Orientation West Memphis OC

Here is my review of the West Memphis AR OC Schneider National Orientation.

When you arrive on greyhound you will be required to call Driver Services and they will send someone to come pick you up. Most of the time I am assuming that you will have to wait on a driver to come get you, because there isnt anyone at the office that can.

They will take you to the Hallmarc Hotel in Marion AR, its not a five star by any means, but it is a clean hotel with local food joints in walking distance, and my room included a mini fridge and microwave. Nearby is a McDonalds, Taco Bell, KFC, and Subway, and a local BBQ joint. They offer a shuttle service to and from the OC, every 2 hours i believe, and its never when you need it to. They also offer a small breakfast including, cereal, danishes, and mini doughnuts, coffee and juice. Ask for a room on the non interstate side.

First day of orientation is the pre physical assessment, they staff a physical therapy company that will assist you thru this and dont worry, its not nearly as hard as you might assume, they check your pulse rate after each exercise to see if your recovery is good enough.

After that you meet your TEs and start the packet of paperwork, including direct deposit, and they inform you of your newly aquired expenses like boots, which will cost you 25.00 bucks for 150 boots, taken out of your second paycheck, and a required enforcer king pin lock for 55 bucks. You will have to also complete a series of computer based training. (CBTs) This will also be filling most of your time, because they are so extensive.

My first day of orientation lasted from 1200 to 1600 and we were released to go, with only three in our class we are not expected to take the full four days. They did not provide lunch the first day (mine was sun)

We were sent home to review some FMSCA rules and given the Schneider bible, which is 500 pages and covers everything you want to know about the company. There is also a 25 question test you must take in the book, and provide the answers later on in the week.

Lunch will be provided for the rest of the week, thru the in house cafe, which has a daily meat and veggies, burgers and fries and assorted breakfast items too.

The OCs are nice as well, have showers, laundry, tv room, cafe, with vending machines, fuel islands, service desk to cover all your needs, and training rooms. Although not new, they are not run down and are very nice vs your pilots or TAs.

Day two for me will consist of our road test, and more CBTs, and im sure some paperwork. Ill let you know how its goes, but as I can see, Schneider National cares about their drivers, they want you to be safe, and provide you with the best training, not just throw you in a truck and tell you to drive.

Ill update this later on with how day two went.

 

Quite honestly I would rather be comfortable than an 800 buck bonus cause if I never see the money then I never had the money

 

Well here is day two update,

Woke up at the hotel, and of course ate the same free breakfast,

Headed to class bright and early at 630 am, where we completed some paperwork that wasnt done right the first time, and granted it had been, we wouldnt have done it a second time. We were instructed to head back to the computer lab and finish our CBTs, which of course some took longer than others, at that time, a driving instructor, or TE road tester, came and pulled each one of us one at a time to go road test.

Road test started with a pretrip inspection, then steps on how to hook up to the trailer, walk around checking lights and all, then pulling out to do a road test that consisted of a drive thru town, making right and left turns, crossing railroad tracks, looking for street signs, and finally getting on the highway and finishing off the route, back at the OC. Then backing into the spot we pulled out of, how ever you feel best getting in there, and finally unhooking trailer and pull out.

After the road test, back to the computer to finish all CBTs and inputting answers, and I sat waiting on the rest of the class to catch up. At this time, I was given a chance to use the simulator, which included skid pad testing, avoiding accidents, and downshifting mountain terrain with brakes going out. It was fun and interesting at the same time.

We were done with class at 4 and will start on trip planning tomorrow. Today was pretty much a slow day to catch up on everything.

Back at hotel, class starts at 0630 tomorrow, and ill keep you updated.