Orientation

I arrived at the hotel in Atlanta at 11pm.  I was roommates with another female.  It was nice to know that at least I wouldn’t be the only one.  She was very understanding about my late arrival and we went right to bed.  The next morning we were both up at 6am and headed down to breakfast at 7.  They have a shuttle to take you to the terminal at 7:30, but since I had a car, I went ahead and drove myself.  I get there and have to wait in a long line to get registered. 

The first thing you do at any and every orientation is the DOT physical.  They have a vendor come into the building to administer the tests.  It took a long, long time to get 40 people all drug tested and doctor tested.  There were at least 3 people who didn’t pass the DOT physical and went home before lunch.  There is person after person and video after video letting you know about the company and what they expect out of you.  By the third day there are only 30 people left in the orientation class.  I felt more prepared than 90% of them.  There were 5 females in the class and 2 of them just asked stupid question after stupid question.  I kept asking myself, “am I just smart, or is she just stupid?”  I still don’t know the answer.  The good thing is my roommate was not one of the stupid ones.  I really lucked out on this one, I would get so bored answering their questions.

The absolute worst part about the orientation is that the whole time they say, we won’t know if we will hire you until the end of the last day.  This is because there are a lot of lazy people out there.  If you can’t make it to class at 8am, then you won’t be able to make a 3am delivery time, and you get weeded out before you even start.   I came to the orientation with the mindset that I have little control over my life for the next 6 weeks.  I won’t be able to go where I want when I want.  To make it through, I have to do what I’m told without any negativity.  I have to go out with a stranger and share a space the size of a bathroom for 6 whole weeks.  My trainer will be in control of where I go and what I do, I will have to take a shower when I’m told, eat when I’m told, and drive where I’m told.  This is the part where I had the most trouble adjusting the last time I tried trucking.  I didn’t realize that during training, it is mainly about giving up the control and being flexible.  If they tell me that they don’t have a trainer available for me immediately and they need me to go back to the hotel and wait until tomorrow, then that’s what I have to do. 

True to their word, the training staff didn’t let us know what we would be doing until 5pm on the very last day of orientation.  Some people got picked up right then to go out with a trainer, some went home and were told that the trainer will call them and pick them up soon.  Some went back to the hotel to wait until the next day to find out if they will have a trainer matched with them.  I was in this last category.  I get to go in tomorrow and go to a very nice and exciting safety class and after that hopefully they will have matched me up with a trainer and then I’ll find out where I go.  I might have to go home and wait for them to pick me up, or I might have to stay at the hotel until they arrive in Atlanta to pick me up.  I just don’t know what’s going to happen.  But I will definitely keep everyone posted.  The greatest feeling I have now is relief that I passed this first phase of training, but I know that the hardest part is yet to come.