U.S. Truck driving school Sterling Heights, Michigan

Wednesday week 2:

Our class picked up an additional person this week..he was originally signed up for weekend classes for ten weeks. He seems to be on the ball and adds some humor to the group. Turns out his class cost is 4k of which Conway has stepped up (prior to start of class) and paid 2k..he is committed to show up for orientation at Conway ... otherwise not committed and NO contract.

We have another group in the classroom that wil likely join us in the yard on Friday, they have 8 people in the class, hopefully they do not cut into our driving time considerably. They did bring in three newer trucks today, perhaps from the Fenton location that they have pulled out of. They pulled out because it was a college program and the hours and days were dictated by the college campus,which was too restrictive to the schedule of the truck training school.

We are currently working in the yard, have been all week..pre trips are becoming much easier , str8 line backing is a cakewalk and alley docking is proving to be very simple....Really don't understand why so many people have trouble with that exercise...more tomorrow.

 

Thursday, Week 2:
Today we did mostly pre trip inspections and alley docking.
our instructor looked at three of us and quietly whispered "u 3 go over to that truck and practice for a while doing ur alley docking, I need to work with the other guys" We 3 proceeded to practice each nailing our first 8 alley docks, then we made the cones tighter, leaving only 6 inches on each side, messed up a little but still got most of them in there....it was a fun day day...later.

 

Two weeks completed in the four week program. Very confident in my ability to this point. Like many schools the equipment is a bit old and probably not as well maintained as a truck that is used otr on a daily basis. On Monday we will work on shifting up and down on the simulator, then we will be on the road. Happy about that since the next class of 8 will be moving into the yard on Monday and space to drive in the yard is rather limited.

I have pre-hires from the three companies to which I have applied...Watkins and Shepard, KLLM and Maverick. likely to eliminate Maverick because they drive only automatics.
More Monday.

 

Have not added since last week..

WEEK #3 now..

Monday and Tuesday all day....pre trip inspections and alley docking..heard from TMC and Werner today...have researched TMC and decided to put in an application...Werner...no way!!!
Our instructor sid that tomorrow..Wednesday we will be on the simulator then out on the road....all day Thursday alley dock, simulator for those having trouble up and down shifting and more road time..

Will say that the addition of 8 more students to the yard has really made things tight..I am not very impressed by the yard, it is uneven and mud, seriously muddy. they have an area directly behind the yard that is owned by the school that if used would be plenty of room to set up permenant stations....Paving the entire thing would also be a nice idea.

However, the school does employ 4 of the 8 state examiners for the class A cdl. SO I guess we are lucky!

 

Week 3-Wednesday

today we did more alley dock practice. We also worked the simulator for shifting practice until, when unsupervised for a few minutes, one of the guys in our class broke it (at least for now). Tomorrow we will take our first driving outside of the yard.
We also have one idiot in our class that started almost two months ago...shows up when he wants and disrupts our practice time with his insistance for remedial training. what a P.I.T.A. The school oughtta toss him out on his arse.

 

End of Week 3:

Thursday and Friday, We finally got out on the road driving in traffic...My road instructor seems to think that myself and one other guy in the class are way ahead of the average student. Anyhow, I have one week left..deciding between a few companies at this point. TMC was my first choice but got turned down before I even had a chance to get in, they would not say why.

I have offers at:

Watkins and Shepard

KLLM

Falcon

Not sure where I will go yet...but it is feeling more like Watkins and Shepard.

 

Guess I fell behind a bit....week 4 day 2 is in the books....Instructor tole ma and one other classmate we R ready to test out...too bad we still need hours...gotta be here til friday, likely test on Saturday....So ready to be on the road..school is very easy unless you are a complete moron.

 

It is Friday Jan. 27, 2012...We started class on 01-03-2012.

Today the road truck we were using (4 of us) was losing the clutch brake so we put it inside for repair at 1230 pm...when the mechanic took it apart he found another problem so the truck is down for the day..our last day...I did not have a chance to drive today but I am confident and test out tomorrow at 8 am (be there at 730). Instead of being unproductive I went to secretary of state and passed my doubles\triples and tankers so I can add them to my license after I pass my state pre trip, yard and road test tomorrow (confident...not ####y).

Overall the course was pretty good...here is my final grade.

Classroom...1st week only..."A"
--------Enough information provided to pass the written test for the temporary instruction permit and get a decent understanding of log books, road atlas and general knowledge. Pat is a very personable instructor, enjoyed the week in class.

Yard week 2 and 1st 3 days of week 3.
--------Brian was our yard instructor...another nice guy...many laughs and explained thing well. seemed to never end but was very structured and needed. each morning first thing, PRE-TRIP for an hour then begin yard exercises...str8 line backing first 3 days then about 4 str8 days of alley docking...we were lucky though..small class ahead of us so we got out on the road on Thursday of week 3 and every day for the rest of training.

Road week 4 (offically)
--------Had Dee for our initial instruction..she was tough at first but loosened up after she initially evaluated our ability, had Brian for a day then he was pulled to the classroom, finished the week with John who was very helpful and good humored.

Last day is actually tomorrow when We test out...excited to complete everything...I am the first in our class to test..so I guess just slightly on edge but not too bad.....helps to be a little older than most students and have a bunch of life experience...more posts will follow to include...Company choice, test results and licensing process....good luck to all that follow!

 

Passed the final tests today, pre-trip, yard and road...finally out of school.


FINAL COMPLAINTS / KNOCKS ON THE SCHOOL

TRUCKS ARE 1991 INTERNATIONALS, DIRTY INSIDE AND OUT, SLOPPY WHEN SHIFTING GEARS AND USUALLY LOW ON FUEL.

YARD IS DIRT, MUD WHEN IT RAINS OR SNOWS. DEEP HOLE AT TURNING POINTS IN THE YARD. ALLEY DOCK AND STR8 LINE BACKING ARE SET UP AT RANDOM LOCATIONS IN THE YARD, NO PAINTED LINES AND NO CONCRETE.

EXTRA TRACTORS AND TRAILERS IN THE YARD TAKE UP NEEDED SPACE..THESE VEHICLE APPEAR TO BE USELESS, MAYBE USED FOR PARTS.

GENERALLY HAD TWO TRUCKS ROADWORTHY AND TWO TRUCKS RUNNING IN THE YARD. HOWEVER, WHEN STUDENTS NEEDED TO TEST MID WEEK...STUDENTS WOULD HAVE TO HALT YARD EXERCISES OR GIVE UP VALUABLE ROAD TIME. THIS IS AN EXPENSIVE COURSE AND MORE FOCUS SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE STUDENTS THAT ARE ON SCHEDULE WITH THE PROGRAM RATHER THAN ALLOWING REMEDIAL STUDENTS TO INTERRUPT EVERY DAY OPERATIONS FOR STUDENTS ON PACE TO COMPLETE TRAINING ON TIME.

POSITIVES:
EXCELLENT INSTRUCTORS..PATRICK-CLASSROOM, BRIAN-YARD, DEE AND JOHN ON THE ROAD.

4 OF 8 STATE EXAMINERS ON STAFF

ADMINISTRATIVE...J.P. (JOHN) I DEALT WITH JP, HE WORKED TO ENSURE THAT I WAS OFFERED EMPLOYMENT, VERY PERSONABLE.

I WILL LEAVE SCHOOL NEEDING ONLY MY HAZMAT ENDORSEMENT SINE I HAVE ALSO PASSED THE TANKER, DOUBLE/TRIPLES EXAMS....OVERALL I FEEL THE PROGRAM WAS WORTHWHILE, LIKE ANY TYPE OF TUITION...IT IS NOT CHEAP.

IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS .. SHOOT ME A MESSAGE.