/failure rate, the schools relationship with the Secretary of State, talk to students already enrolled, ask to tour their facilities, and check out their equipment.

It wasn't the worst experience, and it hasn't been the best either. I believe in due time, the school will get everything together, but for now things are a little screwed up. I finish up next week, and then a week or two after that I'm off to TMC for orientation.