Day 17 -- Graduation Day!!

After two weeks of 11-hour days without a day off, we finally graduated today, becoming full-fledged employees of CR England Global Transportation!

Remember when i said that i had never worked for an organization with more than 10 people?  Here's a minor sense of scale of this company:

• CR England has been in business for over 90 years.  Starting with one produce truck in 1920, it now has over 3,700 trucks in its fleet.
• It generated $1.5 billion in revenues in 2010.
• It is the largest refrigerated carrier in the world, including operations in Mexico, China and Canada.
• It employs over 7,000 people worldwide.
• It receives over 3,200 applications a week from people wanting to drive for the company.
• It goes through about 6 million gallons of fuel a week.
• It's average length of freight hauls is 1,600 miles -- the most in the "reefer" industry.
• It serves some of the biggest business names in the world, including Hershey, Campbell's Soup and WalMart.

Part of the adventure is simply going to be working for such a large corporation.  I can't wait to get on the road.

Speaking of going on the road, many of you may be wondering, "what's next?"  The next step is tomorrow morning, when we find out the trainer driver to whom we have been assigned for our Phase 1 training.  Phase 1 trainers know they are getting drivers fresh out of school.  It is their job to teach us the ropes, so to speak.  This phase is a minimum of 30 days and requires us to cover at least 15,000 miles.  So presumably, tomorrow afternoon we shake hands with our new driving trainers, load our gear and get out on the open road.

Be assured, i will be continuing the blog throughout this entire odyssey.  I'm hoping that i will have sufficiently interesting adventures and experiences to warrant your continued interest, dear readers.  I'm definitely excited about where the next step will take me.

School has been great, and i've met some wonderful, very real people.  I anticipate keeping in touch with a small handful of them as we go our own ways.

I've definitely missed the kids -- and unfortunately have not been able to talk to Grace and Abby as much as i had hoped.  It will be fun to get back into a schedule that allows for touching base with them on a regular basis.  So to Grace and Abby, if you are reading, i love you and miss you.  I'll be talking to you soon. <3 dad.

To everyone at home who has been following the blog, i offer a sincere "thank you".   There's no point in doing a blog if people  aren't reading it, and the feedback i've received has been uplifting, encouraging and appreciated.

To the usual "martini monday" crowd, i sure miss seeing you all and look forward to getting back soon and enjoying a cocktail with you (school has been so busy i haven't had time or opportunity to have ANYthing to drink, and i've lost 10 lbs.  What a miracle diet! Who knew?).

Hope this finds you all well.  I'll post again tomorrow when i learn where the second stage of my adventure will take me.

Stay safe....

KWA