Question:
It's amazing how fearfully polite drivers can be when you're driving a thirty thousand pound combination vehicle at five mph below the posted speed limit and trying really hard to keep it between the lines when the vehicle has printed on the side in 24 inch letters "STUDENT DRIVER." I haven't had a car come within fifty yards.
Perhaps I'll paint "student driver" on my company truck when I get one.
Guess what... I started the road portion of my CDL training last week.

Answer:
You're right about the four-wheelers, driver.
Watch out for the trucks. We're not afraid, just checkin' out your driving and hopin' you're following our rules.
keep us posted driver

Answer:
Shuffler,
My aim is to take the "high road" in my new career. We each have but one reputation and I would like for mine to be that of a real professional. I've come to this industry with an open mind and a desire to learn how to do things properly.
I spend a great deal of time observing other drivers (I have a 200 mile round trip commute to CDL school each day) and I listen carefully to what more experienced drivers have to say. In the latter case, your posts and those of others on this board have offerred much. Thank you.
Also, you may be pleased to know that I have decided to drive for Werner. Primarily because I beleive they are the only training company where I can run legal and follow "the rules." I'll be attending orientation in Allentown, PA on June 9th (assuming I pass my Skills/Road test on the 6th.) I hope that we'll have the opportunity to meet sometime along the way.
All the best, and stay safe.

Answer:
Me too. It's possible we could meet at random. I just run western states, but I meet a lot of 48-state drivers when I swap loads with them. Maybe we'll swap loads someday.
With Werner you will follow the "rules" more -- all of them. The computer does not accept innacurate line-3 entries, period. Your log messages must match the truck's GPS/odometer readings as they're sent-up in real time. All change of status entries sent via satelite by the driver are, logged electronically on a single computer back in Omaha. It has to document you weren't moving with hard evidence, not just what the driver sends, to keep you off line-3. Mess with it, and it'll charge you extra line-3 time. It's very smart and apparently inpenetratable.
Never having the opportunity to cheat on your driving hours, reduces stress and improves your quality of life on the road -- things that contribute to better performance and (hopefully) a smudge-free driving record.
The down-side: You get very comfortable running legal. I makes it harder to leave Werner, since you have no experience forging logs -- a skill most other employers demand (or at least expect you to understand). We don't. We run legal (every month) and would be learning from scratch if we ever had to shift driving time on a paper log. I'd be hopeless at this, I'm sure. But somehow, I've been brainwashed to believe I don't need this skill.... Don't listen to the following nay-sayers, you could do a lot worse than Werner. The guys who figure out why like you have, do well there.
[This message was edited by Shuffler on May 24, 2003 at 20:17.]