January 2003

Bruce's School Journal

Male, 44 years young

Introduction

I was working as the night tank farm operator at a citrus plant in Fl and a big part of my job was loading and unloading tankers so I got to know a lot of truckers and hear a lot about the industry from their stories so taking the good and all the bad together I decided that I may be wanting to give trucking a try. After all I have done about everything else so why not.

The adventure begins

I awoke early on the morning of Wednesday the 29th of January to begin the drive from Lakeland Fl to Millington Tn which is where the Swift Driving Academy is located. It was 2:30 am and my wife had set the alarm for 2:00. She was already up and came in and told me the coffee was ready and that I needed to get up. I had gotten a total of like 4 hrs sleep. Anyway I got up grabbed a cup of coffee went outside and had a cigarette to get woke up. Finished that went in and grabbed a quick s,s, and shave and got dressed and rounded up all the clothes I had packed and gave her a hug and kiss and my dog a hug and went into each of my three boys rooms and gave each of them a kinda hug as they were sleeping and my oldest Victor kinda woke up and said "bye daddy!" With that I was carrying my luggage to the car and my wife commented how our dog Cody a 120 lb Black Lab knew something was up. I said oh yeah whenever he sees the luggage thing he knows it will be awhile before he will see me again. Anyway with a fuel stop and getting in a conversation with a truck driver at the convenient store which took about 30 minutes time I didn't have, I was off to Millington Tn which is about 890 miles from Lakeland.

I made it to Memphis Tenn around 3:00pm that Wednesday which is like 15 miles from Millington and somehow got lost in Memphis. I ended up in the hood and then in a very wealthy section of Memphis before I finally decided it was time to get it together and find my way to the hotel in Millington which I finally did around 5:30. I had pushed myself a bit too hard and had made very good time to Memphis only to get lost there for 2 hrs and with traffic the other 30 minutes was about right to get to Millington from Memphis. I checked into the Admiralty Inn and the Lady at the front desk told me to read very carefully their rules as all rooms are no smoking and you will be thrown out of the academy if you are reported for smoking.

I get to my room and find out I have 3 roommates a 50 year old black guy named Joe from a small town in Miss. Another black guy from North Carolina named Cedric he was like 22 and a very large man named Ken. Anyway I got talking to them and they were all smokers and were already smoking in the room which I do not recommend but they already had agreed on that and being an easy going laid back southerner that I am said, ok that's cool.

Anyway 5:00 came early with the alarm clock the next morning and we got ready and hadn't got much sleep because all 4 of us were up late talking and we had to be at the classroom at the old navy base at 6:00 am. I rode with Ken who followed the bus which turned out to be the wrong bus because we ended up at the driving range with the students who were a week ahead of us. One of the students who didn't recognize me from his class inquired as to what my circumstances were and I told him I was there for my first day and he said we were at the wrong classroom that the one we were supposed to be at was located at a different place on the naval base. He gave me directions and I went inside the classroom to find Ken who was sitting up front listening to the instructor who was talking already. I told Ken to come on as we were at the wrong classroom and he did. His truck he had drove from Michigan was acting up as the clutch was gone and somehow we made it to the classroom just a couple minutes late. There was like 130 other students in this class which was class 349. The instructors were introduced Robert and Tony and then a very tired looking Chuck who turned out to be my favorite. Roll was called by Robert and he asked me where I was from I told him Fla he holding his ear said I'm sorry so I repeated that I was from Fla and he came back with yes I said I was sorry. To which the class got a laugh at my expense.

The first day consisted of filling out forms for the academy, the dept of motor vehicles (DMV) and the academy contract which consisted of a loan from swift financed for 1 year for $3,000 plus interest. They explained that if we work for Swift for 1 year the loan would be forgiven and also pro-rated for the time we did work for them. Then we all paid $150.00 for the academy tuition and were issued Kroger cards which are gift cards for Kroger grocery stores. We were given $25.00 per week for the 3 weeks of the school. We were told that you could not buy cigarettes on this card but I found out later that you could. Then we were given $60.00 each and bused to the DMV to turn in our license from our own state and issued a Tenn drivers license. You need to be a resident of Tenn for 30 days to be issued a CDL and have a Tenn license so that is what that is about. We lost several that were given bus tickets home because things came up on their licenses from their past and they were either told that they needed to go home and get it straightened out or that it disqualified them for further consideration for a job with Swift. We were also given a drug test where we submitted a urine sample for the academy.

Day 3 Friday Jan 31, 2003

This day consisted of watching videos and taking tests to get prepared for the test that is coming on Monday of 5 written tests at the DMV. These tests are general knowledge, hazmat, doubles and triples, combination vehicles, and air brakes. We are given study handouts to study and then we all went to the medical clinic to get a DMV physical and to the Swift terminal to meet our processors. Long days

This day consisted of watching videos and taking 5 practice tests getting ready for the written tests Monday. Not too bad as our weekend instructor Chuck is really cool and cares about the students. We were back at the motel by 3:30 today.

Sunday 2/2/03

We took 5 more practice tests and these were ones that had been written by an instructor named Horace. These tests were much harder than the tests we had yesterday. Once again Chuck got us finished early and we were back at the hotel around 2:30 today.

This morning started early we were at the academy classroom at 6:00 and were given DMV forms to fill out and then were either bused or drove to the DMV. I drove and one of my roommates Joe came with me. We waited a couple hours as the line was already long but were able to take our tests and I scored a 100 on general knowledge and hazmat, missed 1 on air brakes and combination vehicles and 2 on doubles and triples. Pretty much aced them and they were much easier than the test that we had taken yesterday. We then came back and started doing mapping and logs and were given an ungodly amount of homework. This was a long day and not much fun.

Today we took our 5 log and mapping tests and those that had failed at the DMV yesterday were taken back for a final chance. We also given our new room assignments as half the class went on night shift and half was put on days. I ended up in the same room as I found out something had come up with Cedric my roommate and also Ken was being sent home because his eyes were too messed up for driving a truck and also he had other health issues. We then had to turn in our homework from yesterday and met Mick the night time supervisor from the driving range and given a pre-trip sheet with several pages that we were told to study. We then went over to the driving range and were given some more instruction and broke up in groups of 10 and were taken to tractor trailers and showed how the pre-trip inspections went.

Wednesday.  Well I am on night shift and so is Joe and I have met my other roommate we have just three of us in the room now. His name is John and he is being recycled for the range portion of the school as he failed the skills test and is given another chance to start over with our class. He is from class 348. We all went to class at 4pm after day shift was finished and our class has shrunk considerably we are down to about 90 students total and about 44 are on nights. Tonight we are practicing straight line backing and the weather has really taken a turn for the worst. It snowed a very wet snow and snowed hard. I being from Fla haven't seen snow for over 15 years and at first was pretty excited but as time went on it got unbearably cold and we were in groups of three out on the range working on straight line backing. I was the first to try it and I was over correcting and it was like a snake going back and forth between the lines. What was really the problem is an instructor named Ed who I didn't like to much right off the bat began hollering at me as I was making my second attempt at backing up. He was yelling why are you turning the steering wheel come on get straight and keep it straight turn toward your trouble. I got kinda upset and more nervous and yelled out the window if he would leave me alone I would be able to figure it out as I shouldn't be expected to be an expert at first. He came back with speak up I didn't hear a word you said. I said forget it and pulled the airbrakes and put it in neutral and got out and let the next person try. Everyone around me was more upset than I of how Ed had hollered at me and luckily for us he saw a student a few lanes down having problems and went to scream at him or her. I ended up doing really well with it after break as Ed came back around after I was doing really well and said MUCH BETTER. WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT THE FIRST TIME or something like that.

They informed us at break time that they needed 10 volunteers to be ready and take the pre-trip inspection by the next night to come in at 2pm instead of 4 to get tested early. Needless to say I didn't volunteer and my roommate Joe who is black said he thought this was like slavery the way they were pushing us and holding 3000.00 over our heads as at this time the loans were kicked in and he thought they were putting too much knowledge at us too fast. Part of that was we had been up all night the following night getting the homework done. Mapping and log homework. We got finished at the range at 2am and were back at the hotel by 2:30 and Joe and I studied the pre-trip sheet and I talked with him as he was seriously considering going home. Joe is 52 years old and I let him know that this was a great opportunity for him but it was his choice whether to leave or not. John my other roommate seems to be doing well.

Woke up around 8:30 am and Joe was all packed up and said he was leaving for home. I wished him well and he said they were just pushing us too fast and it was too fast a pace for him. I agreed that it was awful fast and he said he was going to try the trucking school at a community college near his house which was on a much slower pace. I shook hands with him and he was off. I would be going to class at 4pm today but around 2pm I received a call from my wife concerning some personal issues at home which I will not address her and it was of the type that I had to go home immediately so I called Ruth the academy director and told her my problems and she said to call back and I could recycle with the next class or one after that as soon as everything got straightened out. So I packed up and began the 12 hour drive home and will pick up when I get back.

Back from home with class 351

Wednesday Feb 19th

Ok I made it back to the academy and checked into the hotel yesterday evening as I left Fl driving to Millington at around 4 am Tues morning. I again have 3 other roomates and their names are Artie a 41 year old man from Ohio, Jerome a 28 year old black man from North Carolina and Earl a black man in his mid 30s from Memphis. They have all just passed their dnv written tests Artie and Jerome had to retake theirs but the bottom line is they passed and are all on night shift and beginning the range training and in my case picking up where I have left off.

Wed evening. Night shift started at 4pm and we spent this night going over the pre trip inspection then out to the range to learn and practice straight line backing. WE are in groups of three and four and our group has three myself a lady named Rebba and a lady named Janice. I begin doing the straight line backing and have absolutely no problems as I learned from the last time here that you steer toward your trouble and at night time you can see the side rear trailer red lights and as you look out the mirrors if you see the right light start to disappear you make a very slight correction to the left and if you see the drivers side trailer light start to disappear you make a slight correction by turning the steering wheel to the right. Then when it comes back into the mirrors you just slightly correct back back to the left bringing the wheels back straight. Like the instructor has said when backing a trailer right=left and left=right. Anyway Rebba was a truck driver back in the late 80s and early 90s and Janet is a recycle who failed her skills test from class 350 and they both struggled a bit with the straight line backing tonight but as the night went on they really were doing good. The weather is brutally cold, rainy and the break times were forever arriving. But when it was your turn in the truck it helped to warm you up as we had the heaters on but following range rules drivers window must always be down. Like our class the instructors were pushing for volunteers to do the pre-trip test tomorrow so being a bit ahead of the rest of the class I volunteered as one this class has alot of eager, cocky and downright confident students and they had no problem getting the volunteers unlike my class which they only had six after much arm twisting.

Thursday night at the range.... Tonight we are given classroom instruction on the other skill test skills we are learning the 45 degree back and the parallel parking manuevers. We then split up into groups of like 4 and go out to the range and with intructors walking next to trucks work on these. After break we practice these in groups without the instructors walking beside us. I did good on the parallel but am having alot of trouble with the 45. Finally even though I came in at 2pm to take my pre-trip test does word come from a student that I am next to test. I do my pre trip with a tester named Tony the same one who instructed the classroom on day one at the academy. The weather is again very cold rainy and windy and notwithstanding the weather I get through the pre-trip test. They only tell you that you pass or fail and I passed. Update I scored 106 out of possible 108.

Fri 21 March.... This night we were in our original groups of 3 or 4 and we rotated through different stations. They had several straight line backing stations, 45s and parallel backing stations and we would stay at a station until we were told to rotate. Tomorrow we will be coming back at 8 am. The weather is the worst that it has been yet. The wind and the cold are so bad that as warm as I am dressed I am freezing and the rain is coming down hard. We were told that we would be getting done early tonight as we need some sleep for the transition to be combined for the weekend with day shift practicing these skills as we will be testing all day Monday. Thank The Lord that it starts lightning and they call us a little early from the range for safety and we go in and get further instruction on the backing maneuvers from Mick the night time supervisor and Gregg who is a really big guy but probably the most helpful range instructor and most patient of all of them.