Background

Since there is time to spare I glanced over the previous posts and realized that I never gave a foundation of how I got to this point of my life.

I never thought I would be a trucker, even though the wanderlust has been in my blood for as long as I can remember. I grew up in, at the time, a small town in Massachusetts called Franklin. It was named after one of our countries fore fathers and even has a public library that holds original books penned and donated by Benjamin Franklin himself. You can't check them out anymore, but you can look at them through a glass window.  Growing up in a small town was fun for the most part, the quiet at night was only broken by sounds of the crickets and tree frogs with the occasional hiccup of bullfrog. The night symphony was what I went to sleep with for a long long time.

My first major interest was computers and technology. I was an 80's child, which means that video games and arcades were the biggest draw in my life. I loved those electronic cartoons that you could manipulate and destroy, only to be able to do it again with another quarter. The very first computer in my house was a ADAM computer. The first computer that I ever owned was a Commodore 64. I damn near devoured it up when I got it. As time went on, I learned about modems and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and how to connect with other people through those systems. Then came the day that I was able to get my hands on  a copy of a BBS myself. That changed my world, I dove into how it worked and pulled it apart bit by bit, literally. I taught myself BASIC programming and started to code my own programs to work within that environment.

Memorial Day Weekend

Welcome to my long weekend.

Sadly to say, I still have not had any answer back from the trucking company about an orientation date yet. Since this is Memorial Day weekend and the official start of the Summer Season for most commercial enterprises, it comes as no surprise that my recruiter had taken Friday off to start a long weekend.

So this gives me more time to play with, I have started to work on my health a little bit more. If you notice off to the left I have added a RSS feed showing my progress of work for walking with a program called Run Keeper. Its pretty slick and I find its better than a pedometer. Not only does it track with GPS my position and relative speed, but it ties in with Google Maps to plot out where I have gone. So if I decide to go on a few side and winding roads on my walks, I can see exactly where I was at the time.

What I am doing is setting myself up to compete with myself. I need to start exercising again and walking is going to be one of those things I can do no matter where I go. So while I am out and about at various trucking rest stops along the way, I will be walking and if you care to check out where I am doing my walking, it should pop up on a map. A tad Big Brotherish, I know. Then again the truck has similar tracking on it as well, so either way, people know where I am. I'm just bringing it to my friends and curious bystanders.

Tuesday will be the start of a new week and hopefully that will show any progress towards my starting at the company. As it stands all the reports and paperwork that have been submitted has passed the Safety department and is now sitting with the Medical director. They have to look over all the medical paperwork done by the clinic I went to and the reports and documents I have sent in based on my Sleep Study and CPAP machine. From there a decision will be made.

All that there is now to do is wait.

Updates from .... not the field.

As it turns out, the report I sent in Friday was not what they were looking for. The data date range was wrong.

So the final (I hope) piece of information that I need to submit to the Safety department has been sent.

I am waiting now, not more than a little trepidation, for the all clear and a date for my orientation.

As I think I said before, I am jumping through a lot of hoops here for a very good reason. None of these obstacles were in front of me for company number 1. What would have happened when I got there? Would I have had to go through all of these same steps there? A lot of this information would have taken me weeks were I on a truck trying to learn what I needed to learn. It would have been especially difficult if I had the stress of information gathering after the fact.

I am glad I am still home to do all this information gathering. I am not too thrilled about not working yet but I would rather have all my ducks in a row BEFORE I get out there. Focus while learning is an important thing. I really dislike being distracted about one thing while trying to learn another and then failing both.

We shall see what happens now.

Finally done..

As of Friday, I have completed all the medical requirement (I hope) that the Safety department is requiring before they will offer me an orientation date.

The last few bits of medical information was gathered and sent. The one that was the easiest turned out to be the luckiest for me. I use a CPAP machine at night due to Severe Obstructed Sleep Apnea. The Safety Dept. requires 3 months of documented compliance pulled in the form of a report from the machine itself. Long story short, I had to call the mfg. of the machine to see how I could get this report extracted. They referred me to a local company that was about an hour away. I called them and they said they could do it, so I went and brought my machine with me.

Patience.. Virtuous..

I contacted my recruiter yesterday and found that all the information I sent has been received.

Now all we are doing is waiting for the Safety Department to sign off on the information and allow me to come on.

Wait, wait, wait...

Fax arriveth! (finally)

Let me tell you..

I have had more trouble getting this one damn fax from an old Doctor than I have had with anything else in the process.

Cutting out the bitching, all I can really say is that the information FINALLY got to me and I was able to pass it on. My recruiter, sadly, is gone for the day. So bright an early tomorrow morning I will be on the phone with her again to verify that the information was received and what the next step it.

I also have to cart my happy ass down to the Post Office tomorrow to pick up a DS-11 form for my card passport and get that filled out. I ran out of ink on my printer, nuff said there, so picking it up is the only option I got.

Tomorrow will be a better day.. :)

The further adventures of Dr. Waitaminute

Hoops.

So many hoops to jump through these days to just try and get into an orientation. Thursday and Friday was spent speedily waiting on the Doctor's office back north to fill out one simple form and fax it back to me.

I had figured out that I could send faxes with my Printer, I just needed to borrow a phone line to do so. Once I had permission to borrow a land line, I faxed out a medical release form and the paperwork that the clinic gave me when I went for the physical the other day.

Now I understand that Doctor's offices are busy places, I truly do. However, by closing time Friday, I was calling that office every 15 minutes to get an update because seriously, this ONE fax was holding me up from starting to get a job. I finally got the medical assistant for the Doctor on the phone and she stated that she was working til 5pm and would see what she could do. I pretty much took that as a brush off so I gave up hope on the entire thing til Monday. That is until she called me back at 4:30 stating that she would be faxing it out. So I ran to my printer and made sure it had paper in it and was hooked up to the phone line and waited and waited then waited some more.

Bottom line, the fax never came and they didn't call me back before they left. It is a damn good thing that I am over 1000 miles away because were I closer, come Monday morning I would be the first one at the door asking for my damn paperwork.

So, Monday I will HOPEFULLY have my medical stuff cleared up enough that I will be able to start the orientation process. This weekend in preparation for that, I will be gathering up all my information that I will need for the orientation day(s).  I found that the training time is split 15 days/ 16 days and in the middle of those two times I get sent home to have some home time. Home time is nice, but I made a decision last week that I may time some of my home time visiting my Mom and Dad in their respective places or visiting friends from time to time. Its up in the air for the moment, as nice of a thought that would be I still have to get employed first.  The unemployment game here is getting to me, not just the fact that I am not getting compensation for one whole job I worked that would have pushed my weekly benefit higher, but the stress of just sitting around is really getting to me. I want to be out and about making a difference in my life and the lives of those who have chosen to live in my household. I cannot provide as I would like to right now. This bothers me and is a constant thorn in my side.

Be that as it may, I am working on changing things so come Monday, the next challenge begins and hopefully I will be writing about my pains and struggles on how to properly pack 2 pillows in my suitcase.

DOT Physical Day.

Today I went to get my D.O.T. physical done for the new job. I ran into a small snag with my sleep apnea, or so I thought.

In 2008 I was diagnosed with Severe Obstructed Sleep Apnea, after which I was put onto a CPAP machine. While I was in school for the Trucking license, I heard that there were talks about Sleep Apnea being an instant disqualification for employment for companies.

Once I got home I called up my recruiter and told her the results, what she said was that it wasn't a problem since I was already diagnosed, all I had to do was gather up the information I needed from my previous study and send it in. I spent the early part of the afternoon calling the hospital that gave me the study and the Dr. office that ordered it. Aside from waiting for the snail mail package to arrive with the info, I should be all set. The recruiter also told me that they have several drivers on the road that use a CPAP machine for sleeping. That in itself gave me more relief than I had expected.

So, now I need to figure out faxing capabilities. I may have a cheap solution, but I have to wait until people get home to follow up on it. So we will see.

Finally!

Made it to the Drivers License office and took my hazmat test today. Good thing i studied the little bit I did. 30 questions can only get 6 wrong or you fail. I got 5 wrong but made it through the test with a passing grade!

So now I am sitting in the waiting area for my Class A/CDL license. Apparently the hazmat endorsement will not be on my initial licence because they have to do a background check. So I will get that in the mail in 30 days or so.

I spoke to company 2 today about the official employment offer. I have to pass a second physical, which shouldnt be too bad. Then I be able to set my orientation date. Once there, I will have to pass a physical stress test which emulates various positions and exercises that can happen thru a common work day. I am confident that I am up for that challenge. They also do a drug screen via hair follicle, I will have to look that one up. I also need to gather together $55.00 for the card passport to be able to drive to Canada and back. Any donations would be great, or click some of the ads on the sides. Anything helps, the only readon I ask for help is that unemployment does not pay for much beyond basic survival needs. So thank you for helping out in any way.

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So today wasn't the day..

Well my goal of going to the Driver's License location to pick up my CDL and Hazmat today fell through. The day was not a total scrub, I was able to move forward and set up an appointment for tomorrow to do my Hazmat test and I just got word a few minutes ago from the new trucking company that they want to talk to me tomorrow morning for an official job offer.

This should mean that I will be able to setup the earliest appointment for getting into orientation and getting back to work. Not that I don't enjoy sitting around here and talking to myself.. Actually, sitting around here is causing me great anxiety. I feel pretty worthless and non-productive. Going back to work will be nice even when I bitch about it.

One thing that I did this weekend was get a good idea from my wife. Take a picture a day while on the job. Find something unique and interesting and take a picture of it, then post it here for everyone to see. Then once I get out on the road and I find interesting things to eat in unique locations, take a picture of that and post it. I can't wait to hit Chicago and try an authentic Chicago Pizza.. ooo, just the thought of it. mmm..

Anyway, that's today's endeavor. I need to review my hazmat material for tomorrow's test and get my official license.

Update 1

Here is an update on employment.

Just got off the phone with my guys over at unemployment (finally) and was able to secure the last piece of information that I needed to start the pre-employment process over at the new company.

I touched base with the recruiter, she was waiting on the background reports to come in and my call to say that I had the form one way or the other. I should be getting a call sometime later today to go over a pre-employment offer and setup an orientation date.

More news later as I get it.

*Edit*

Just called up company #1 and cancelled the orientation. Doing a spot check of how I felt about that didn't really give me anything. So, we will see. I guess I really didn't have that much personally invested into the idea of going there. I do know I had a feeling of being REALLY far away, I guess that is a good enough answer. I may not have kids yet, but I do have a family and company #1 wasn't really working with me at all about being able to come back and see them in any way, shape or form.

*edit 2*

Went out to the post office and mailed back the bus tickets I picked up the other day. So it is not official, I am not only out of their orientation, but I don't have the means to get there. :) I offered to destroy the tickets, but they were quick to ask me to mail them back. $200. bus tickets, I guess they wanted to get a refund. :)

Not even out of the gate yet...

So today I sat down and did some research on the trucking company that I decided to go with. Yeah yeah, I already got the talk about doing that BEFORE setting appointments. However, after doing my research, I am not as confident as I was when I set everything in motion last week.

A friend of mine who is also in the trucking industry keyed me in on the following forum:
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/

I logged in and created an account then did some searches.

What I found kind of concerned me.

Now, I don't want to spread any bad karma around and I know that people have their own opinions and points of view. What I like to do is "taste the flavor" of the different posts and see what I come away with. That in itself gave me all I really needed to know about the company. Even with people who were "happy" with the work at the company, there was a sour undertone that just kept popping up in every post.

Now, my orientation isn't until the 16th for that place, so I have time to back out. First rule of any agreement, everything can be backed out of up until you actually start the process. The way I interpret that is, once I step foot on that greyhound bus then I am locked in on that path.

So, as I was wandering around the forum in a blind haze of "Oh shit, what did I just get myself into?", I found a company that was getting really good reviews and positive "tastes" for every post I read. Even with the people that were complaining, they also had positive things to say. Plus, it just so happened that I had a pre-hire from that company as well. So, I called.

After speaking with the recruiter, I compared the answers to the questions between both companies. I found that I liked the new one better than the one I had set up with. So, I started the process of going with that company instead.

Seeing how I spent the majority of my time this afternoon trying to get a transcript of payments made to me from unemployment, the call center for the "old" company is closed. So tomorrow morning I now have a goal when I get up all bleary eyed.

Hell, I haven't even started driving yet and I am jumping companies.

The real nice thing about this CDL license is that even if all the corporation sites fall thru, I have a few private offers on the side that are just waiting for me to speak up.  Perhaps the economy is taking a hit on the trucking industry but the amount of flexibility to find a job, even as a newbie, is pretty impressive.

Just a little frustrated

Went down to pass in the paperwork I forgot to bring with me earlier.

That's when I find out that the check that is being cut for my hazmat endorsement is going to be mailed to me. Also, that the earliest I may get it is Saturday. Which means I can't go down and get my license until next Monday.

While this isn't a big deal, I was kinda geared up to go down today and get it done and over with. I guess that's part of the curve ball they call life or just living with other people with their agendas in this world. Either way, it gives me a week to brush up on my Hazmat studies. It is also a good thing that I pushed my orientation date out to the 16th of May. Otherwise I would have had to call up and reschedule things.

Progress

Part of becoming a truck driver for me required me to get my Class A/CDL license. I was able to do this with the help of the Florida Unemployment System.

A little back story.

I went on unemployment in the beginning of November 2010 after ending a contract position with a technical temp agency. Towards the end of December, I was required to attend a workshop at the One Stop Employment location. They work with people to find jobs and try to get them off unemployment by offering assistance and training opportunities. During my first visit, I was asked if I had any interests in other employment fields, in which I mentioned my interest in trucking. I was then given the starting point in which I needed to move forward and get a school grant to cover the cost of school.

Fast forward 4 months later, I was approved for the grant and started school on April 11, 2011. I graduated on April 29, 2011 in which I was given my certificate of completion and have lined up a job with a trucking company trucking out of Texas.

Today, I kinda screwed up. I was supposed to go down to the One Stop at 2pm today and turn in my timesheets, but I forgot that I was supposed to bring my packet from the school with the certificate and transcripts. Soooo, I have to head back for 4pm to finish that. After which I will get a check for the cost of my Hazmat endorsement.

So, I figure it will be to late to hit the DMV today for my new license if I do get that check today. I have all week to get it done. After rushing around to school for 3 weeks, a little bit of "laid back" is in order I think.

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Gearing up

So I just installed a blogger app on my phone which looks pretty awesome thus far. It lets me insert pics and vid clips into my posts. Always good to be prepared eh?

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