You have finally made it through school, and now have been hired with a company. You report to the company for orientation which will last for up to 5 days, and most company's will only give you maybe $25.00 per day for this. Some company's won't JD Truck Training Centre even do this. Of course the feed you lunch, and put you in a cheap motel, and provide you with a van to take you to the terminal and back to the motel.
Well after 5 or 6 more hours you finally get your load unloaded. This is probably 12:00 midnight by now and going on 3 days with no sleep,no eat,no shower, and guess what you still have a half hour of driving left to hopefully get into a truck stop and parked.
Truck driving school was a challenge but I did it. I have to tell you that when I got out there in the real world to start making money there was a lot of stuff that they didn't teach me. I went right through the school of hard knocks.
Many schools will also offer financial aid. The money you are required to put up front is sometimes a big limiting factor on what type of school you can attend. Offering financial aid can open up your opportunities. Find out how long it will be before you are required to begin making payments after graduation. Most schools will allow you 3-6 months before you start making payments.
The instructors will no doubt teach you about some of their experiences during the class. Until Hr licence SA you get out on the road you won't really know the reality of what they are talking about. Two weeks in a school with several other trainees will just barely give you enough experience to become pretty familiar with HR Truck Licence driving. You'll be able to pass the driving exam and feel pretty confident and be proud of yourselves. The company that recruits you will send you out with a trainer for several weeks for you to get a feel for how to excel and drive safely while learning the ropes. It's nice to learn from someone who has some experience.
From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, high and low, I've been there. From Puget Sound to the shores of Miami I've driven a big truck. From Boston to San Diego I've gone. I've been on four lanes, three lanes and one lane at times. I've seen the cities and countryside. I see all those vehicles and wonder where they're going and why they're in such a rush to get there?
When you look at your logs as a tool for trip tracking you will see more profitability. We will look at On-time Service and how it affects other parts of trip planning in part 3 of this series of Trip Planning for Truck Driving School Students. Even though you may still be in truck school, this article and the article to follow will help you develop into a profitable driver.