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Female, 54 years young
Introduction
Welcome to the life and times of a Grandmother who has decided that someday is TODAY. I'm not a complete newbie to the trucking life since my husband has been driving over the road for the past year. We've planned this together for the last few years and it has been our Plan A for the past 12 months. Bob (husband) drives for a company out of Dallas that runs almost entirely reefers and when I finish school I plan to run with him as a team if they hire me. Come join me with this adventure it should be quite a ride. School starts in 2 weeks and I will endeavor to keep the journal current and honest good or bad.
Here We Go January 26, 2004
First day of class and already I'm glad I decided to stay with the plan to go to McFatter VoTech. Lets back up just a minute! You see I almost didn't get into this class because of a minor screw up on my part. The class was full and I had to wait right up until the day before registration was to close to find out if I could get an open slot. McFatter keeps a couple of slots in reserve just in case someone from the previous class needs to re-enroll to hone their skills a little more before graduation. My other choice was to go to the school the company offers in Dallas but the takes a two year commitment and I wasn't sure I wanted to do that it would not only affect my life for two years but also my husband's.
The instructor is a walking Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations text book. He sites the regs for our questions like they are engraved in his head. Don't get me wrong he's a great guy and a lot of fun but he believes in getting a good basic knowledge in the regs so you know what is required and know where to find the info to prove your point.
Tomorrow is another day of paperwork and then we begin learning the basics of shifting. Thursday is to be our first day in the yard trucks. They say we will begin to practice gear grinding (Ha! Ha!). I've never driven a stick shift so this should be a learning experience. I'm just not sure if it will be for me or the teacher. HERE WE GO.
Two Weeks Down
I really don't know where the last 2 weeks have gone - time passes so quickly. We started out bobtailing around the driving range on Wednesday of the first week. It is 2 people to a truck, which is standard at this school. The only time you ride in a truck with more than two is when the instructor is showing a new skill we are to try then there are only four students and the instructor with plenty of time to ask questions and observe. I will never regret my decision to go to this community school. Mr. Waite wants you to do well not to just pass but to really learn what it is all about. If your reading this journal and even contemplating going to a school in this area, check McFatter VoTech out. They're tough and fair, but most of all, their goal is to graduate safe, competent students that will do well in the profession if they try.
The double shifting is doing a job on my knees. It seems my biggest hurdle is the fact that I have neglected to keep my body in good physical shape over the last few years. In fact I didn't realize just how poor my upper body strength was until I started having to pull myself up into the cabovers a dozen times a day. Two weeks have improved my speed a little but there is a long way to go. I've started to do a morning workout routine to get me going so now I have to get up at 4:30AM to get to school on time. The instructor has already told me if anything gets me rolled back it will be because of my arm strength. You have to be able to pull the fifth wheel lock and so far I haven't mastered it but I'm determined to get it. I also have trouble getting the yard trucks into low gear with one hand and that is unacceptable. I've been told the road trucks are easier but it's the yard trucks that I have to prove myself on so I'll just keep working at it.
Friday was spent going over the proper pre-trip inspection for our exam. We split the class half and each group took a day to go over it with the instructor. Our day was Friday which opened with rain showers. Everyone is our group is so into this class that even the rain didn't dampen our spirit. We were all over the tractor examining engine parts and brake systems. Then down to the ground to thoroughly go over the trailer. It took all day and I looked like a grease pit when we were through but I sure learned a lot. On Monday we start the week with a review of the inspection and then we will break into groups of 4 to review by testing each other. Our names will go on the sign up board when we feel we are ready to test. Our goal it to spend an hour to an hour and a half each day working on the review then driving the rest of the day. This week we are also required to add backing to our skills.
I can't describe the adrenaline high I get each time I get behind the wheel and drive the course. It is designed with right and left turns, s-curves and each one is just a little different. We started doing a two way traffic pattern last week and on some areas of the course that means the drivers have to ease past each other carefully always watching their trailers to prevent and accident. I've been pulling one of the 40 foot trailers this week but want to try the 48 footer as soon as I can. The hardest turn to get is the double right which requires you to do a button hook turn to get around. I caught a couple of cones on that one the first two times but I finally get it. My problem was not making use of all the room that was available lesson learned I hope. This turn might sound simple but add too the equations that the second right is into a public thoroughfare on the school grounds where there is also traffic and you build up a sweat factor. On this note I have to add into my commentary one of our students had an accident in this part of the course last week. It involved another vehicle and turn out to be minor (no injuries) but she was lucky the officer that investigated the accident did not write a ticket he just lectured her about living in her mirrors. He also lectured the driver of the delivery van for not carrying his license with him which we all know is a ticketable offense. I have to give credit to the student when the reports where written and the scene was ready to be cleared she jumped right back up into the truck and continued her day of practice. I don't know personally if I could have done that. I like to think I would have but not ever having been in that situation I'm not sure. I truly think this young lady will make a great professional driver someone I'd like to share the highways with.
The week at school ended with a bar-b-que after class on Friday. Everyone pitched in a couple of dollars and we had burgers and hotdogs on the grill with all the fixings. Most everyone stayed and enjoyed along with our instructor and his wife. Also the other instructor and the diesel mechanic for the school. This is the first class to do this and it helps to build our team spirit. Since day one we have been working together to encourage each other and help where we can. We've already planned one of our road trips to be to Jacksonville where we will break and have a picnic before we return. The school requires us to do on night time road trip and we are going to include it with one of our daytime trips so that we can really spend the day driving. We will switch drivers half way on the way up and again on the halfway mark coming back that way no one becomes to fatigued but we all drive during the day and during the night.
Well it's been a weekend of homework. Yeah, I said homework. We have and accident report due and study the pre-trip check list along with reading the chapters on backing and downshifting. Oh, Lord, help me get through this week. Added to all this is my husband is due back this week from the road. He hasn't been home since New Years eve. We have a 3 day weekend at school next week so I'll get to spend a little extra time with him. He always stops at the school with the rig since he graduated from there and knows how valuable previous students can be in giving a real life perspective on this profession. Also I think he likes showing off Clara (we named the our truck because for us she is a big part of our lives we treat her like one of the family right down to regular baths and doctor visits at the Kenworth dealer)
Well back to the books I'll try to keep up the journal on a weekly basis if time permits.
Week 4
Well last week ended with me doing the DOT pre-trip test and I passed. Lord there were a lot of things to remember on it but a lot of it is also repetition from one area to another. I missed 4 things out or 93 so I don't feel to bad but I would have liked to have gotten a perfect score.
With my husband in for the weekend I didn't get very much studying done. I spent the weekend relaxing and savoring our time together. Bob left on Tuesday afternoon for a load to California. We won't see each other again until I go to Dallas for my orientation with the company the first week of April. Now just to concentrate on my skills so I can pass that part of the test and go on to the road portion of the class.
This week is backing and backing maneuvers. Sometimes I wonder if my brain is dead. I haven't been able to teach it yet to recognize the reversed image in my mirrors. I wake up saying to myself if the trouble is to the right steer to the right, if the trouble is to the left steer to the left. I can get my set up on the alley dock but I still don't trust my judgment when the tractor is rolling backward and I correct way to soon and lose my initial angle. As for parallel parking/jack back I haven't mastered any of it. I will keep trying practice makes perfect and I intend to do this if I have to practice till I drop. I'm staying after class tomorrow to practice on my own I want to get my straight back stronger so that I can incorporate that knowledge into the other angles. If you can't straight back you can't get the rest.
We talked this afternoon about giving up and not sticking with something and the instructor read some passages from Chicken Soup for the Soul. I really want this dream and I will achieve my goal. Tomorrow is another day and there is the day after and the day after etc. If I do this enough times something will click. We're tested on our skills started next week. I know I won't be the first to test but I won't be the last either.
Everyone in the class passed the Pre-Trip exam. The last test was given today. Class today started out with the first truck I was assigned had a stuck air governor so we had to find another tractor and the only one that was left was number 11 which is held together with rubber bands I think. Shifting is questionable with this one and the clutch is a knee destroyer. We survived the day but tonight I have ice on my knee and I'm determined to get a different tractor tomorrow. I don't mind the cabovers but that one I see in my dreams. The funny part is in the three weeks we have been driving on the range I have had good ole 11 over half of the days.
This is the week of raw nerves and short tempers per the instructors. Lets hope none of us let it take away our dreams. I won't say I haven't thought about a tall bridge and a heavy weight but I'm not ready to take that plunge yet, anyway the water is way to cold and I hate cold things.
Well bed time if I'm going to get up at 4:30 and get in some exercise before going to school. Tomorrow is another day and I will get this backing thing right. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Rollback
A lot has happened since my last entry. We did our yard maneuvers test and I decided I wasn't ready to go on the road yet. You see I don't want to go out into traffic and be a hazard. So I asked to be rolled back to the next class and get more time in for practice before I hit the road. The instructors agreed with me and I signed up for another 4 weeks of yard work. I wasn't the only one in the class that rolled back. That's the nice thing about going to a vocational center the price isn't prohibitive if you need extra time. Yes I had to pay for that portion of the course again but now I can practice, practice, practice without the stress of falling behind the other students. You know the old adage you can't teach an old dog new tricks, well that ain't the truth you can teach them new tricks it just takes longer.
I finally got to drive a conventional tractor since I've been in school all I've been assigned to is a cabover. The conventional was pure heaven to drive. Double shifting is actually possible with them all this time I thought it was my technique that was wrong but apparently it wasn't because today I double shifted and didn't grind a gear once not even on the down shifts. There could be help for me yet.
McFatter VoTech has a very comprehensive course with plenty of instructor time on each section. They seem to go out of their way to help us individually with problem areas. I really don't know how those 3 week schools can teach with such limited time and so much to cover.
Well I've become consistent on the straight back, the jack back, and up shifting but I still have the alley dock and down shifting to get a better handle on. I seem to have the setup for the alley dock but when I go to put the trailer in the hole I lose it back to the drawing board.
The instructors wife came in today she goes on the road with him during school breaks. Her words of wisdom are get a crock pot and a porta potty. The instructor is very health conscious and believes that you have to be in good health physically and mentally if you want to survive in this business.
Well it hasn't been so unbearably hot this week but it was still hot enough to make you exhausted by the end of the day. There is no air conditioning in the yard trucks only just fans so the sweat factor is up there without any extra added stress. I've been driving by myself for the past few days since the new class had to bobtail until they get a little shifting under their belts. Today everyone was hooked up to a trailer and it was shift and grind ballet. Most of the cones on the driving course survived but it was questionable for the first few hours. Everyone was running out of blinker fluid for their turning signals (ha! ha!) me included.
Homework for the weekend is getting started on my portfolio which is required to get your certificate. I want to really put some effort into this project. Off to the office supply store to get the supplies and then to the computer to get started.
How Time Flies Well it's been awhile since I've ventured here to update my journal. We've been driving on the highway for 2 weeks now but that was split with a 12 day break from school. That is one of the draw backs of going through a county school system anytime there is a dayoff for regular school students in the county there is a day off for you. Springbreak just happened to fall into our semester this time. The first time driving in real traffic is an eye opener. Somehow the truck seems to become bigger and the road lanes smaller. I'll be honest at first it scared the pants off me. Now you have a whole new set of things to be aware of and boy do you find out just how brave (or is that stupid) the 4 wheelers are. They honestly think we can maneuver in the same space and time they can. I will tell you right now looking at it from this new perspective I will change my driving when I'm in the car. At every intersection the instructor would challenge you about what you observed after you passed through god did I miss a lot of things. I looked but didn't see everything. Let say I wasn't seeing the big picture going on around me. As soon as I pulled the seat cushion out of my b--- and started to relax things became a little easier. We went on our first road trip Tuesday and the drive was refreshing. We took the interstate to the west of us and though it is traveled frequently by commercial vehicles the 4 wheelers are not quite as plentiful because it goes through farm country. The open road driving was a change from the city it gave you a chance to relax and concentrate on the new situations going on around you while you practiced lane control and space maintance. I have to say the routes that have been picked by the school offer varied driving situations add into that the weather condtions(heavy rain and wind) and you get just the tiniest feel of what it is like out on the road. I've come to the conclusion that sometimes I am my own worst enemy. I've always worked in field where being a diplomat was important. I've gotten into the habit of stepping back and offering assistance when necessary but always giving the other person a chance to try things first so they could build their confidence with the new accomplishments. Well now I'm in a position where I need to step up and boy is that hard for me. I don't want to be a diplomat I want to be a leader and that seems to be so hard for me now. Guess I better get to work on the aspect of my personal training cause old habits are hard to break. Monday is another road trip and I'm looking forward to driving first this time. We should be gone most of the day this time not just the afternoon. Graduations is sneaking up quickly and I want to get as much road time in as possible.
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