Question:
Millis Training week 3, Cartersville, GA
Mon- Road trip to Trenton, OH (part of my driving included rush hour through Cincinnati).
Tue- return to GA slightly different route, I drove through the entire state of TN from just inside the TN / KY border to inside GA / TN line.
Wed- drug test (instructor sick- no class, released for homework, self-study / review)
Thur- I consider this a “Marathon”, we maxed out our HOS (14 hr rule), driving in all kinds of situations, we drove to AL for some exposure to mountain driving, got exposure to lots of curves, turns and driving at night.
Fri- vehicle inspection, final evaluation, paperwork, graduation (issued Millis hat & shirts)
I will return Monday for a 3 day orientation, official hiring then return home to wait for my driver trainer to pick me up for OTR training for 5-8 weeks and CDL road test
Final Comments: There are some who might look at this and say a 3 week school is a “cdl mill” and should be avoided. I know there are “cdl mills” out there and I agree that they should be avoided but please don’t misunderstand me. Millis Training is not a 3 week “cdl mill”.
Although it is not described as an 8-11 week course, Millis training is just that when you look at the whole picture. Phase one is 3 weeks of comprehensive training at the “school” where you are exposed to all aspects of professional truck driver training: classroom, lab and many kinds of driving. Basic skills are taught with great emphasis on SAFETY! If you pass the tests meeting an acceptable level of competency you will graduate and enter Phase 2 OTR training for 5-8 weeks with a highly competent, experienced driver trainer. This is where your basic skills are developed, improved and fine tuned to make you a safer more competent driver. During this time when the trainer feels you are ready, you will be scheduled for and take your CDL road test in your state of residence. When you pass your CDL road test, your state is certifying that you meet acceptable standards of competency and are safe to drive solo. (The learning never stops)
Bottom line, if you are wondering if Millis Training is a CDL mill, the answer is Absolutely Not! (How many CDL mills do you know that will take you out driving in a 5 or 6 state area to include mountain and night driving?)
MTI is exactly what they say they are, a professional truck driving institute! I chose Millis after much research and feel I made an excellent choice and after graduating from phase 1, I am very happy with my choice and recommend it highly. It has been a wonderful learning experience and I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity and appreciate everything my instructor Greg Griffin has taught and done for me.
Charles

Answer:
Sorry man, but that is a CDL mill. I know you feel good about what you just accomplished, and I don't mean to crap on it, but you will realize very soon that you were trained at a cdl mill. You're making a mistake that alot of new drivers make, thinking that you know something. Believe me, you've got a lot more to learn.
I know that you have already learned a lot, but you should have had more time on a closed range learning to back up. Now you're going to be out there backing in beside someones brand new $130,000 379X, after a long day of driving. There is no room for error here... You must execute flawlessly.

Answer:

This is where you've got to be careful. The "highly competent, experienced driver trainer" line is a farce in this industry. Most of them are in it for the money, so it's a crapshoot if you get a good one or not. Some companies will let drivers with only 6 months in the saddle become trainers. That's the blind leading the blind if you ask me.
I had one great trainer at Roehl and one a-hole. The a-hole guy snored like a McCulloch chainsaw at night and didn't want to take showers. He was a total jerk. One time, I scratched the bumper of the truck on a rock at MeadWestVaco up in Maine and he threw a temper tantrum. There was no damage, I just scraped the plastic a little bit, but he started yelling and hollaring at me right in front of all these other drivers.
I got out of the truck and walked towards him and said "Let's settle this right here, (edited)" and suddenly he backed down and got all apologetic. He's lucky he did because I was gonna lay him out right then and there. When I went up to the dock, this JB Hunt driver told me "If you would have hit him, me and these other guys would have said he swung on you first."
At the end of training, they give you this evaluation sheet to rate the trainers and I trashed him on it. Later on, I heard they fired the guy after he T-boned a bread truck down in Mesquite, Texas.
Answer:

Amazing, I guess Millis uses what they consider a loop hole to avoid complying with the drug & alcohol testing rules.

In case there is any questions on what a "Safety Sensitive Functions" are:

Yeah, excellent safety measures.
Be asfe."If men were angels...No government would be necessary."
51st Federalist Papers
"Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome"

Answer:
you guys are a real winners, instead of saying hey man congrats you diss him, every cdl school is a mill even the private ones, they take your money, you pass your test and get going with a trainer, you are not going to get all that hands on in class, that is why they put you with a trainer also, unless you learned from a family member or friend you went to a cdl mill as the supertruckers call it, take everything with a grain of salt that people say here bro and good luck out there see you soon

Answer:
FT, the carrier has problems. Hopefully your future employer won't have the same problems.
It's amazing how many drivers file complaints regarding D & A testing, equipment problems, and HOS after they quit a job.
Be safe."If men were angels...No government would be necessary."
51st Federalist Papers
"Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome"

Answer:
drug and alcohol- if you are clean you will pass period
hos- thanks to the supertruckers killing people and doing stupid things that law passed with no problem
equiptment- do your daily inspections and that should help keep breakdowns from happening

Answer:
Congrats on getting through the course Charles. Keep us posted here on the rest of your training, your driver trainer, and your further experiences. Hope you get a good trainer, that part is truly a crapshoot.
It will take a couple years experience to truly make a professional driver. It will get easier as you go though. At some point you will just quit worrying about little stuff, and go with the flow. You won't really think about where your going to eat or sleep, because you'll know every pull off and little truckstop from here to BFE. You won't think about hills, mountains, snow, or shifting because it will come natural. You won't worry if your next delivery is going to be a tight dock. or have plenty of room to work, because you will have already been there and done that at a million different places.
If you're like 99% of new truckers, your only worry a couple years from now is going to be how are you gonna get back out of the industry you worked so hard to get into.
Then again, you may be the one percent that really likes it, or finds the one good job in a million. Either way, best of luck to you.

Answer:

If the employer doesn't do the testing how is the EMPLOYER doing their best to keep druggies off the road?

A little history, the HOS have been around since about 1938. Prior to the current 11/14 hour rule with a 10 hour break it was 10/15 with an 8 hour break.

So what do you do when your employer refuses to repair the equipment? Are you going to fork out $1,000 to have all of the brakes replaced?
Preventive maintenance and doing daily vehicle inspections is an excellent start. However, many companies don't take care of equipment the way they should.
When you consider your employer use their US DOT number go to:
http://ai.volpe.dot.gov/
Go to Safestat On-Line then a Detailed Carrier Result. You will see graphs of the carrier's OOS rate for driver, vehicles, and be able to see any enforcement cases the carrier has had against them.
Be safe."If men were angels...No government would be necessary."
51st Federalist Papers
"Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome"

Answer:
i was talking about the new hours of service, they cant fix what they arent told is wrong, i have to admit you would have to be completly stupid if you can not tell the diffrence from a person that does or does not do drugs.

Answer:

Since you are new to trucking I guess you are unaware of the constant moaning and groaning by drivers the old 10/15 hour rules were unusable. Drivers and carriers have been complaining about the HOS forever.

No, you can't always tell. That's why there is drug testing. Careful how you label people FT you maybe labelling yourself.
Be safe."If men were angels...No government would be necessary."
51st Federalist Papers
"Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome"

Answer:

By all means, he should be congratulated. He seems like a clean-cut, well-spoken, educated person. We need a helluva lot more like him in this industry.
All I'm saying is you've got to watch out with some of these so-called "trainers". You think 6 months OTR is enough to qualify someone to train others? I sure as hell don't. Even a year don't cut the mustard, if you ask me. It should be 2 years MINIMUM combined with a solid "train the trainer" course.
Alot of these guys are in it for the extra bucks. They can care less if the trainee learns anything or not. My first trainer wasn't like that. He was a pro through and through. Second guy was a scumbag and wound up getting canned for ramming a bread truck.
Since your handle is "futuretrucker" you might want to hold your tongue before passing judgement on others who have alot more experience than you.
Answer:
first, i dont to drugs will i ever, no i have family to think about and i wouldnt risk losing my job for a quick high, and just cause my name on here is futuretrucker doesnt mean i dont know anything about trucking, as far a passing judgement i'm not by any means, i'm not perfect either only one man is perfect and he does not walk this earth as we do, i'm not going to just hold my tongue on here this is a forum and debate is one thing on here that makes it a good site, just because you have experience doesnt make you know it all either, you may be one sided on some things than others and you are entilted to that by all means, what i'm saying is that it seems as if most of the peole that say dont go there and dont do this are the ones that didnt make it compared to what i have heard in the truck stops, but it sure sounds funny how they are making it work for them compared to what i hear on here, if i were only to go on what i have heard here then why are you all driving truck can you answer that

Answer:
I would have a hard time believing Millis would let a driver go out and not drug test him first. That would be a major and costly mistake. I suppose we'll have to wait to hear if he was actually tested at a later date. If not I hope some one gets a look at their books and puts it to them.
As stated be careful with your expectations when it comes to trainers. There are those who are top notch and who's main goal is to teach some one the correct way to drive and manage time on the road. Then there are those who only want a second log book in the truck so they can make the miles and even more money. There is nothing wrong with training for the money and in my opinion any trainer who isn't doing it to make some more cash is nuts. But there is some thing wrong when it is their only motivation and the trainee is simply a means of more money.
I dont know Millis's policy but most companies will let you change trainers if it isn't working out. If things are going wrong don't be afraid to say so and get another trainer.

Answer:

People who are successful in this biz don't hang around truckstops bragging to starry-eyed newbies how great they're doing. Successful drivers are out there turning the miles and making the max of their 11/14 hours. When they do stop, it's only to fuel, shower, get some shut-eye, do paperwork, and maybe grab a soda and a bag of chips.

Not driving a truck anymore. Been there, done that. Never again. Went and got me a real job like +100% of the sensible people that churn in and out of this industry every year.