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Fred's School Journal Male, 41 years
Introduction
I guess I'm going through some sort of mid-life crisis; although I can't believe I'm old enough to have one. After having worked every kind of job from accounting to information technology, I've come to the conclusion that working in the typical office environment is just not for me. I love to travel and I don't mind being alone a good deal of the time. That's why, I'm giving this truck driving thing a shot. I guess time will tell if its the right move or not. For now, here it goes...
5-09-2002
Rolled into Cheyenne on Tuesday afternoon after the long haul through Nebraska. Cheyenne's always had sort of a depressed feel to it with me, and that hasn't changed.
I couldn't resist taking a drive past the school I'll be attending beginning on the 13th. It was way different than I expected. Looks like just an office in a heavy industrial area right off of the highway. I guess I had expected something looking like a shiny new trucking terminal with a big lot and a bunch of shiny new trucks waiting to be filled with eager students. Instead, as I said, it looks at this point, like one door leading to an office, over which is a sign saying "Sage Technical Services" with a single big rig parked along the side of the building.
Oh well, I'm still holding my breath and trying not to panic. After all from all the research I've done, the company has schools all over the country, a great reputation and is "PTDI" certified, which is supposed to be good, I suppose. All of the companies taking new driving school graduates seem to be looking for that certification, so... I'll assume the one truck outside just supports their claim to spend a lot of one-on-one training with their students. Perhaps the biggest reason I picked these guys is the fact that all of the driving time is one-on-one with an instructor, unlike the others, that include the time you sit in the cab of the truck while you watch other students drive as driving time. Another thing, I hope to be reimbursed for the four grand I'm laying out, and some trucking companies will reimburse my tuition, if its from an accredited school. I don't know. I've actually talked on-line with one of this school’s graduates, and he said they were OK, so, we'll see. Man... I don't need this added anxiety.
05/13/2002
Today was my first day of school. I did as they asked and showed up a little early (7:30 for the 8:00 session.) After waiting there for a while for someone to show up, I noticed a couple people going in a side door to the building that was obviously not the main entrance. By about a quarter to eight I wondered if I should go in there and introduce myself, since I was apparently supposed to get paperwork or whatever done before the "class" actually got started. Since none of who appeared to be "office types" seemed to have arrived early, I decided to take the plunge and just walk right in. So I did. I walked into, what I realized at that moment, to be a large garage, where inside was a truck in some state of repair and three or four guys sitting around a table just smoking and joking (two of which ended up being instructors.) This seemed to be a good move because by the time my other two classmates walked in the place, I had already shaken hands with everyone and gotten acquainted with the staff while my fellow enlistees were still looking scared as sheep.
Sometimes it pays just to march right into things with your hand extended and your head held high. (Even if you're scared as a sheep too.)
Anyway, by the time everyone decided to get serious and gather into the classroom, it was full steam ahead after that. So much so, I was somehow thinking I'd made a mistake. I didn't know this at the time, but my primary instructor was delayed or something causing him not to be there right away (nobody told us) and the other staff members decided to play us a couple videos about the Commercial Driver's License General Knowledge test and Airbrakes. Right after we saw these videos, we were tested! I was floored! First of all I was not expecting a test before even one single lecture or a night to study and had specifically asked the school if I should study before getting there and was told not to worry about it. The fact that the extent of my training at that point had been those two videos was a little distressing too and I was wondering at that point if that was going to be the teaching formula for the duration of my training.
As it turns out, I had studied on my own before showing up to Cheyenne anyway, but not seriously, because I was thinking to myself what ever I brought to the class was just gravy. I ended up with an 88% on each test, but was a little ticked and asked them about the whole situation. After all, I had fully planned to completely slam at least the academic part of this whole thing with at least "A"s but I realized from their non-answers at that point that the purpose behind these little "tests" or "pre-tests" (they never said) was just to gauge what kind of students had shown up, what prior experience they brought with them and how serious they (we) were.
Anyway, by the time we got back from lunch, my real instructor (at least academics-wise) had shown up and we got into some real lecturing. I was relieved because if I had just spent $4000 bucks ($4200 minus a lunch to be exact) on video training that I could have done at home, I was not going to be happy.
I guess I've got to relax a little. After all, that's a big reason I'm out here anyway, to relax and get a little peace in my life. The whole atmosphere in this place is sooooo relaxed and laid-back. I'd like to loosen up a little more, and I'm sure I will, but inside I know I've got a lot of my life laid out on the line here, and its serious business to me.
The lectures are funny; about 20% solid content and 80% trucker stories and carrying on, which is kind of cool. These guys have got something to say about everything, and you'd never guess at first glance how philosophical their presentations end up being. So far we're getting everything from just how to get along with each other, the cops and what ever companies we end up with, to politics, religion and how to mitigate something as serious as a jack knife skid. The cop stories are the funniest I must say, so far.
05/15/2002
Wow... what a couple days.
Yesterday, out of the blue, at about 2:00 in the afternoon, my instructor told the class that we were all going to the DMV to get our CDL permits. Yes, right now. This was a big surprise because we expected at least another day, and a night of studying before having to face the test(s.) And believe me, this sucker is nothing like the Class C license test we all took when we were in High School.
There are six separate written tests to the CDL: General Knowledge, Tankers, Air Brakes, Combination Vehicles, Doubles and Triples, and Hazardous Materials. Our mission was to get to the DMV and have all those tests taken and passed by 1:00 the next day (today.) In my case however, in addition to that, I had a 9:00am appointment with the doctor's office to take my D.O.T. physical and drug screen. (The other guys are local and had their physicals before they started class.)
I got to the DMV yesterday and took four of the tests (one more than once - ouch!) I got a 90% on Tankers, 85% on General Knowledge, and an 80% on Air Brakes. You need 80% to pass so I squeaked by on the Air Brakes, but I failed the Combination Vehicle test twice last night! (Just barely.. but still a failure) I was upset; especially given the fact that in class I had scored a 95% on their test. They snagged me on stuff that wasn't covered in class, of course. You only get to try twice in a day, so I left the three remaining tests for the next morning. I was really mad; cussing the school, yadda yadda, bla bla... lets just say, I was really upset. I did however grab the state of Wyoming's Commercial Drivers License manual on the way out and planned to absorb it by the next morning if it killed me.
Needless to say, I studied the state manual (instead of my school materials) like I never had in college last night because my life's on the line here this time and I can't fool around.
Anyway, in addition to the DMV tests, as I said, I had to face the doctor for the DOT physical, and when I tested my blood pressure with my own device last night, my pressure was off the charts and I was really-really getting scared. Of course the more I worried the higher the readings got and I realized that my only hope was to throw my blood pressure monitor out of sight and worry about the studying for now and take one thing at a time, instead of freaking myself out and into a full blown anxiety attack.
I got up this morning at 6:30, showered, drove over to the doctor's office, (right then to make sure I had it found and didn't waste any time getting lost looking for it) and I sat in the parking lot studying more while waiting for 9:00 to come around. Of course, I knew that I wasn't helping my blood pressure studying, but what choice did I have?
When the time came, I walked in; sat around like you always do, and then they finally got me and the ball rolling with the exam. I got weighed..(we won't get into that - yikes!) and then I sat in the exam room and did my best to calm myself down, while praying like a mad man, because I knew that the blood pressure test was surely next to come. And it did. The guy strapped the cuff around my arm and about half way through the test, he shook his head seemingly in disgust and then said.."Hmmm this cuff's not working... it's losing air. I'll be right back."
Freaking out was I? You betchya. Was my blood pressure so high I had busted the damned thing? My mind was swirling.
The nurse, or who ever he was, came back this time with a new and apparently industrial strength model blood pressure cuff. He got it on, started pumping it up while I sat there and thought it was all over. Once he was done, I had to ask "Ok, what's it look like?"
"150 over 90; you're right on the border" (160 over 90 is a failing level.)
Phew!!!! I about passed out with relief right there. Thank God because it had been higher off and on last night on about six separate times.
When the real doctor came in, we talked about it and agreed on all the other things in life that will make things perfect for me physically and he gave me his blessing. All I had to do was pee in a cup and life would be good. I took the drug screen, which was nice and clean and left with my little slip of paper saying I'm Okeee Doekeee, while pretty much skipping out to the truck with at least that hurdle having been crossed.
Next were those honking tests to take at the DMV.
I sat in the parking lot of the DMV thinking I would study more, but then said to myself "Screw it, I'm going in."
I took the tests, got a 100% on the test I failed twice yesterday, and got 95%s on the other two. I had my permit and all six endorsements in my hand. I was so happy, you should have seen it. I guy my size dancing around in the parking lot would have made anybody laugh, but I didn't care.
Well, tomorrow I get my first drive in the big truck. That'll surely be fuel for more stories ahead. We'll see how that goes. For now, time for some kick back and some thanks to the good forces in life.
5/24/2002
School has been a whirlwind of activity. You'd never know how much stuff there is to learn about driving a truck. Believe it or not, I spend 8 hours a day, everyday in a classroom learning everything from diesel mechanics and defensive driving theory, to DOT regulations, log keeping and trip planning. Sometimes I actually drive for four more additional hours after class, which makes a pretty long day by the time I get home around ten o'clock. One trip planning exercise asked us to plan a trip to Pocatello Idaho and back via Salt Lake City. We had to say how far it would be, when we would need to refuel, when we would make pre-trip and en-route inspections, how much money it would cost, when we'd get back yadda yadda this and that. Man, I've gained a new respect for truck drivers. This stuff is really kind of tricky to figure out. One of the big things to factor in are the "Hours of Service" restrictions that we're forced to live by that say that you can't drive for more than 10 hours a day or be on duty for more than 15 hours a day. This is a big issue in the industry and really puts a pinch on your planning.
I'm really weak when it comes to the mechanics. I'm the only one in my class that's not got a clue with the mechanical stuff. Everyone else has either worked on or driven trucks before. Truth is, and it's revealed almost immediately, is the fact that I haven't really had any experience working on even cars. One of the major things I'll be graded on on my next drive is the "pre-trip" inspection. This is where you have to go around and pretty much look at, point to, and identify every single part of the truck from the trailer air brakes to the turbocharger under the hood. The idea is that before every trip in the real world, I'll be expected to make this "pre-trip" before starting out everyday in order to identify any potential problems or safety hazards before just climbing in and getting myself killed. When I go for my final license, I'll have to pass this test too; that in addition to the diving test. Anyway, I'm glad I came to this school because I'm learning a huge amount of stuff that seems pretty on the important side.
Ah yes, the driving. I'm feeling pretty good about it now, but this time last week I was rudely awakened.
The obvious thing about big trucks is of course their size. But as it turns out, the size issue isn't really the hard part. On my drive in my own vehicle from Nantucket I watched trucks driving along in their lanes and I was worried that I'd be able to even keep them between the lines. They're so wide! But now after doing it, it’s not a problem. Once you've got the sucker moving, it's pretty easy to keep pointed. Getting up to speed, through the gears and maneuvering these monsters is a whole other thing though.
First of all there's the gears. I thought this would be the easy part but I was very wrong. Shifting a truck is nothing like shifting a car. The transmission is not "synchronized" like on a car which means that unless you match the engine's rpms exactly right, you grind the gears, and when that happens its ugly. If you miss a gear underway and at speed, it can be nearly impossible to even get it in to gear at all without stopping the rig entirely. Double clutching is required both up and down shifting; at least for testing purposes.. the paradox is however, that although double clutching is what I'll be tested on, I've also been taught how to shift WITHOUT the clutch at all, which is really the easiest way. Oh, and did I mention to you that "clutching" isn't like on a car either, because you don't push the clutch in all the way when you do clutch. Try breaking your mind from that process that's burned into your subconscious. When I hear gears grinding my first inclination and reaction without even thinking is to depress the clutch all the way and pronto... but noooooooo, that's a mistake.
I can't get into why shifting without a clutch is really the easiest way, but it is. Anyway, I'm glad they're teaching me the "right way" and the "real way." These guys that are teaching me are the best. You just can't even try to measure the value of their experience until you've sat in the hot seat with them. I'm lucky to be getting this one-on-one training; I'm learning huge amounts.
Anyway, after the humbling experience of my first drive just driving around in circles forward and trying not to destroy the truck and its transmission in the process, the next day we started learning our "skills maneuvers." There's all kinds of things we're supposed to be able to do, the hardest by far is the dreaded "alley dock." This is where you back the truck into a tight little spot that's 90 degrees from the place you started from, and as the name implies, you do this while being confined within a tight little "alley" that you're not allowed to go beyond. The whole thing is marked out with orange cones on a big black top to simulate real world. They'd be crazy, after all, to try to teach us this with a real alley dock to back into. Wow. That would be a disaster for sure.
I could go on and on about why everything's so hard, but just take my word for it; you can't see and you're relying largely upon a skill(s) that must be learned and burned, more accurately, into your brain, before anything comes together.
I'm happy to say however, the burn is finally happening. I've got the alley dock down. Last night I nailed it six times in a row without needing to pull up, and I'm shifting the truck up and down like a hotrod. I don't know what happened, but suddenly it was there. Thank God. Feels really good. Its one of those things that feels especially good because it was so hard at first. Yesterday I drove to Nebraska and back and my instructor says.."Damn Fred..., looks like we're going to make a truck driver out of you yet..."
He says he likes "Newbies" like me that haven't even seen the inside of a truck, because I don't have any bad habits (other than the car stuff) and he can teach me without any problems or arguments. Cool.
I guess I'll shut up for now. I've got a big homework assignment and I've got to prepare for the dreaded "pre-trip" test that I'm getting tested on next drive, so I'll sign off for now.
5/30/2002
I got through testing, at least the school's version, of both the dreaded "Pre-Trip" inspection and the "Alley Dock" with a 97% on both. Looks like backing one of these things down is really not so bad after all. The hard part is getting through the gears without dropping various metal parts all out onto the highway, or knocking out some pedestrian standing on the corner while I'm trying to make a right turn in traffic; those, are the hard things. Sheeeeeesh!
On my last message to you, I was feeling pretty confident. I was hitting the Alley Docks without any problem and I was tooling around in "the hard truck" (the one that's a little harder to drive than another one they have) without any problem. That was then however. Yesterday was another story. Yesterday I couldn't find a gear to save my life and I got really shook. The fact that the instructor was purposely taking me all through the hardest parts of the city to drive didn't help either. Like I've said before, I had no idea the level of concentration that is required to navigate one of these beasts in city traffic. Pretty scary is all I can say.
Anyway, I jumped into the truck yesterday thinking I had it all figured out and started out the day by pulling two really big "no-no's" right off the bat: I hit a curb rounding the first corner out of the "yard" and then proceeded to attempt to shift while going across rail road tracks and got all jammed up and had to stop the dang thing in order to get it into gear. You see, that's precisely why we are drilled NOT to attempt to shift gears crossing RR tracks, Dahhhh, because what happened to me, could happen. I'm telling you, if you don't hit those gears just right and get lost in the pattern, sometimes it just won't go. Uuuuuughhhhhh!
I got the ass chewing that was due to me.
Actually, that's not really true. These guys have the patience of saints. I mean it. My instructor that day, Rich, is this unbelievably laid back, soft spoken "gentle cowboy" type that wouldn't raise his voice ever I don't think; but he did tell me what I needed to know about how dumb the rail road track thing was. It's almost worse that way, coming from such a nice guy.
I walked away from last night's drive pretty shaken with confidence levels knocked down severely. After a night like that, the prospect of passing my final testing with the DMV was looking pretty poor. I even had nightmares about driving all night. I had to actually sit up in bed and convince myself that I really hadn't jammed one of the trucks under a bridge that was too low. Over and over, I'd wake up from one bad dream, just to fall into another, even worse scenario in my mind about jacking the truck up somehow.
I guess its good somehow. Maybe a hard "burn-in" like what I experienced during last night's processing while sleeping, is the kind of thing that melds my brain toward something that keeps me alive when the real stuff comes to be in the future.
I swear, this whole truck driving thing feels strangely so like the military, for what reason, I haven't quite sorted out; but it does. Really like the Navy... it's weird. It's bootcamp-esk, the whole, getting through this thing that requires you to gather up all your courage ... while at the same time trying to get along with and make good impressions upon seasoned veterans of one sort or another. I guess, the military analogy isn't really that far off. I'm just hoping I get through this bootcamp and get a chance to go out on the fleet again this time. Of course, when I did it the first time, getting to the fleet was nothing like I had expected. I doubt this time around will be any different.
On tonight's drive in the "big truck" I got that dose of reality that perhaps my brain was preparing me for during my dreams last night. Everything was going all right, and I was feeling really really relieved that for what ever reason, I could drive the damned thing again and not do so badly as last night. Tonight's exercise in the beast was (ironically) a trip to Laramie; or at least it was supposed to be.
Anyway, as I was saying, I was in the middle of saying my silent prayers at sixty miles per hour, thanking whom-ever it is that brought back my driving aptitude, because I hadn't missed a gear, or even grinded one. I had navigated through traffic without incident and was now in high gear heading west bound with the hammer down cranking right up the hill when it happened.
BOOM! FLAP, Bump bump bump bump BUMP. Jack, my seventy four year old instructor had been in the middle of a really tall tail, when he at that moment shouted to me "What the hell was that???"
I had of course heard and felt it too and was already observing through my mirror what my first instinct had already determined, the fact that I had not only just blown a tire on my trailer, but the thing had disintegrated into a mass of flying debris all over the highway and up into my tandems.
I told him immediately while I'm wrestling the wheel to keep her steady that "We just lost a tire on the trailer!!"
"Emergency Stop... do it now!"
Remember what I told you about the Navy thing? Well let me tell you, I know that tone of voice, and with my background, I'm NOT waiting to say "Yes Sir" before I'm half way through executing the order. There's a whole "Emergency Stop" procedure that I won't go into, I'll just say that I had the truck pulled off and stopped, the four ways on, and the wheel cranked over to the right in record time.
Both of our hearts where going pitter-pat while we sat there for a second before jumping out to look at the damage. The tire was shredded, what was left of it, that is.
I limped the truck back very slowly back down to Cheyenne. It was looking like I was going to make only one trip back home to Laramie after all tonight, instead of two.
When we got back to the barn, Jack told me that I had done an excellent job handling the truck and he said so as well on my written record for the day. In a strange sort of way, I was glad that it had happened for the experience while with an instructor, and the big bonus of the day is as well that the probability of me seeing another blow out in the near future would seem to be greatly diminished. Maybe I'll never see another one. Or maybe I've just jinxed my self really bad too.
The good thing is that I wasn't scared when it happened, I was strangely calm and everything fell into place, and my confidence levels are, thankfully, back up.
I drive a bunch more Friday, all day Saturday, and on Monday I'm scheduled to get tested with the big boys at the Port Authority for my license. I hope that day is one of my good ones.
6/3/2002
It’s Monday afternoon and after driving all weekend practically, as well as this morning for the big test with the State, I got through it today and passed! I now have my CDL. Wow.
The pre-trip was no big deal; got a 92%. On the skills test I nailed the right turn test – no problem. On the bumper stop, I hit it with no deductions. The alley dock however (that damned alley dock) was set up at a different angle than at school, and it took more than one pull up (like about four of them I have to admit – YIKES!) after getting skee-wide right off the bat for me to do it. After I finally pulled the air brakes and stopped the thing I thought I had blown it, but the guy comes up to me and says, ”Well, it ain’t pretty, but it’s in there. Let’s go on a drive around town.”
I couldn’t believe it. I did it.
“OK” I said, and off we went. Of course the thing is though that I was pretty shook, which isn’t good when what I really needed was to be cool for the drive.
Anyway, I got through it with only nudging one curb and grinding a couple gears, so I guess I was OK. I was a wreck inside by the end of it, but it was done. Larry, the DOT inspector, told me not to be so hard on myself and that I had done pretty well. Thank God for things like nice guys at the DOT.
So, I’ve got my license now and my next mission of course is to get a job. It’s going to feel really weird not going in for class every day. I’m feeling kind of bummed in a way. The place was sort of feeling like a new job in itself, but I can’t wait to get out there and actually do this truck-driving thing.
I’m so excited. I hope my journal has helped anyone wanting to know what school will really be like.
Anyway, off I go! Take care everyone.
fj
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