A Whole New World & Sim City

Orientation is over and it's a whole new world. I'm officially a truck driver and now I'm just waiting to meet up with my Driver Trainer. As mentioned before, I asked for a non-smoker, so that will take a little longer to match me up since so many drivers either smoke or Vape.

There I am, the company man sporting my Werner hat taking a selfie in front of the administrative/driver building. The place has just about everything. There's a lounge, showers, laundry, a Werner store for swag and other important driver-related items. There's dozens of computer terminals for drivers to do their Computer Based Training (CBT) or E-Trainers, 2 or 3 classrooms of various sizes. There's a clinic, a small 'gym' and a couple of 'quiet' or resting areas.

In the picture above, I've just turned a 180 from the prior picture outside the Admin building. There are two or three roads of so-called "Bobtails" which are truck tractors, awaiting a call to pick up their trailers. Many of the drivers are actually snoozing in the back 'sleeper berths' of their trucks right there in the parking lot. By law, they have to sleep or at least be in the berth for between 8 and ten hours before getting behind the wheel. We can only drive a max of 11 hours in a day, which includes breaks, and ALL work related to driving, loading/unloading, fueling, and any pre- or post-inspections must be completed during an uninterrupted 14-hour period. After that, you've got ten hours of uninterrupted rest, including sleep time.

In between completing all of the online E-Trainers and some other classroom requirements, I headed out on the driving range to practice some of the backing maneuvers that I talked about in many previous posts when I was still over at Roadmaster. We spent one day practicing in the trailer 'drop yard,' but that got nuts because there were so many drivers picking up and dropping off trailers, along with 'yard jockeys' moving many of the empty trailers to other parts of the yard for inventory checks. On subsequent days, we went out to practice at this relatively empty yard a few miles away. We were able to set up a few cones and drive around with relative impunity, getting in several reps each. Some people who went on this little sojourn were actually there completing a 'safety upgrade,' in which they might have made a minor 'Boo-boo' out on the road during a pick-up or drop-off. 

They have to successfully complete a few maneuvers before they can be cleared to go back out. There are also some folks who have been out on the road with a trainer for several weeks, so this serves as their final 'promoting out' exam before they're allowed to go Solo on the road. I just enjoyed getting back into the truck because I hadn't been behind the wheel in over a week since taking my CDL exam. On one of the days, it was my turn to go to the Driver Simulator in a small building next to the Admin building. They are exactly like they sound- it's like being in a giant video game. There's a big flat screen TV in front of you, and two other large screens - one on each side. It gives you this virtual reality sort of feeling, almost 3-D. The cockpit is outfitted exactly like the inside of a tractor trailer, but I must say that my stomach didn't agree with the effect that the VR had on my inner ear. It gives many people a sort of motion sickness effect. That's one reason they keep small buckets right next to the driver's seats. I really needed one badly. The result is below... yeah, that's a Firehouse Sub inside that bag. What a waste of $7.99! From now on, I'll refer to the Simulator as "Sim City!"

As I mentioned in the previous post, the instructor named Jason was in charge of the simulators where three other drivers and myself were put through the paces of rural, city and small town, and Interstate driving. I will say that the gas and brake pedals were NOT quite as responsive as a real truck, and the steering wheel was a little TOO responsive. That was one reason for the motion sickness. The other three people in our session all said that they experienced motion sickness as well, just not to the extreme that I did. As far as the actual simulated driving events went, I was the only person in the group that passed all FIVE scenarios that Jason set up for us. He intentionally made them very difficult, since in reality, there was nothing 'at risk.' They just want to see how we could handle intense, out of the ordinary situations. Everyone in the group but me failed on one particular incident, in which a sports car was following a fuel tanker in the other lanes heading toward us, and then passed the tanker at the very last moment. I was the only person who saw the driver getting antsy behind the tanker early enough to stop so he could pass and get around everyone. The others all died in a brutal fiery crash. Lesson learned - slow down and expect the worst! Well, I'm still waiting for my Driver Trainer, so I'll be sure to post when that assignment comes down.

Welcome To Werner!

I visited the Georgia DDS (called DMV in many other states) and gave them my temporary paper CDL, so I should be getting my plastic 'hard copy' license in about a week to 10 days. The big task at hand is to get ready for my orientation at Werner which begins on Friday, July 19th. I got this pre-training checklist below, which is pretty intensive. I should add that many of the items are directed at drivers who are coming from outside of the Atlanta area and have to stay for over a week at a hotel. Get this, Werner has so many drivers who come through here for on-boarding training and also drivers who must stay a day or two for a variety of administrative reasons, that they actually own a chain of small hotels called "My Place." Apparently the hotel is pretty full most of the time, too.

The more you know...

Friday, July 19th has arrived and I showed up at the Werner Terminal, which is right next door to the Roadmaster Drivers School, or as they would say at the school - "Up the hill." It's located off Blairs Bridge Road in Lithia Springs, right off the Thornton Road exit of I-20. The closest landmark for you ATLiens is Sweetwater Creek State Park. Our family has gone to that park with our dogs dozens of times. In fact, I went there to just chill by the lake and enjoy my lunch one day during school. Anyhow, orientation is what you might expect- a lot of filling out paperwork, presentations and videos talking about all of the benefits and programs that Werner has available. There ARE a lot! The guy in the light aqua-colored shirt to the left of the picture below is Jason. He'll come into one my stories soon, because he's an instructor and runs the Driving Simulator.

I had about a dozen people in my class. It's a good mixture of "Newbies" like myself, who are completely new to the profession, along with some folks with a little experience, and then there were a couple people who have driven for a long time and have just decided to come over to Werner from another company. There is a guy named Mitchell in my group who was also at Roadmaster with me, but was in a class two weeks ahead of me. Good dude and really smart - he has a pilot's license!

We have to set up an account in the Werner website and Driver Portal because we can do just about all of our everyday business through the portal. We get alerts and emails from corporate (in Omaha, NE) and can even look at our paychecks, access online practice/educational modules known as "E-Trainers" and much more. It's pretty handy and relatively easy to navigate.

By the end of the first day, we're basically worn out from filling out all the paperwork. We also had to take a follow-up drug screening. The 'highlight' of the day was getting our picture taken for our key card, which grants us access to getting on the Werner Terminal lot and into the driver administration building. We actually got the physical card when we showed up for class on Saturday. 

We have to show up at the "My Place" hotel on Monday morning for our drivers meeting, which will discuss "Dwell Time" -that's basically the period we spend waiting for our Driver/Trainer. I've been told mine could take a little while to match up, since I requested a non-smoking driver- the majority of drivers either smoke or Vape. During dwell time we have to stay busy and complete E-Trainers and perform several practice classes to hone our skills in the interim. More next time!