Speaker 2: 0:10

What's up everybody? Welcome back to that's Delivered. I'm your host, trucking Ray, and today we have a special guest with us. We're going to do something a little different, where we talk to someone and get their perspective on what it's like to get their CDL. His name is Joshua Burnell. He's fresh out of CDL school, just stepping into the wild and exciting industry that we all love, and I wanted to bring him in because I think it's important that we hear what it's like to go through the process right now, not 10 years ago, not five years ago, but right now. And there's a lot of people out there that may be thinking about getting their CDL going into trucking, maybe unsure, wondering what is the first steps like? What is it really like today?

Speaker 1: 0:49

And we're going to hear from someone who's just done that, who's lived through it. How are you doing? I'm doing great, doing great. Beautiful day over here in Wisconsin.

Speaker 2: 1:00

There you go. Not that far from Minnesota, man. So I appreciate that I got to get out there and see it for myself, get out of the studio and check it out, and nothing like good weather, right?

Speaker 1: 1:11

Yeah, yeah, we got a little bit of rain out here. So you know, springtime we need a little bit. It's a little brown. Get it to look green around here, so it'll be great.

Speaker 2: 1:20

Absolutely so. Congrats on getting your CDL. Thank you Absolutely so. Congrats on getting your CDL.

Speaker 1: 1:26

Thank you, that's no small thing, man. That's awesome. Appreciate that. Coming on the show and talk about what it was like, just kind of get us started Before trucking. What were you doing? What?

Speaker 1: 1:44

Working in a field that I was in for a long time community health education. So really worked for the Boys and Girls Club for a long time, really bought into that and then, you know, started starting working for other centers. You know, kind of helping my community live a better quality of life, live a better quality of life. So really really cool experience. You know I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1: 2:12

But you know you work in nonprofits, you work in education. You kind of get capped out on how much money you can make. So at the same time you know you care, you tend to care a lot about people and you kind of get what they call compassion fatigue. You know you kind of get burnt out on trying to help people all the time and sometimes people don't want to help themselves necessarily. So that's kind of where I came from. I'm from St Paul, originally moved down to La Crosse, wisconsin, and then to Austin, texas, to start a couple of boys and girls clubs and the housing projects down there. So pretty cool experience. Definitely a different background than most people would expect.

Speaker 2: 2:49

Awesome man. Thanks for your contribution, man. That's huge and we need more of that. You know, and I think as time goes on maybe there'll be more opportunities for things like that, but right now everything's so cost so much, right? Was trucking always something that, in the back of your mind, Is that more of a recent decision?

Speaker 1: 3:08

It was a really, really a recent decision. You know, moving to the area that I moved to, you know there's a lot of factory jobs out here. I'm not a farmer. You know I'm from a city. You know just kind of making the decision like, do I want to stay around the salary I was making? Or you know I'm from a city. You know just kind of making the decision like, do I want to stay around the salary I was making? Or, you know, can I save for retirement? Can I retire someday? You know kind of looking at, like what the economy looks like right now, like I need to make some money, like I need to make some money and I need to stash some money away so that one day I don't have to work for my entire life.

Speaker 2: 3:43

Absolutely. I can echo those same words, man. I appreciate that. Was there a moment that you know something specific that made you say, all right, I want to go get my CDL.

Speaker 1: 3:54

You know, really, you know my wife is a great partner and we kind of just looked at all the jobs and the job markets together. You know, you know we looked at a few things. You know I have a lot of experience, a lot of different varied experience. You know home restoration, things like that, and you know getting into sales, like doing roofing sales, and I and I did that for a little bit but it was really cutthroat. It was a kind of a dog eat dog. In the office that I was in it was a sales order, restraining order, but here in Wisconsin, you know, people kind of have the attitude of doing it yourself. So uh it, it wasn't really a good fit. You know stressing me out, as you know, pulling my hairline back, and you know I wanted something that was going to be more consistent, because when November hit, people stopped even considering putting a roof on their house and yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:48

So, like I looked at trucking, you know I have a clean, clean driving record. Fox Valley Technical College is where I got my, got my certificate from and got my CDL from, and they have an outstanding program, one of the I would. I would say it's probably one of the best in the country. Um, right down the street from where I live at, and, uh, you know, the opportunity to do that presented itself, uh, you know. And so looking at the job market is really what my wife and I did. And just saying, you know, this is a very blue collar area. There's factories all over the place. Like either I'm going to be a dude, that's you know, just hitting it hard every day, breaking my back and in the factory, or I'm gonna be a guy that you know drives around and I like driving. So it's it was a good fit nice.

Speaker 2: 5:32

Yeah, it's a cool area, um fox valley area. I actually premiere with that, live there for some time. So yeah, that's cool. With jj keller and all that, I mean they they definitely set up a nice program and the curriculum too. I know some of the people behind that with Rojas and I think that's really good that you pursued that and also that that's available in your community. So great job. Did you have any drivers in your family or anyone that you knew of that was in the trucking world?

Speaker 1: 6:01

Well, my best friend, matty G, you know, since about the eighth grade he and I have been you know, on the phone, part of each other's families, you know. You know, over at each other's dinners, over at each other's houses, you know, whatever the case was, you know, growing up together as kids and then growing up together still as adults, he was a trucker and he always, he always liked it and loved it. But uh, my great grandfather, uh, he actually worked for Swift, you know, I think back when they first started making trucks. So, yeah, worked for swift a long time ago.

Speaker 1: 6:33

But that never really that never really piqued my interest in it. You know, it just kind of was in the back of my mind like, oh, yeah, he worked for swift, you know, like, you know, he made, made a way for his family by by working for, for swift and trucking, so kind of cool. But yeah, matt, matt gallen definitely had, uh, uh, given me that, uh, kind, hey, you know this is a good paying job and you know I'm doing really well now because of it. So you know it was a little bit of influence there.

Speaker 2: 7:01

Nice. It's always good to have people in your corner, especially when you're making life changing decisions. How do you go about picking the school? I know there's other schools in the area. Walk me through the process.

Speaker 1: 7:13

You know I didn't really.

Speaker 1: 7:15

You know there are a few in the area, but essentially the cost of going to the technical school was, you know, the kind of the biggest draw.

Speaker 1: 7:34

You know it was a little over twenty five hundred dollars with some, with some other ancillary you know, like testing and licensing and those kinds of costs on top of it.

Speaker 1: 7:38

But, uh, I knew a kid, uh, that was going to a different school, that kind of fit his, fit, his uh work schedule, and it was closer to 6,000. So I mean, it was really like, you know, okay, I could do that because I was working at the time, or I could, you know, really make a plan, put, put all my eggs in that basket, make a focused, focused attempt to just, you know, cause when you go to JJ, when you go to the JJ Keller uh track in Fox Valley, it's full-time. You're Monday through Thursday, 7.00 AM to 5.00 PM, and you're you're doing it the whole time. So, yeah, uh, I I think, I think the cost essentially, and, uh, reading the reviews and kind of the job placement too on the website, because the school kind of gives you an idea of like, hey, this is what you could make when you, when you get done here, uh, and and yeah that that's kind of how I made that decision nice, great job.

Speaker 2: 8:31

Uh, what was the first day? Like on class, I mean, were you excited, uh, nervous? A little bit of both. What was the mixture day? Like on class, I mean, were you excited, uh, nervous, a little bit of both what was the mixture?

Speaker 1: 8:36

uh, nervous, didn't really know what to expect. But you know, it was like drinking through a fire fire hose. You know, they just are pushing so much information on you all at once, you know, and, uh, you think you're gonna like maybe read a little bit and watch some videos or whatever. You don't really know what to expect, but they had us in, they had us in trucks the first day, like you know, and that was kind of like, oh man, I'm not. I'm not really ready for this, but you know it's time to get ready. You chose to do this, so get ready.

Speaker 1: 9:03

Uh, so I thought that was pretty cool, but yeah, it was like so much information all at once because they want you to learn all the safety stuff, they want, want you to know the truck, you know. And really it was like, hey, we're going to do this, uh pre-trip inspection every day. So you know this truck, you know what to look for. So, like that, that pre-trip inspection is so much information. It was just like I, I felt like I needed a nap after about 45 minutes of learning, because I was like this is so much, I need to take it in and let my brain process it.

Speaker 2: 9:38

Yeah, I remember some of that myself too, man. So it's not just you. Yeah, it's that pre-tripping. I mean, you never seen some of those things before. They're not on a car, or or just your common truck, four wheeler truck. So, yeah, it's a lot to take in and there's a lot of things that you get to understand over time, even as you're still trucking for for years you're still like, hey, asking questions. So that inquisitive mind of yours, uh, let that keep continuing to go and let that continue to learn. That's great. Uh, what were some of the tests like that you took? Did you have, uh, any endorsements that you took right off the bat that you say I'm gonna put this under my belt? I noticed quite a few endorsements. Or did you just do the basic start?

Speaker 1: 10:14

I did the basic start, Definitely, you know, kind of, you know it was an eight-week program. So, looking at the different endorsements, kind of thinking about that, you know, like what am I going to do for a job when I get done, and then decide making the decision based on that, so, yeah, I just got the combination, got the permit, you know what, just the basics of what I had to do on the permit. And then, uh, you know, decided that I was gonna not have any restrictions and and learn how to double clutch and shift on a on a truck. Uh, so that way I could pretty much drive anything they put in front of me and then went from there.

Speaker 2: 10:54

Nice, great job. Um, let's talk about the road test. What was the experience like for you there?

Speaker 1: 11:06

Well, you know, honestly, uh, I was very nervous, uh, I was very nervous, um, you know, you practice and you practice and you practice. For eight weeks, uh, we drove every day. We got to back every day, you know, we essentially got to. You know, go through our tests and our instructors walk us through the tests. But I was pretty nervous, you know, uh, one of my instructors, my driving instructors, recommended chewing gum, which I did, but I think that even made me more nervous.

Speaker 1: 11:26

I'm sitting there, you know, kind of going crazy with it, but, uh, you know I failed. I failed my first going crazy with it. But, uh, you know I failed. I failed my first, my first road test. I couldn't get, uh, you know, I was slowing down to come to a roundabout, I couldn't get into gear and, uh, so at the roundabout I came to a complete stop just to clutch in, get into gear and go, and that's considered, uh, obstructing a roadway, so, so that was an automatic failure from that. But then I got rescheduled for a week later and passed it the second time.

Speaker 2: 12:00

That's awesome, man. I mean you didn't give up, you didn't let that discourage you. I mean those roundabouts on itself are just that's something else you know. So great job. That's awesome, man. I like that experience and the fact that people think, hey, if I didn't make it the first time and I'm not as good. That's not true. It actually shows that you have more determination to get that completed. I'm proud of you, man. Good job. Was there anything that caught you off guard as far as the school or you anticipate something that you also want to highlight.

Speaker 1: 12:36

Yeah, you know the double clutching. I probably hadn't driven a stick shift car since I was 16, you know, like they're pretty much out so learning how to do that and like double clutching on a truck. I think that was a bit of a surprise. And then, I think, also all the laws and safety regulations. Like you know, it's a lot of information to take in. I didn't understand how much was in front of you to in front of you to learn before they would say, hey, you're qualified to do this, and even at the same time, like starting a new job, they're like, hey, do you really know this and understand this and why this is? And I think that really took me aback a little bit.

Speaker 2: 13:21

Yeah, that's true. You get the license and everything, and then there's still more to learn right off. You know, each company does a little different and they also have their own training process. So, yeah, that's true training process. So yeah, that's true. Um, now that you've got your license, I look back on the whole experience. Um, do you think it was anything that could have made it smoother?

Speaker 1: 13:39

you know, let's, uh, maybe help those professionals get that perspective from you as a student you know I I talked, you know, going through a new orientation at a new job and hearing the experience from other guys that are just coming into the field and into the industry, like I was. I feel like I was very blessed to go where I went to school. We had many different drivers, instructors from all sorts of backgrounds with different experiences, like yard spotters, local guys, regional guys, over the road guys. I think they all did a really good job. But you know, we had a couple instructors that were really tough on you, like almost to the point of yelling at you while you're driving. You know, not making the situation. You know they were with the best interest of you, the driver, in mind. But you know some people might react differently to that. Like me, I kind of become shut down if somebody is like screaming and yelling at me.

Speaker 1: 14:39

But you know, I feel like I had a better experience because a lot of guys that I talked to just in my orientation for my new job, they paid, you know, $5,000, $6,000. And all they did was sit in a truck and test for, you know, prepare for a test, prepare for exam. They didn't get to back in the truck, they didn't have equipment that worked and I feel like that was really a disservice to them, because you know we're starting a new job and you know the safety guys, you know the safety instructors at the, at our, at our job site is like, hey, have you ever backed before? And they're like what? No, no, I've never driven this truck before. What do you mean? And they had to prove it, you know. So I feel like you know there are a lot of people that offer driving instruction, but you want to be diligent about their background, like what are you really getting for your money? You know, are you just preparing for a test or are you actually preparing for what you're getting into for real?

Speaker 2: 15:39

Yeah, nicely said. I think that, uh, I think that resonates for a lot of people, because there's so many different schools Um, are we just passing a test or are we actually learning to drive? And I think that's a huge thing that also are able to see that you know. So where did you end up for landing a job?

Speaker 1: 16:00

Yeah, yeah, I'm with Paper Transport Inc in Green Bay. I am considered a consultant, but I'm a yard spotter at Georgia Pacific. So I moved about 50 trailers on Friday last week. So we were moving. Yeah, we were cooking that day. That's amazing.

Speaker 2: 16:23

What city is that in? Green Bay, wisconsin. It is in Green Bay. Okay, I didn't know if it was just the name of the company. All right, wow, yeah, that's a big yard too, I think. Right, yeah, huge huge, huge, huge.

Speaker 1: 16:35

Yeah, I did a satellite view on Google Maps before I went and I was very surprised on how big it was, but it was. It was uh impressive and like, oh man, I gotta be able to run this over here.

Speaker 2: 16:47

I gotta prove it now yeah, I think they're good, as long as you don't hit anything, I think you're you're gonna do great um behind that yard, the hostler, uh, getting it up and down and all the exercise you're getting that too, it's gonna be good too yeah, yeah, you, I'm looking forward to that for sure.

Speaker 1: 17:02

Keeping my heart healthy, keeping my body healthy, cause uh, uh, so far, what I've heard about the trucker diet, you know, even at school, I think somebody brought donuts in about every other day over there and it starts to add up after a while.

Speaker 2: 17:16

That's pretty good Spot on dude. Oh man. So what was the job hunt like after school? Did they kind of provide you some tips as to where to go, or you kind of do that yourself?

Speaker 1: 17:27

Yeah, yeah, actually they did a really good job of you know, they had a bunch of different businesses come in. You know Schneider Swift, pti, the company I work for now, a couple other smaller ones in the area, the company I work for now, a couple other smaller ones in the area and then they also, you know, encourage us to ask questions related to like what we were looking for. So initially I was considering going regional. And you know recruiters I think the funny thing I learned about recruiters is, you know, they're paid to get you in the door and they're really paint, trying to paint the best picture of their company and what's going on. And then going and researching and then actually, you know, talking to my friend Matt and some other drivers are like, oh, they say that, but this it's a little different. Like, so a couple of companies said, oh yeah, we're going to have you home every weekend, we're going to get you home on Friday, but really you're just getting home for your 34 hour reset, which is a lot different than, oh, I'm going to be home on Friday, I might be home on Saturday, maybe I would be home on Sunday and maybe leaving out on Sunday. That's a lot different than you know. You get home Saturday, you're home for 24 hours, you're home for a part of the day on Sunday and then getting back on the road Sunday night so that you can hit it.

Speaker 1: 18:38

I think that the recruiters do a good job of painting, painting a shiny picture, but when you get them on the phone and ask the real questions, you know, uh, I think it's uh very different. Uh, one of the companies I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna call them out too bad, but they said they had 37 drivers die last year. Once I got a recruiter on the phone, 37 drivers, while driving for their company, died on the road and I couldn't believe that. Yeah, you know, I was very surprised. I was surprised they, I was surprised they would share that with me, but also surprised like they were like, yeah, come on over, come and work for us, we'll support you.

Speaker 2: 19:20

I'm like this doesn't sound like the right place oh, man, uh, yeah, I mean a lot of people. When you go into dispatch and they give you your assignment, you know they kind of talk to you like don't you know what you got into? You're a truck driver and a little bit of it's like well, I actually, you know, I didn't really know what I was getting into.

Speaker 1: 19:40

Yeah, yeah, I mean they're telling you one thing and then it's like, well, actually you know I didn't really know what I was getting into. Yeah, yeah, I mean, they're telling you one thing and then it's something different. So you know me having the resource of Matt to fall back on, and then another family friend you know talk to about it, and then you know, actually getting to talk to the recruiters like one on one and being like all right, what is what is this really? You know that was really helpful. But you know, deciding what you want to do uh for the job, like I was like willing to go regionally, which meant I was going to be on the road and probably gone all week, and you know, back home for the 34 hour reset. My wife was supportive of that, but I could tell, you know, in our conversations, without her saying it, that that's not what she wanted. So I feel like I was very fortunate to find, uh, what I found locally. Uh, you know, I'm four days on, I'm four days off. Uh, I can pick up overtime at any time. I want, um, getting paid pretty well for it. I got built in overtime to each one of my shifts. Like I feel very lucky uh that, that I found that and you know my wife appreciates it as well Like, I love her and I would like to keep her in my life.

Speaker 1: 20:47

I don't think going regionally or even over the road and being gone for that kind of time, that's that, that's going to kill a relationship. I mean, even if you have the best laid plan, like you know, life happens while you're making those plans. So, yeah, I think uh happens while you're making those plans. So, yeah, I think, uh, I think it's very important to like, obviously, include my wife in those discussions, but also really get to the root of what these recruiters are. I mean, the recruiters are paid to get you in the door, so ask the questions and, uh, like I said my school, they gave me a list of like 30 or 40 questions that I should ask and then I formed some of my own and I felt like my classmates were nervous to ask questions, so I just asked them all.

Speaker 1: 21:30

I was like you know, I'm gonna ask everything. What's the salary? What's the? You know what's what? Am I paid per mile? What does detention pay? Like? What is home time gonna be? Like? You know, what are the benefits? When do the benefits kick in? Like, like stuff that's really important. Like you know, I think every new trucker needs to know that it needs to figure out what they want and actually how they can obtain it and if the job is really going to give it to them, cause you know, you could enter into something and in two weeks or three weeks, be like this is this, isn't it. I, I need to, I need to find something better, but how about figure that out before you sign up for it?

Speaker 2: 22:04

you know what I mean yeah, and power pack there, man. That's, that's the real talk. That's good. Um, yeah, you're gonna find out the answer one way or the other, up front or later, the hard way, yep. So, uh, yeah, I mean, sometimes the pay is good getting in the truck, but is it worth it? And a lot of people say, well, you guys are paid really well, how come you, you're calling in? Well, the lifestyle is, uh, it's not as easy as a one, two, three. I mean it's a lot of factors that go into play. Like you say, you're considering your wife's feelings and definitely, like you say, want to keep that relationship. You want to nurture it. Nurture it instead of damage it. You know that's. That's huge man. I'm proud of you for that, for standing up for your, for your family and for yourself. So that's good I was thinking about. Is there anything you're still nervous about when you start in your career? Maybe something that's looking ahead in the future, anything that you're hesitant on, maybe?

Speaker 1: 23:02

something. Let's look ahead in the future. Anything that you're hesitant on, yeah, I think you know they always warn you about DOT inspections, you know, and keeping your license clean, because really I think that's that's the key like see, if I don't love my job, you know, if I'm hitting, like, I get into a wreck at work or I'm getting citations from not doing proper inspections and stuff like that, I think that's still kind of scary. I also think that you know the fact that there is a very large company out there that uh, admitted to having 37 drivers die and I feel like, uh, you know there's a lot of safety issues that could come up. So, like, those kinds of things are still like still make me nervous. You know, like I'm a new driver, obviously, of the, of the big, of the big equipment. You know there's is there a learning curve for me? And you know the company is like well, if you own up to it right away, we're going to support you. But is that true? Like, hopefully I don't have to experience that, but you know that's still like kind of hanging over my head about it. You know I want to be a good, courteous, safe driver, but they also want me to move numbers.

Speaker 1: 24:07

You know, obviously, in my, in my position, like what happens if I have a bad day? You know what happens if I have an off day, what happens if I overestimate my abilities and get stuck like that awesome power golf cart in between the hallway, Like who's helping me, who's supporting me? In that, you know, like what do I do? What do I do? And so I think about those things. You know, I'm a constant worrier, unfortunately, and it's like, okay, I'm going to do my best to prevent those things. I'm going to do, try to remember the things I've been taught and kind of take it slow and easy. But you know, I think about that, like I want to keep my license clean and, if I need to, or if I want to leave my company, be able to find another job that's gonna, you know, pay me well and, you know, have a successful career in doing it.

Speaker 2: 24:53

That's awesome. I think that's just, uh, that's the right feeling to have. Actually keeps you it's a healthy fear, um, and you won't really know those answers. I know there's a DOT number on the side of the tractor that tells you the company's DOT number. You can research that and find out what they have. They tell you how many accidents they're involved in. You can get their CSA score and all that. You can research that.

Speaker 2: 25:18

A lot of people don't realize that that number on the side of the door is their window into what that company has done and their history record as to what they've done. So a lot of that information can be public knowledge too. So it's better that they don't hide it and that they are truthful about it and don't lie about the company's reputation. So I mean, I think too, getting in those tight areas and wondering if the company is going to back you or not, that never goes away. That's going to be something, too that you're always going to hope for the best because, like you say, you want to be a good truck driver, take your career serious. So I think that's going to always kind of loom over you as a truck driver. It's something that keeps you going, keeps you motivated to do the right thing. So I think you're right where you need to be and I think you also had an experience that's worth sharing. I'm glad you came on the show to share that with a lot of other truck drivers out there that are individuals that want to be truck drivers and want to go into the trucking industry. So I think you've done a good job.

Speaker 2: 26:17

I think big ups to you and I'm also from Mattie G for supporting you and being there. He's a great guy. He helps me out a lot as well. I worked with him for years. So, yeah, I mean, that's teamwork's what keeps making the dream work. We can't do none of this by ourselves.

Speaker 2: 26:32

So even if you're new in the industry or if you're a veteran, I think it's helpful to learn from everybody. Veterans still need us to come out and help them with the workload. So these are good. You know. I think this is a great conversation that we're able to have right now. So good job, man, thank you, thank you. Yeah, I really appreciate coming on the show sharing your story and also for people listening out there right now and thinking about getting their CDL and hearing someone like yourself, someone who's just went through the process. It's very powerful. So your perspective is fresh, honest and needed in the industry. So we always talk to the vets and the legends are out there, but but new posted on the future, how things turn out for you on the road. I like to stay in touch so everyone out there listening appreciate you guys taking the time to listen to the episode, appreciate if you share it with someone you know who's thinking about getting into the trucking industry and, as always, keep rolling out there, stay learning and that's delivery, that's it.