I need a hat, a chain for my wallet & a can of snuff.

Johali said:
Will you have to do ride along's for the first year or go out solo cold?
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Nope. I'll ride along for the 1st week. I'll get to drive the empty tankers during that week. I think I will then go to Greer, SC for additional training. Then, 3 weeks with two different drivers. If they feel I'm ready, I'll be good to go.

1st things 1st though. I gotta get through Monday without any issues.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Nope. I'll ride along for the 1st week. I'll get to drive the empty tankers during that week. I think I will then go to Greer, SC for additional training. Then, 3 weeks with two different drivers. If they feel I'm ready, I'll be good to go.

1st things 1st though. I gotta get through Monday without any issues.
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I had a friend that drove a milk tanker in the 80s and he said that it was a bear to drive. It was something about the milk being heavier than any other liquid and he had to be extra careful.
 
Johali said:
I had a friend that drove a milk tanker in the 80s and he said that it was a bear to drive. It was something about the milk being heavier than any other liquid and he had to be extra careful.
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Yeah, the surge when hauling liquid in a straight bore tank makes it one of the toughest to drive. Couple that with Hazmat loads and the $'s add up. That's my plan. If it can be driven, I'll be able to drive it. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Finally, the next part would be the road test to make sure that I could drive one of these things. During the interview, they told me that this would be part of the hiring process and gave me an idea of the route I'd take. I don't want to make any mistakes during any of these phases. I started thinking last night that it may be a good idea to kind of pre-trip the route. I mapped it out this morning. 71 miles in about 1 hour 34 minutes. Several RR crossings & a few steep grades. Also four schools that will be in session. Going to head out this morning to take mental note of items so that nothing comes as a surprise and is accidentally missed.
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And this ^^^^ friend, is why you will be successful. Planning ahead, looking for areas where there might be surprises, plotting your course, just as you have done throughout this entire process. GOOD LUCK!! Hope you get the job you want. I'm pulling for you!!
 
Johali said:
I had a friend that drove a milk tanker in the 80s and he said that it was a bear to drive. It was something about the milk being heavier than any other liquid and he had to be extra careful.
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My Bride's father drove milk tanker for thirty years. Some of the farms where he had to pickup milk were down in hollows with steep drives and others with long, narrow farm roads, all extremely difficult in the harsh New Jersey winters. Icy and sometimes, unplowed roads but he had to pickup the milk, no excuses as farmers had no place to store additional product and the cows had to be milked. After filling his trailer, drove sixty to seventy miles into Yonkers or New York to a processing plant. Many a day in the winter he left home at three a.m. and never finished until late evening, around five or six, p.m. then start all over again the following day. He never missed a pickup or a days work in all that time.
 
sdj said:
We do not want to read or hear about a story of you waking up your swaper in the sleeper, OK? :D
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The rest of the story:

James Lee was having a truck driver test and it came to the oral part of the test.
The instructor asked James Lee what he would do if he was hauling a 40 pound load of steel rebar, came over the top of a steep hill and upon applying his brakes they failed and at the bottom of the hill was a School bus stopped in the road and traffic coming full in the left lane, what would he do?

Without pausing a second, James Lee said, well, the first thing i would do is wake up my swaper Leeroy, the instructor said, why in the world would you do that first?

Cause Leeroy ain't never seen a wreck like we fixen to have.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Just got back from the road test. All went well. The tester is recommending me for hire to their company. Have to talk to their HR person tomorrow about setting up the DOT physical, drug testing & dexterity testing. Will hope to have more info then.
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Thanks @dpkimmel2001 this thread is great stuff for me. It is becoming my back up plan if things ever change for me.
 
Greg said:
Thanks @dpkimmel2001 this thread is great stuff for me. It is becoming my back up plan if things ever change for me.
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Yeah, I'm kind of anxious to see how this all plays out. Things just can't move fast enough for me to get started in this new direction. I've never been without work. While I'm getting a lot of stuff done at home, I want to earn a paycheck. I hope things move quickly from here so that I can get in a truck soon. Once I can get past this next DOT physical, drug testing & dexterity testing I should then be ale to get a start date. I think it is to go a little like this.....

I'll have to put in 30 days with a combination of two different driver/trainers. I'll go with them on their daily/weekly runs to see how this whole process works. Those 30 days are 30 working days and not 30 consecutive calendar days. At first, I'll only be allowed to haul empty tankers. They'll want to evaluate my skills in more detail before they put that weight behind me. I've yet to experience what a full load feels like letalone a full load of ever shifting material. You have to be extremely smooth in all your moves with that type of load. Accelerating, decelerating & turning need to be done in a manner that least disturbs the load. A quick stop at an intersection can cause the forward movement of the rig even with the brakes fully applied. In other words, even stopped at the intersection, the forward movement/surge of the liquid could propel you into an intersection. The viscosity of the load will have a great impact on the movement of the material. All stuff to experience and learn from.

Sometime, within the first 30 days, I'll have to go to their main training center for a weeks worth of corporate training. I am not sure what all that would entail.

After all of that is completed, they'll then determine if I'm good enough to head out on my own. That day can't come soon enough for me.
 
Another update. Got the call..... Scheduled for physical and testing on Thursday. In the meantime, I am also scheduled to apply for my TWIC Card tomorrow morning. There is some sort of background check associated with that card as there was with my Hazmat endorsement. Basically, more fingerprinting and a check of my record.

Results of the drug testing take around 3 days so they should be available come net Monday morning. At that point I should be available for hire by them.

So, to recap the past month and a half of no CDL to obtaining a CDL..... Studied for and passed testing for General Knowledge, Air Brakes & Combination Commercial Vehicles obtaining my CDL Class A Permit. Studied for and passed testing for Doubles, Triples & Tankers. Studied for and passed testing for Hazmat. Passed Hazmat background testing. And, most importantly passed the CDL pre-trip, air brake, backing maneuvers & road testing to get my CDL Class A License.

I already have my Passport allowing me to head north/south of the border. The TWIC card should allow me to deliver to coastal facilities as well.

Info on what a TWIC Card is.....

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential, also known as TWIC®, is required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act for workers who need access to secure areas of the nation’s maritime facilities and vessels. TSA conducts a security threat assessment (background check) to determine a person’s eligibility and issues the credential. U.S. citizens and immigrants in certain immigration categories may apply for the credential. Most mariners licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard also require a credential. Regarding card usage and facility access requirements, please contact the U.S. Coast Guard.
 
Damn, you got everything you'll ever need.

You went through an independent CDL school right?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
In the meantime, I am also scheduled to apply for my TWIC Card tomorrow morning.
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I got my first TWIC card not long after 9/11, all mariners had to get one. At first it was fingerprint recognition and a couple of years later they tried retinal scanning but that didn't last but a few years. The one fall back was if a person operating it had the right clearance they would know everything about you from the day of your birth. Due to my experience I was hired to work as a Marine safety supervisor here cleaning up the BP oil spill in 2010 and that was the last time that I used my card. I don't know what the requirements are anymore.
 
Just finished the dexterity testing. Passed.....

Consisted of wearing some sort of heart monitor. Could not exceed a heart rate determined by by age and weight during some of the following exercises.....

3 minutes of stepping up then down from a normal step height to the beat of some device making sounds.

Climbing a ladder 3 times starting with the 2nd step. Done 3 times starting with the right leg and then 3 starting with the left.

Next was a test where I had to have one hand behind my back with the other outstretched bending forward touching the floor 3 times.

Then, a pull test where you needed to exceed 60lbs 3 times. This followed by the same test only pushing. I exceeded 200lbs for both tests. Scale maxed.

I then had to carry a bucket 50ft weighing 30lbs with my right hand then the same with my left. The weight was then increased to 60lbs and the same was performed.

They then did the same weights with a box 3 times that I had to lift shoulder height and put on a shelf when done.

Then, the same box, same weights lifted from a squatting position again 3 times each.

Then I had to squat 3 times while touching the floor holding for 20 seconds.

The last thing was to walk forward the length of a 12ft 2x6 heal to toe then backwards.

Not what I expected at all.

Anyhow, I'm now heading for another DOT physical and then drug testing.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Dang, dpk, you made me tired just reading all that. Think I need to work harder in the gym this morning.
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If I can do this, anyone can do this. I'm a large dude. Worked exclusively at home in my home office. Unfortunately, my office is right next to the kitchen. :D
 
sdj said:
The rest of the story:

James Lee was having a truck driver test and it came to the oral part of the test.
The instructor asked James Lee what he would do if he was hauling a 40 pound load of steel rebar, came over the top of a steep hill and upon applying his brakes they failed and at the bottom of the hill was a School bus stopped in the road and traffic coming full in the left lane, what would he do?

Without pausing a second, James Lee said, well, the first thing i would do is wake up my swaper Leeroy, the instructor said, why in the world would you do that first?

Cause Leeroy ain't never seen a wreck like we fixen to have.
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That was the PG version.;):)
 
Got the call. I got the job.

Tomorrow I have to go to take some additional testing. Safety, safety, safety. It is all about safety. Nothing wrong with that. Anyhow, I have to go in to take testing and get all of my paperwork done. That's probably about all that will take place tomorrow.

They have someone that is in the middle of their training period right now an then me and one other person that were just hired. Problem is, they only have two driver/trainers. I was given an option to start earlier if I wanted to train a couple weeks out of either their New Jersey Hub or one that the have near High Point, North Carolina.

Turns out that I am actually heading to Raleigh, NC this Thursday-Sunday for a NCAA D1 Track & Field meet. Raleigh is only about 1 1/2 hours away from that North Carolina terminal so I offered to start my training while I'm down there. They'll get me a car and a place to stay while I am there and the rest of those two weeks, I'll be on the road learning what I can. I'll then head back here to continue training.

I'll probably have more info after I meet with them tomorrow. Today, I'm pumped. I've been without an actual paycheck since the beginning of December. I've never been unemployed in my life before this. It'll be awesome to actually earn a living again. Take nothing for granted people. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

More tomorrow.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Got the call. I got the job.

Tomorrow I have to go to take some additional testing. Safety, safety, safety. It is all about safety. Nothing wrong with that. Anyhow, I have to go in to take testing and get all of my paperwork done. That's probably about all that will take place tomorrow.

They have someone that is in the middle of their training period right now an then me and one other person that were just hired. Problem is, they only have two driver/trainers. I was given an option to start earlier if I wanted to train a couple weeks out of either their New Jersey Hub or one that the have near High Point, North Carolina.

Turns out that I am actually heading to Raleigh, NC this Thursday-Sunday for a NCAA D1 Track & Field meet. Raleigh is only about 1 1/2 hours away from that North Carolina terminal so I offered to start my training while I'm down there. They'll get me a car and a place to stay while I am there and the rest of those two weeks, I'll be on the road learning what I can. I'll then head back here to continue training.

I'll probably have more info after I meet with them tomorrow. Today, I'm pumped. I've been without an actual paycheck since the beginning of December. I've never been unemployed in my life before this. It'll be awesome to actually earn a living again. Take nothing for granted people. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

More tomorrow.
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Yahoo. Congratulations bud. :cheers:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Got the call. I got the job.

Tomorrow I have to go to take some additional testing. Safety, safety, safety. It is all about safety. Nothing wrong with that. Anyhow, I have to go in to take testing and get all of my paperwork done. That's probably about all that will take place tomorrow.

They have someone that is in the middle of their training period right now an then me and one other person that were just hired. Problem is, they only have two driver/trainers. I was given an option to start earlier if I wanted to train a couple weeks out of either their New Jersey Hub or one that the have near High Point, North Carolina.

Turns out that I am actually heading to Raleigh, NC this Thursday-Sunday for a NCAA D1 Track & Field meet. Raleigh is only about 1 1/2 hours away from that North Carolina terminal so I offered to start my training while I'm down there. They'll get me a car and a place to stay while I am there and the rest of those two weeks, I'll be on the road learning what I can. I'll then head back here to continue training.

I'll probably have more info after I meet with them tomorrow. Today, I'm pumped. I've been without an actual paycheck since the beginning of December. I've never been unemployed in my life before this. It'll be awesome to actually earn a living again. Take nothing for granted people. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

More tomorrow.
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Yes Congrats! :cheers:
 
Filled out all the paperwork today. Met a bunch of people at the home terminal. Got all of my protective gear. Took a boatload of tests.

Tomorrow it's off to Raleigh, NC for a few relaxing days and then to the High Point , NC to start training next Monday. I'll be running out of that location for two weeks before coming back home to run from here.
 
Glad you found work. Fine example of taking all of the right steps and getting things done. Hoping I can do the same thing real soon! Time for a second job for me.
 
If you come to California make sure you don't leave the keys in it... I woke up this morning turned on the news and the first thing I saw was the police chasing a stolen tanker truck on the freeway.:D
 
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