Truck Driving Jobs

irishfan466 · #11 04-09-2008, 01:05 AM

Well, it's official. I have everything done and will be headed to Dallas STA on the 23rd of this month. If anyone else is headed that way at that time, feel free yo PM me. Looking forward to getting this started and to seeing you all out there!!

irishfan466 · #12 05-11-2008, 01:50 AM

Juat got home from STA last night. I head out Monday morning with my TE. Everybody that told me STA was tough, you were exactly right. It was one of the toughest things I have done in a long time. For that reason, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. The instructors were very patient and found a way to make me understand the information.

I will never forget the first day out with my in-truck instructor. I didn't think it was possible to sweat that much driving for only an hour. I thought the AC wasn't working on that side of the truck. My instructor told me the AC doesn't work on that side of the truck for several days. Well, it finally started working and I settled into driving. STA was a lot of hard work, but I did enjoy every minute of it. Now I am looking forward to getting out with my TE and ultimately getting my own truck.

I want to thank everyone for their answering all of my questions. Schneider defintely was the best choice for me. If anyone has any questions about STA, feel free to ask away.

MacDad · #13 05-11-2008, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishfan466

Everybody that told me STA was tough, you were exactly right. It was one of the toughest things I have done in a long time.
**SNIP**
STA was a lot of hard work, but I did enjoy every minute of it.

Please elaborate on your experience, if you dont mind. Why/what did you find hard or pressure packed? Thanks in advance! Congrat's and Good luck out there, be safe

irishfan466 · #14 05-11-2008, 03:02 PM

For me it was getting my left leg and right arm to work together. The problem I had was I wanted to shift the truck like a regular five speed. I was also using way too much of the clutch. After I figured those things out, my shifting smoothed out a bunch. I still have a long way to go, but I feel I can safely operate the truck now.

I think I put way too much pressure on myself, that old male ego thing kicked in big time. All I needed to do was relax and "drive the truck", as my instructor tried to tell me. Once that happened, it all seemed to fall into place for me. Of course, the simulators did help with that. The only gripe I had about the simulators was the shifting was nothing like it was in my instructor's truck. It did help me with my double-clutching though.

Our first day in the truck, we went to a long stretch of frontage road and did nothing but upshifting and bump and runs. The next day we were driving in downtown Dallas pulling a 53' trailer in traffic during rush hour. We did a lot of driving in town. My instructor said, if you can drive in this, you can drive on the highway. We did get a bit of highway driving as well as rural county roads.

BigAtrukn · #15 05-11-2008, 08:18 PM

They are a pretty good company, ive been with them for 1.5 yrs now doin the local gig in southern CA. Good luck an dont give up to easy, the first year sucks but it gets easier after.

irishfan466 · #16 05-12-2008, 12:37 AM

I have no intentions of quitting, unless all hell breaks loose. I have certainly enjoyed my time so far. Spoke to my TE last night and I think we are going to get along just fine. He seems to be straight laced and upfront. I am not taking my laptop with me so I will update everyone when I get back from out on the road and SQT. Everyone be safe and if you see a pumpkin drive by with a driver that has a huge grin, that's probably me. See ya'll on the big road!!!

fishmonger · #17 05-17-2008, 03:24 PM

Good Luck!

The TE time is where you will start to put everthing together you learned at the STA. Especially the trip planning stuff. It's much easier to do on the raod than in a class room. When I was with the TE I had, I was asked if I was ready to go after a week because he thought I was. I decided to spend an extra week with him and I'm glad I did. Pay attention to how your TE deals with the problems that come up, it will really flatten out the learning curve (ie. dealing with weekend and 2nd shift and trailer searches).

Like you I enjoyed my time at the STA (I trained in Carlisle). The instuctors were awesome and if you showed them that you wanted to learn and go the extra mile to do so they would return the favor and go the extra mile for you.

PS
Make sure you get lost once or twice just to figure out how to get unlost with supervision.

Phreddo · #18 05-17-2008, 03:35 PM

In retrospect, my TE was a good guy, tried hard. but he was very tightly wound and he would tend to jump in sooner than he should have. half the time i felt like i was in the way. He also didn't speak good english.

So i just toughed it out and got thru it ok. Afterwards, i was glad to be rid of him

irishfan466 · #19 06-01-2008, 03:40 PM

Finally got finished with all of my training. Got throught SQT and CDL Prep then took my road test. I got my truck assigned to me, but don't actually get it until tomorrow. I was able to go out in the yard and find it though. I was like a kid in a candy store. I can't wait til tomorrow and finally get my chance to do this by myself.

Ronin · #20 06-01-2008, 03:58 PM

Congrats, I hope everything pans out for you. If you live in/near OKC there is a Schneider drop lot at the intersection of SW 134th st and portland. It's not very big, but it will do in a pinch.