We passed !!
 

We passed all our skills and driving friday. Boy what a reliefe it was, felt like the empire state building was lifted off my shoulders. We are also going to be heading to Joplin, MO to orientation for CFI on March 2 and we are excited about this as well. Friday was a fantastic day, got the call from their recruiter at 11am saying we were approved and also passed the driving. Does anyone on here drive for them? Would be nice to know a few names so we dont feel so lost out there. My instructor gave me a name while driving, as far as I know I'm the only student who was named, dont know if that was good or not, LOL. He calls me "Lone Ranger" because I could find my first low range (5th) but the rest I struggled with as I was down shifting. Daughter will still go by Dracojewel, she didnt struggle like I did. I guess I drove too many old farm trucks and our old 5 speed pickup. That downshifting kicked my backside, but got better after they showed us how to double-down. Boy did that help me allot, LOL.
Tuesday we are going to learn to slide the tandems and 5th wheel, take the school trucks to the wash (boy they need it after all the ice we got to drive in). Friday we are going to play on the skid pan all day as a graduation gift to us. That should be allot of fun.

Congrats, and I hear CFI is a good company and with Conway being apart of CFI I think you'll have alot more freight and customers and I read somwhere that you'll have alot more drop and hooks but not sure on that. So don't take the last one to heart cause I'm not sure on that! Good luck you two! :D :D :wink:

Congrats Ivory-Snow!

Let me know how you like them.I got a call from them last Friday.
I leaning towards them now instead of Stevens.

I would like to know how things are going over there also. I am in the middle of sending in the application

Congrats, Ivory_Snow. I've heard good things about CFI. And, having learned to drive in ice and snow, you may have a slight advantage over others that first got to see it when they have already been driving. Good luck to you.

WTG ladies .... this is awesome ! Your going to work for a good company. Here's a site that is 99% all CFI drivers. They talk about the good and the not so good about the job and glad to help you out as much as possible............
http://www.cfidrivers.com/phpbb2/index.php
This site was started by a CFI driver which goes by the handle 'Crocodile'. I know you'll enjoy yourself there ...

CFI will put you up in the Holiday Inn - very comfortable- they will send a CFI bus over to pick you up each morning for orintation and take you back at the end of the day. CFI also has a shuttle bus that comes by the hotel several times during the day to drop you off at places to eat, Walmart, and etc. ... They pay for your lunch each day while in class also. One big thing they are VERY serious about and that's being Late for class or anything.

Tom Edwards and Sally are the two people who's over the 'Finishers' .. their both nice people. You'll fill out a sheet the first day your there about your personality because they try to set you up with a Finisher that is sort of like you. So if you don't smoke or it makes you sick be sure and put that on that paper ... etc..

The first day after filling out your paper work they will take you on a driving test ... then you'll return back to CFI to the big parking lot and do a 45 back ..... they will talk you through everything they want you to do ... so just take a deep breath - try to shake off your fear and do everything you were taught in school. They know you've just come out of school so they don't expect you to be perfect !

At some point during the 3-4 days of class you will go out to the far back corner of the lot and they have a test area where you will drive in circles, turn tight corners, 'S' shape and etc. Again they will walk you through everything they want you to do.

The last day your Finisher will be there to greet you and take time for both of you to get to know each other a bit before heading out. I don't know if your driving your car to Joplin or not .. I did so I was able to leave my extra's in my car that I needed once I got off the Finishers truck .. all you'll need to take with you is a fold up clothes bag, a small bag to hold your shampoos and extra for shower ... a couple of fine point black ink pens, ruler (I beleive they give you one the first day in your red bag they hand you) 2 pairs of shoes, ask your Finisher if he/she has a ice box and if so can you put some lunch meat or yogurt in there,etc.............. One thing you need to remember :!: - - if for Any Reason you don't feel like your Finisher is teaching you fully or being able to anwer your questions about trucking .... call Sally or Tom Edwards and talk with them about this - - if possible they will set you up with another Finisher ..... I've know a few people who have done just that .. and it worked out fine. No one at the office will think bad of you for calling in .... this is Your future ..... and Your life ... and CFI wants you to be the best driver possible. Their picky about who they hire.

During your time there ... go upstairs to see the 'war' room - where all the dispatchers set ..... it's quite overwhelming ... there's a solid sheet of glass between you and them so you won't be bothering them ... look up on the walls and you'll see 2-3 screens on each side, on those screens it shows which trucks are running Late, weather, etc.

If I can help you in any way let me know
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/4roses/CFI.jpg

Way to Go Girls!!!!

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u.../onlinehi5.gif

WTG Gals :party:

Thanks
 

Thank you all for responding. We are very excited and can't wait to get started. I did struggle some with all the book learning, it had been so long since my poor old brain had to work that hard. At school we did allot of backing ( straight line, offset both left and right, parallell both sides and 90 degree), we got certified in fork lift and pallet jack, first aide and CPR, defensive driving training, skid pad (that was allot of fun), drove on ice on interstate, 2 land highways and around the course at the school. I really needed that kind of driving. I was amazed at how much traction you did have with aloaded trailer on that stuff. We even pulled doubles out on the ice and snow, slush. We did pre-trip inspections, went to port of entry for part of a day and did a full inspection with one of the officers on some poor guy ( port from Oklahoma/Kansas). I pulled tanker as well, drove old cab overs (used that one for the skid pan),I feel we got allot of great information and training from this school and I am so glad we spent the extra dollars and went there instead of the 2 week class we thought about taking.
My dad also helped by talking to drivers out there while he was at truck stops. He has been driving for 15 years with a company and I do appreciate all his support in our decisions. My husband has also backed me 100% and that also means allot to me. It was a decision not taken lightly by us, discussing pros and cons of this for almost 2 years, it's great to have that kind of support.
Wed was a very emotional, exciting day for me (graduation day) and cant wait to get out there and get our feet wet.

if women can do it so can i :lol: i hope. i hope i dont have a hard time learning how to do log books

Call me when you give birth :wink:

:lol: ouch oh man my stomach hurts!!

thats just gas... You need to eat better. :P 8)

So do tell Ivory .... what's the latest ? ... are you rollin down the hwy setting tall in the seat ... with white nuckles :lol: .... dang I can still remember my first time running the hwys ... I was driving through Dallas and just knew I was gonna die before I made it to the other side :shock: ... :lol: .......... Let us know how your doing :)

I'm in a top rated (second in the nation) CDL driving school and as usual, there are double standards for the women. Just like the fact that more women have accidents in autos than men yet, their insurance is cheaper. Now they are going down the road with 80,000# YIKES!!!!! they panic too quick as opposed to men.

And you chose to make this post in the Women's forum because... :roll:

Guess you just wanted to open
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u.../canoworms.jpg

Check your facts little man...

Are Men Better Drivers than Women?
Argue all you want; however you'd be hard-pressed to find documented proof that men are superior to women as drivers. But make no mistake – gender certainly does impact driving habits and insurance industry observers believe that issue manifests in other ways, too. That's a point driven home by insurance executives such as David Snyder, who acknowledges that most car insurance companies take into account a driver's gender in determining policy pricing.

"The weight in pricing varies from company to company and by claims experience over time, but, for example, with all other factors being equal, a female between the ages of 18 and 25 would pay less than her male counterpart because as a rule younger women drivers have fewer accidents and moving violations than males in the same age group,” says Snyder, vice president and assistant general counsel of the American Insurance Association, in Washington, D.C.

The only time gender has a bearing on car insurance rates involves young drivers, says Carolyn Gorman, vice president of the Washington, D.C. office of the Insurance Information Institute (III). Young males, between the ages of 16 to 25, typically pay more than females in their age group, because "many young men are more likely to show daredevil tendencies in their driving because of factors such as emotional immaturity and misplaced feelings of immortality," Gorman pointed out.

Many auto insurance industry experts would agree with the theory that males, especially young men, tend to drive more aggressively than women and display their aggression in a direct manner, rather than indirectly. Furthermore, as a rule of thumb, male drivers are more likely than women to break the law, and the male of the species tends to be more of a risk-taker.

So… let's see what the statistics have to say about drivers, in terms of males vs. females. Figures compiled by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that more men than women die each year in motor vehicle crashes, figures that drew explanatory comments from various insurance industry observers such as Russ Rader of IIHS, in Arlington, Va., and Tully Lehman, of the Insurance Information Network of California (IINC).

"Men typically drive more miles than women and engage more often in risky driving practices including not using a safety belt… and speeding," according to Rader, spokesman for IIHS, in Arlington, Va. "This is due to the fact that men typically drive more miles and exhibit often risky driving practices such as driving while intoxicated, not wearing a seatbelt and speeding," said Lehman.

On the flip-side, IIHS also reported that from 1975 to 2003, female deaths in motor vehicle crashes increased 14 percent compared to an 11 percent decline for male motorists during that same period. Insurance industry executive Daniel W. Kummer pegs the rise in female deaths in vehicular crashes to more women obtaining driver's licenses than in the past and driving more miles than, say, 25 years ago.

"We're also seeing women driving more aggressively, picking up that bad habit from their male counterparts," points out Kummer, director of personal lines-auto for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), an insurance trade organization based in Illinois. Kummer believes that there are more women drivers, because more females hold down jobs today than a quarter-century ago. "All these factors lead to more deaths among women drivers and their auto insurance costs are rising in direct proportion to their accident and death rates from crashes."

"Reckless driving used to be the province of male drivers as opposed to women," says III's Carolyn Gorman. "We're seeing more and more examples these days of women driving aggressively and exhibiting road rage, which represent poor behavior behind the wheel."

"If trends continue as the data suggest," said IINC's Tully Lehman, "you could start seeing a closing of the gap of car insurance rates between male and female drivers, but for the time being at least, the gap will still remain much as it is today."


http://www.insurance.com/quotes/arti...omen/artid/259