This can be you in a matter of weeks.
Everyone…meet Clyde Geist.
Clyde was selected to be National Truck Drivers School Graduate of the Class for August 2008 and September’s Graduate of the Month.
Clyde hails from Melbourne, Florida. Clyde is a very lucky man blessed with 3 wonderful kids of his own and their families. First, there’s Sean and his wife Corinne and their children Courtney and Sean Jr. who just moved to Raleigh N.C. Next is Christopher and his daughters Kaitlyn and Alexa who live close by in Palm Bay, Florida and last is his daughter with her husband Richard who also live in Palm Bay with, as Clyde describes, his “Red headed granddaughter”, Brittany.
Any person that can build a family such as Clyde is truly wealthy. For this alone Clyde deserves a congratulations.
Prior to becoming a professional truck driver Clyde worked as Aircraft Mechanic with Piper Aircraft in Vero Beach, Florida. We need to mention Clyde graduated 1st in his class at the Piper Aircraft School. It seems he’s pretty used to getting the highest praise when he attends any kind of training program.
When we asked Clyde why he decided to become a professional truck driver Clyde said “As I get older, I see less and less opportunities in the job market. During the recession (?) most jobs are being threatened…except in the trucking sector”. Clyde recalls seeing an article in the newspaper on how the trucking industry was very strong and welcomed older drivers. Clyde recalls driving a straight truck in the 70’s and says driving is in his blood and he’s very grateful for the new start.
Clyde and the article are correct… trucking companies do welcome older drivers because of their maturity and experience.
As an add-in: We would like to commend Clyde on his attitude and say to him it is an inspiration to us “less experienced” generations to see opportunities as something to be grateful to get and not something that’s expected.
Clyde chose National for a couple of reasons. One reason, according to Clyde, was “the school in Melbourne was no good”. The other reason was Clyde received an email from us letting him know of a special we ran in order to fill the demand for drivers we needed.
By the way…WE STILL NEED DRIVERS! THE DEMAND HASN’T SLOWED DOWN! Click here to find out more.
During Clyde’s time with us he said he started out the first week very confident but that quickly turned sour and then to despair. However, in the second week he went to being hopeful and then a feeling of empowerment as he gained control of the equipment.
This description is a little more graphic than we usually get from our students but it is meant to be somewhat serious. Learning to driver an 18-wheeled semi tractor-trailer isn’t something to be taken lightly and we don’t take the training lightly. Our program is meant to be challenging and we only want the best leaving our school for the open road.
Thankfully we have thirty years of experience and over 32,000 graduates behind our belts so we know what it takes to bring a student from the first week of “despair” to the 3rd week of “empowerment “. Clyde took our training serious and this is why he is now a featured story on our website for which we are proud to honor him with.
When you leave National you will know how to be Professional Truck Driver…not someone who can pass the CDL test.
Clyde’s memorable moment during his time with us was seeing guys struggle so hard and then succeed. “We all went through a lot together. My favorite part was sharing the experience with others.”
Many students who leave National often follow each other to their first company, team drive together and at the least, keep in touch over the years. Bonds are built from sharing challenging experiences with others.
How many job leads did Clyde receive from National? When we asked Clyde his response was “Lots of Leads”. “A lot of information is made available to us. Anyone here can get a job with the leads provided.” Clyde did say he had a family friend in the business he wanted to try to get on board with before researching the other leads he received.
As anyone can see Clyde’s story is inspiring and lets us all know if we put our minds to it we can do it and the rewards are sweeter at the end.
Clyde’s goal now is to first get his affairs in order and then get on the road and off to another “new start”.
What his instructor had to say:
“Clyde was a very interesting person to have the opportunity to teach! His piloting experience, his broad knowledge, life experience and personality make Clyde a valuable person to have as an employee or student. Clyde made good progress through our program by applying what he learned; as well as not repeating the his own mistakes. He asked good questions, listened attentively, and I enjoyed having him! I wish I had more students like Clyde. He really made my job easy! KUDOS!”
William G. Forbes
Instructor, National Training, Inc.
Clyde, from all of us, congratulations on your success and thank you for being an inspiration to us all.
This can be you in a matter of weeks.
