After a great weekend with the family, I left Milwaukee Sunday afternoon and arrived in Chicago at the hotel where I'd be staying for the next couple-of-days for orientation shortly after the Super Bowl started. My room mate (Mr. D) arrived shortly thereafter. He's from Michigan and plans on driving nationally for company we will both be employed at. He was at another carrier for about 6-months and grew disgruntled on the lack of miles he was getting. Interestingly enough, his dad is just starting to learn how to drive a big truck this week at a truck driving training school. Perhaps they will be team drivers down the road after his dad gets some initial experience under his belt. After the game was over (It's official--the Patriots are a dynasty!), we both crashed.
Our wake-up call came at 5:00 AM. Orientation started at 6:00 AM. While backing the car out of the parking spot at the hotel, I hit the pole on the opposite side of the narrow parking lot. Duh! My room mate must think I'm a klutz! Arriving at the company (who will remain nameless for now) we were all divided into 4-groups. Each group then took turns at four different activities throughout the day: A Road Test, a Drug Screen, a Physical (including some lifting and stepping exercises), and getting some Hazmat instruction (hazardous materials). Mr. L led our group through each of the activities.
Hazmat training involved watching a video and answering some questions and testing us on our understanding of the DOT regulations and the company's policies on Hazmat.
The physical was typical: checking a range of motions as well as the turn-the-head-and-cough routine (I had my first turn-and-cough exam by a female doctor; that was a bit awkward but I got over it; she was a professional and didn't laugh (grin!). There was also a 3-minute mini stair-stepping exercise as well as some 50/60 pound weights (walking with and lifting them).
The Road Test was very simple. Our group's facilitator took us 3 of us out at a time and we made some turns and shifted up and down and then we were done. I drove at the most 1.5 miles. I must admit I expected a little more of a challenge on the road test. But we drivers all had at least 6-months of experience under our belt so the company probably made the right choice to test our skills on a small section of the streets of Chicago. A second aspect of the Road Test was backing up. For that exercise, we performed a simple backing exercise in the lot with a 48-foot trailer. It was an easy task for most of us.
The Drug Screen was the "pee-test" as well checking our vision and hearing capabilities.
After all of us had completed the activities, we entered into a computer room (where we would spend most of the day tomorrow) and were officially welcomed into the company. Then we viewed a few videos and went over some initial administration activities before our first orientation day was officially over.
Today was the "toughest" day of the three days of orientation. The remaining days will be spend mostly in the class room. So far so good. Even their cafeteria food (we get a $10.00 voucher per day) was good!
My room mate and I arrived back at the hotel by 4:30 and spend the rest of the evening relaxing, talking, and watching TV. We also finished the delicious deep dish pizza he had ordered the night before (Chicago Pizza rocks!) and then I placed an order for more!
miles driven = 1.5
5:34:10 PM
back to top |
