Conditional Job Offer.

Congratulations! [?] is proud to extend you a conditional offer of employment as a driver associate.

Finally got the confirmation email of my conditional job offer. In order to become fully employed by the company, I need to jump through several hoops. I've already managed some of them: hair follicle drug screen, DOT physical - using my recent DOT physical from CDL school a few months ago, and background checks for the states of Texas, Alaska, West Virginia, and Ohio. I am scheduled to attend orientation from 8/3 - 8/9 in Pennsylvania. I will get some local drive time, train in virtual simulators, review electronic logging, practice trip planning, and take a road test which will include coupling/uncoupling a trailer, pre-trip inspection, and a 15-20 minute drive through town to ensure I am a safe enough driver to be allowed to go back out on the road for 4-6 weeks with an actual trainer again - for real this time.

Anyway, I'm excited to be almost employed again. I'm also excited that my pay during orientation and over-the-road training will be double what it was with the previous company. I might actually be able to survive on that. Possibly pay all of my bills rather than prioritizing by due date and amount. I'll also be entitled to mileage to and from orientation. They're even going to feed me twice a day. The less I have to worry about, the better off I'll be. I will have a roommate during orientation. I don't mind that so much. It's only a week. I've dealt with worse for longer, afterall. Besides, I'll be too busy learning to be bothered too much with anything else. It's a few hours a day and then a night of sleeping. No big deal.

After orientation, I drive home and enjoy up to a week of home time before starting out on my next over-the-road adventure. This trainer will not act in the capacity of a teammate. He will not be sleeping while I'm driving and yelling unhelpful bullshit through a closed privacy curtain at me. He won't be driving while I'm trying to sleep or just keep myself from being hurled out of my bunk after a sudden hard brake. He will not be driving at all, actually. I will be driving the entire time and he will be awake and engaged with what I'm doing and where we are at all times. He will be actively assisting me with improving my driving and giving me actual real-time feedback. He's there simply to watch and instruct me. That's fine. I prefer that method. I'll actually get some practice docking and possibly performing 45 degree backing - which I had never seen or done until I arrived at orientation in Dallas for the last company and was expected to perform the manuever for my final test. It took several attempts. I was not happy and the instructors were not impressed, but what do you expect when I've never even seen the manuever much less attempted it? I can parallel park a semi like nobody's business, but that's because I've done it hundreds of times now. I barely managed the 45 degree backing insanity. I would like to practice that more than once before attempting it in a real world situation. I don't think it's very safe to turn someone loose after successfully performing a backing manuever once and only after numerous attempts.

Anticipate another travel map shortly. I have added the link on the menu bar. It's all the way at the bottom. Right now, it's fairly plain and only houses the previous travel map. But, that'll change soon enough. Also, I removed the "currently stuck in..." app. It was a decent idea, but I couldn't edit or update it while on the road, so... Forget it. Besides, after being stuck in Dallas for two weeks, no where else really compares or even bothers me. Maybe I'll set up a slide show or something to replace it.

I'm excited about the additional and proper training, but I'm even more excited about the job that'll be waiting for me afterward. I'll be driving for six days and home for two. I could have elected to work five days and be off for two, but then my days home would always be Tuesday and Wednesday. I remember what it was like to never have a weekend off for years. I'd rather have days off that rotate through the week and allow me to occasionally indulge in having a semi-normal social calendar. Also, I make more money with this schedule sine I'm working an additional ten days over the other option.

The distribution center is 1.5 hours from me but that's not a bad drive if you only make it twice a week - or once roundtrip. I'll load up at the distribution center and unload a little at each store until I'm finally empty. Then I'll head back and reload and take it out to another trail of stores. Once I've done it for a few months, I should know all the different rotations and store locations and routes. It'll get easier with time. I'll have benefits after 90 days and a raise after 6 months - barring any accidents, of course. This is a dedicated route, not a regional route - a mistake I made in a previous post. Dedicated routes are highly covetted. You make serious money and are home every week. I'm really, really lucky to get this. I know that and I fully appreciate it.

Again, Congratulations!