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Tim's School Journal Male, 39 years
Introduction I am just about to turn 40 and I got laid off from my cushy high-tech management job. Ever hear about the grass being greener in some other field of work? Trucks and machines and transportation have always intrigued me since I was a kid, so I am trying to figure out how to break into the transportation business. In the long run, I probably don’t want to drive full-time, but if I want to start a new logistics or broker business, I want to know what I’m talking about and to be able to pitch in when needed. So I am getting my Class A CDL and I’m planning to learn all I can about the business.
Registration
Today I registered at a CDL school, a small operation just west of Chicago. I found it online about the same time I found this newbie driver site and the questions I should ask to figure out if it was a reasonable school. I don’t really want the community college class (too long), but I don’t want minimal treatment with no truck time, either. I visited in person to find out and I met Bob, the owner, who has lots of experience and a great attitude about helping people get trained and get placed. I got great answers about prepping, in-class work, the trucks, and time flexibility, which I needed. It is not PDTI certified, but it is a 160 hour state-approved and audited course plus the option of an extra 40 hours on city/local driving conditions. I can commute there in 45 min, so I’m not dealing with an on-site live-in program.
I also liked Bob. He’s got a news article on his office wall from a local paper about him and his attitude towards teaching the best techniques, not just the requirements. He knows everything that can go wrong for new drivers and shows his pride in his success rate given enough time and effort by the student – we’ll see how that holds up for my classmates. So, I suppose that a 4-5 week class could be called a CDL-mill by definition, but I’m pretty satisfied that Bob and his instructors can get me the CDL safely and without feeling like a rip-off. They are experienced teachers.
Pricing is straightforward and seems fair compared to live-in programs and other things I found on the net. $500 down to register gives me preparation assistance for the written state tests for the permit. Tuition is $3500 total, with 10% off for paying everything before the first day of actual training classes. This way if the written tests are a problem, you don’t have to pay tuition until they are passed. I know I’m lucky I don’t need to finance. If I did, I would probably try to get one of those low-rate initial balance credit cards and not use it for anything else until this was paid off. Bob uses a simple contract with the refund policy spelled out and it is easy to understand.
First step after registration, sat down with a highlighted CDL book from the school and I made the identical notations in my copy of the Illinois CDL book. I also got my first sample test to take home and try.
Official classes at this school start after passing the state permit tests. If I wanted to grind right through, I could start the training & driving part on June 24, but due to my vacation schedule, I’m starting July 8. Lots of CDL reading to do, gotta take the state-approved physical exam. I’ve got a checklist of what to bring to school each day, gloves, truck route map, etc.
The IL DOT physical was easy, just stop by the nearby clinic the school sent me to and get poked and prodded for a few minutes. Since I’ve got a weird phobia of needles I was quite relieved to find out no blood tests are required at all. No drug screen required for the state, but I’ve been told any employers will require one later. Hey, even my previous management job required a drug screen.
June 18, 2002
Back at school for pre-school preparation for the state tests. The site is a small classroom, really a refitted mobile home that holds 8-10 students at three fold-out tables, tucked into a small operating truck terminal (5 docks). Not very impressive to look at, but like many ugly trucks, all the working parts seem to be in operating order. Looks like we’ll get some lecture, with props like brake shoes, springs, etc, some videos to watch, and a lot of study from the state book. The yard has a scale, some marked off practice areas, and 4-5 school trucks, clearly marked, of different models and trailer lengths. Quite a few working trucks coming in and out, too, with parked trailers around the yard. I review my home practice test with Bob and then watch a prep video and take 3-4 practice tests on the different subjects. I get sent back to look up the answers to any problems that I missed or guessed on. I feel pretty prepared, but I’ll wait for next week to take the real test. I keep noticing rigs on the road the more I study for the test. Different configurations, lengths, loads, and how they approach turns.
June 25, 2002
A stop-in at school for a last-minute brush-up and one more practice test. This is a long one that pointed out a couple of places for more study. Two videos helped, too, to make things sink in. After a couple of hours, I don’t think I can cram any more in. I’ll take the state test tomorrow morning.
Note: one of the difficulties of this test is that not all of the rules and safest practices seem to be common sense, like steering off the road rather than braking in certain situations. So you practice answering what is in the book rather than by common sense. Then they throw a common sense question at you. One answer to a practice question was, “your dispatcher will be upset with you”. Since the question was about being put out of service for 24 hours for 0.02 alcohol level, I guess this case calls for the common sense answer. :-)
June 26, 2002
Went to the state testing facility in West Chicago, IL today to take my first three tests, General, Combination and Air Brakes. It was a new-looking facility with computer terminals for testing. I picked the right time, no lines and fewer distractions if you get there before 9am on a weekday. The differences between paper and the computer system are: 1) you get a picture for each question that might be related to the question, a truck part, gauge or road situation. They weren’t all that helpful to the questions (not supposed to be, I guess) but it was cute. 2) You find out whether you got the question right and what the correct answer is after each question instead of waiting for grading. But you can’t go back and change answers, either. 3) As soon as you have enough right answers the test stops, so you can get 100% even if you skipped a question and did not know the answer. Cool.
I passed easily – those prep tests really helped. I missed two questions, one on off-tracking and one on a service-line leak. The off-tracking question asked whether a double-trailer swings wider or a single trailer does. The right answer was the single, but I can’t find it in the book, it kinda implies the opposite. With the service-line leak, the trailer emergency brakes don’t come on immediately, but that was the answer they were looking for, since they do eventually.
The school suggested that I should get a copy of my driving record, so I got one while I was there (clean, that’s good). Total time in the building -- about 1 hour. Official classes start July 8 after the holiday week. 200 hours of class to go.
Week 1
700am to 330pm, what an early schedule. But, if you do this in July, you’ll want to start early, too. My first day is full sun, 95 degrees, probably more out on that asphalt yard. My biggest surprise, I’m the only full-time student that showed up to start today. There were supposed to be 4-5 others, but they all fell through. There are 5 students from the class two weeks ahead of me and 4 or 5 from the class four weeks ahead. Those from the earliest class are just finishing up, many ready to take the state tests, getting additional road time for areas they feel they need more practice for, prep for state endorsements, etc.
I guess this school believes in jumping right in, because by 715am, I’m out in the yard walking around the truck with the instructor and a part-time student learning parts and names and rules for pre-trip checks. John has 9 years experience driving for Mayflower. He is new to teaching but he is clear and easy to listen to. After a couple of hour tour and a break, we learn to drop and hook, practicing a few times. Lunch from 1100 to 1130 is the routine.
After lunch is orientation in the classroom. Usually they have 4-6 students, today it is just me. Training manuals, a time-card, log cards for the state certification of the school, and rules about being on time, not being reckless or driving too fast in the yard, etc. We finish a little early, so we go back to the truck for the last hour of the day and we start with straight-line backing. It is not what I’d call easy, but I’ve driven/backed a car & trailer and it is a little similar so things went okay.
Clock out and go home – man it was hot, and I’m covered with grease from doing the hooks & drops! Feels good to be learning & trying new things.
July 9, 2002
I guess the scheduling of multiple classes of students is always a mess with different starting times, some students missing some days, some needing more practice backing, and some with shifting. I get put in with the week 3 students for some classroom work. Since the lessons are in modules, and there is a certain amount of repetition, some lessons can be given to students at different stages. Today is classroom work learning the driver’s log (morning) and all of the detailed air-brake parts and operation (afternoon). The other students have had more time in the cab and with the trucks, so it is a little more intuitive to them, but I can keep up and it is more fun to learn some of this stuff with a group anyway.
At the end of each module, we get an open-book quiz on the material we just covered. It is a good reinforcement, and good quality control – nothing checks your understanding better than a written test and if the instructor leaves something out, the quiz will catch it.
July 10, 2002
Today, more classroom work. Part 2 of drivers’ logs and the sample problems keep getting worse and worse. Seems like every one now uses quarter-hour increments and includes 5 stops and some kind of trick question. I get the feeling real logging is never like this or this hard, but it is good to know the theoretical way to do it (then again….?). I can see how the 10 hour and the 70/8 rules can really catch you if you don’t plan the trip right. A forced day off in Cheyenne, WY doesn’t sound that attractive.
The Werner rep shows up right in the middle of class and they let him have an hour with us. Pretty slick dog and pony show with a video and Qualcomm and promises of several schedule choices and lots and lots of bonus pay. To me, it doesn’t look like great money all added up, but from the trucks I’ve seen on the road, I believe they run a young fleet of upscale trucks. His timing could not have been better to talk about a paperless truck right during our driver log class. A couple of the students hate the logs so much they are either looking to work local or for a Qualcomm-equipped company.
Bob walks by at lunch and tells me he likes to get students in the trucks early and save some of the classroom time for later, so he wants to get me in the cab this afternoon. But our lessons are not finished and it was better to finish the module. We finished up on logs with some map/trip planning and a test to see if it sunk in. Easy to make mistakes, but we repeated enough times, I think I got it and I did well on the test. At this point, I’m assuming that I’m driving tomorrow, at least around the yard. The earlier students are practicing their memorization for the pre-trip testing and I’ve heard them go through it so many times, I’m starting to remember.
July 11, 2002
Today brings the boring lows and the adrenalin highs of the program. More than five hours put into walking around the truck with the group of students from the earlier class, memorizing the parts. Bumper, license plate, grill, hood, headlights, signal lights, windshield, wipers, windshield seal, ID lights, marker lights, air dam, mirrors – all to be checked each time you start driving for the day. And then list the 15 things that can go wrong with tires & wheels. I’m quite skeptical that everyone checks all this stuff every day, but I’m glad that this level of detail is on the test. As the instructors say, your life and those of a lot of other people on the road depends on being able to determine if the truck is safe to drive.
Since the previous class is in their third week, they are set to take their first state pre-trip test, some of them taking it tomorrow. That’s why we’re working on memorization all day, even though I don’t have much cab time yet. I’m assuming that I’ll get more cab time later because I’ll already have it memorized by then.
Then, for the highlight of my day, an instructor approaches and says, “Let’s do a road trip, get your trip record and permit and we’ll go.” They believe in a throwing you in the deep end method here (but still safely). We go out in a six-speed synchronized tran Ford truck with a 27ft, empty trailer. The instructor drives to a nearby industrial park that has a circular road pattern with little traffic and a lot of room in the turns. After verbal instruction on double-clutching, I get in and go. I’m a little distracted by checking clearances, off-tracking, and learning to double-clutch at the same time, but there is very little traffic to avoid and it eventually starts to make sense. Down-shifting with a pause to push RPMs up in neutral is a very foreign concept compared to car driving. So is the idea of letting out the clutch with no accelerator. I’m going to have to break myself of several car habits.
I get to drive back from the practice site after only an hour, in traffic, jazzed, muscles tight, and excited to be alive. We’ve driven a whole seven miles. I can handle some more boring memorization after that, but I’ll want to drive again soon.
I’ve been in school long enough to see that all of the road trips here are one-on-one instruction, starting with day cabs with one rear axle, moving to long trailer and then to 8-speed tran, and finally to the 10-speed sleeper with tandem axles. The first few trips are one hour long with later ones stretching to two hours or more. I suppose a private track would have allowed learning of shifting and trailer control without going to public roads, but the one-on-one instruction is great and we are far enough from Chicago that it is not pure city driving.
July 12, 2002
The weather is perfect, 80 degrees and sunny with a light breeze. There is a buzz in the air, the SOS man is coming today! (Secretary of State examiner) Some students four weeks ahead of me are taking their final road tests and some students two weeks ahead are taking their pre-trip test. It is comforting to see that the tests are given right in the yard where we practice and on the road nearby – should make it a lot easier to test in a spot that is completely familiar due to practice.
The side benefit for me with instructors and students tied up with the SOS is I get some decent time in the trucks. Several hours of backing straight line and nearly straight with both 27 ft and 53 ft trailers. I’m over-correcting the alignment most of the time, probably correcting too late, but when I take my time, the box goes between the cones. I try parallel parking just to see how hard it is – very hard, I’ll come back to that later. By lunch, my clutch leg is hurting.
My second road trip. We take the same truck, so I’m much less nervous, but when we head out, we stay in traffic, going straight on a truck route for several miles. Going straight, even through traffic lights, allows me to relax some and practice shifting and speed management. We take some turns, no really tight ones, for which I am thankful, and try some different road types, even some narrow two-lane stuff and some up to 50 MPH. I’m a little more relaxed when we come back at the end of the hour this time. A lot more to learn, but it feels within reach.
It was great to see what the testing did for those who passed, the result of several weeks of solid effort. They were on cloud nine. A couple failed, two of them for stalling the truck during braking tests, and one got too nervous on the road test. They will all get another chance next week after some more practice. The greatest effect, however, is on the seriousness adopted by students (and instructors) who may have been joking around earlier. As we find out who failed and why, the memorization and practice in those areas takes on new importance.
Twenty miles for me on the road today. Glad to see the weekend here – a break is in order after my first 40 hours of class.
Week 2 July 15, 2002
This week is going to be a scorcher, weather-wise. My weekend was quite relaxing, catching up on things, sleeping in a little, researching how much trucks cost – both for my edification and in case I eventually want to buy one. I am surprised to learn that the trucks we are practicing with in the yard are probably only $20,000 trucks. Low power makes sense, single rear axle makes some sense, and only one of the six trucks is a more-expensive sleeper – that makes sense, too. I did find those super-nice $95,000 2003 models on the Internet and they seem to depreciate really, really fast – 50% by the time they are two years old with 150K-200K miles on them and 60-70% by four years.
One new part time student comes in to start and there may be one more full-time student soon. I’m not the new guy anymore. Bob tells us that class this week will be truck activities in the morning followed by classroom lessons in the afternoon when the heat will be over 90 degrees. So I get into two new activities in the morning. First, learning the CDL yard skills exercise with the angle backing, the measured pull-ups, and the right-hand turn. I felt really good when I hit all three tests on my second time through. I felt really bad when the 4th and 5th time I tried, the angle came out all wrong and the pull-up gave me an impossible angle. Timing the turn so it does not come out too soon or too late is really tough. I get reminded that I am not allowed to do the test with my head hanging out the window (darn, it was much easier that way), and I’m a little impatient. Oh well, there are a couple more weeks of practice before I’ll be taking the test.
Second, I drive around the yard in the 8-speed tractor practicing shifting with a typical transmission. It is all under 10MPH, going from 1st to 2nd to 3rd and back down, but I feel much more comfortable with the RPM ranges after that. Compared to cars I have owned with 2000 RPM difference between gears, this truck only has about a 400 RPM difference. Double clutching is getting easier, but I’m still pushing the pedal too far down. This is a working yard and there is a truck in the back that is in my way, sitting at idle. I guess he is trying to sleep with me zooming past over and over again, shifting and racing the engine. My apologies, but I gotta practice somewhere.
Afternoon is dedicated to a class session on map reading and trip planning. Good material, especially if you have not read maps much. Our family traveled a lot by car for vacations, and I would follow along in the atlas, so this is review for me. We learn the “theoretical” travel times of 10 hours on then 8 hours off then 10 hours on, etc. If I’m going to do that, it will be team driving – no way I could keep it up alone. Looking forward to getting another road trip tomorrow.
July 16, 2002
Another student was running the skills practice and jacked the turn almost all the way. Not too far for the truck, but unfortunately, one of the air lines caught on the dummy coupler on the back of the cab and broke it off. Bob was not happy, but he agreed to cover the cost as it was not at-fault for the student. In the afternoon to get out of the heat, we have classroom exercises in trip planning. Weights, some more map reading, fuel info, information needed at scales and inspections. Boring in principal, but it is must-know stuff.
July 17, 2002
Today, the backing practice in the morning was good, trying different degrees of angle backing. I’m going to get that angle right and come out straight in front of the box if it kills me. Getting killed could literally happen in this heat. By 1:30, I am done for and can go no further.
There are options: study written material or do video and practice test review, both inside with air conditioning. I opt to view the Tanker and Double/Triple videos and take those pre-tests. After going through this material, the state written test should be easy.
I would love to do another road trip today, but one instructor is on vacation this week and the students that are testing on Friday get priority. I suppose right before I test, I’ll get some priority then. This would be a good time to put in a little criticism. This journal is going to be pretty favorable overall about the school, curriculum and how students are treated, but there is at least one negative. The flexibility of schedules can cause quite a bit of chaos at times, and the teaching experience of the instructors is quite variable. All are experienced truckers and I ask them questions all the time. I get very good answers, but two are new and all but one are beginner teachers. Even worse, the experienced one is leaving the school at the end of this week. We constantly get conflicting scheduling instructions with two instructors wanting the same truck or re-assigning tasks to students even though they supposedly coordinate at the beginning of each day. Without a set curriculum, there is no way to know what to expect or what is expected of you each day. If you need structure and classmates going along with you to study with, try somewhere else. If you like individualized instruction like I do, then this is the way to go. I never feel unchallenged, because I just go try (with permission) what I think I need next. I just wish road trips were easier to schedule.
July 18, 2002
How hot is too hot? When it was 94 degrees earlier in the week, a slight breeze and reasonable humidity kept the heat from building. Today, 90% humidity and almost no wind made 90 degrees feel like 99. Maybe the morning-only part time students have picked the best schedule. 7:00am to 11:00am gets warm, but what to do in the afternoon?
Tomorrow is Friday, so some of the students who started two weeks ahead of me are testing so there is a flurry of practicing, practicing, practicing on pre-trip, skills and road test. I plan to be ready for the first two tests next Friday – I could probably pass them tomorrow, but the state requires 120 hours minimum in this type of class before testing.
So I start the day with a part-time student who is a little behind me. We set up a truck with a short trailer which she has never backed before. After she tries the straight back, I set up for the parallel parking exercise. When that gets too easy (boring), I turn it into a serpentine parallel park by starting even with the side of the box. Then I swap over to the truck with a long trailer to practice backing along a curve. I just can’t quite get it to come back straight in line with the box. I can re-align it with a pull-up, but it seems so much cooler to be able to angle or curve back into something straight in front of the spot. Then I get to park the trailer for lunch in between two other trailers – somewhat easier than parking between cones since your mirrors have the other trailers to line up with. More nerve-wracking, though because cones don’t sue for damages.
I get in some practice on the CDL skills test setup in the yard, but turn it over to those who need it to practice for their tests tomorrow. I go back to working on my backing along a curve.
My third road trip goes fine. I’m ready for the long trailer and/or the 8 or 10 speed, but the truck that is ready to go is the same old Ford 6 speed with a 27 ft trailer. We head out and very quickly hit a stretch of 50MPH speed limit on a narrow two-lane road. I can barely concentrate on the road lines, mirrors, shifting, and traffic all at once. When I am concentrating on shifting, I can do it right with a short clutch stroke, but when I’m thinking about turns or speed or traffic, my foot goes to the floor. I miss a gear once when I forget whether I’m in 4th or 5th, but I eventually find 3rd as the truck slows down. I passed the heads-up test where the stretch of road goes from 55 speed limit to 45 then down to 35. The instructor was busy pretending to look at papers, but really seeing if I would catch the speed adjustments and downshifts on my own.
A hazmat video in an air conditioned room gives me time to cool down and with an opportune cloud over the sun I make it back to the yard for a little more backing. Time for a couple of runs and then we put the trucks away. I buy the instructor a beer after work to get some questions in about the business. He has been a driver, trainer, O/O, dispatcher, sales rep, and now instructor. I got some good feedback and ideas and I am going to need them. I don’t want to give up my consulting, so I need a flexible schedule and I need to drive part-time. All of the training programs are likely to be for OTR and for several more full-time weeks, so I’m behind the 8-ball. Trailer lease delivery, night-time shuttle work from terminal to terminal, or container delivery were all suggested. If you have other suggestions, send me an email to the address above.
July 19, 2002
Friday again, two weeks in, 80 hours down, 120 to go. Here is how today was supposed to happen: Everyone arrives at 7am, the SOS examiners are expected at 9am. Seven students are taking all or part of the tests today. Between 7 and 9, the trucks are set up and each student does at least one dry run of the tests to be taken in the truck that will be used for the test. The instructors do a rotation of 20-minute road tests as a confidence builder for each student and to check out any obstacles on the prescribed course. The rest of us keep busy with backing or self-study. During testing the instructors are idle, so they tell me to expect a road trip with one of the trucks not required for the tests.
What actually happened: The road test truck has a freon leak in the air conditioning. When the temperature is going to climb to near 90 degrees, no one wants an uncomfortable examiner and worse, the leak itself could disqualify the truck. Will it be fixed in time? The weather has already delivered 90% humidity, but also calls for rain in the morning, right when people want to be testing. There is construction on the road in front of the school, so when the first examiner arrives, he is ticked off from waiting in traffic and immediately states that he intends to put off the road trips because the road is too congested. In the meantime, the first trailer I hook up has a major air leak, the second one has a taillight failure, so neither are going on the road and now I’m short a trailer for my road trip. Later that morning, the second testing truck started losing air during a test and the one I’m using gets pre-empted for the tests. Who would want to be in the trucking business with this kind of stuff happening all the time?
You would think this would be a disaster day, but it wasn’t, go figure. The school is located on a working truck yard, remember? The mechanic is literally 50 yards away and he had the leak capped by 8:30am, though without fixing the air conditioning. The rain holds off but the clouds keep the heat down. I really felt sorry for the students who practiced for the skills test all week in one truck and now have to use a different tractor cold, with not even one practice run, but they all pass. The examiner got his temper back and did road tests that were fine as traffic died down. My morning was pretty boring without a truck, but all of the testing was done by noon and I got my fourth road trip in the afternoon. There was one testing failure, but the students that I knew were ready did fine. I take those same tests next Friday, so I’m starting to plan next week to lead up to my tests.
During the afternoon road trip, I have an 8 speed Ford with a 48 foot trailer and it is my first time shifting in a true truck transmission. I know the theory and I’ve shifted up and down in the yard with a bobtail, but this time it is for real. The whole trip I feel like I’m getting it and there is that great feeling when you find a gear right on without clicks or grinds. As soon as it feels good though, my mind goes to my trailer, the road, or traffic and I miss the next gear. 7th is particularly tough as is the transition with the splitter from 4th to 5th. In a car, you never shift from lower right to upper middle. The most interesting moment was right after pulling up to a left turn at a traffic light. Because of construction, the target lane was single with no room on the right at all, a complete drop-off. There was an unused left turn lane, so I figured if I stayed wide and no one pulled into the intersection, we’d be fine. The white Firebird that came to a stop as the light changed was not so confident when faced with a “Student Truck Driver” truck coming his way (maybe he worked in trucking somewhere). He jammed into reverse and backed up 15 feet before anyone could pull in behind him – I thought he was going to hit the guy behind him! I missed him by 20 feet since I had that extra lane.
It has been a long time since I spent an entire week outside in the sun so I am really, really tired and looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
Week 3
So we start the day rotating four of us through practice on the angle-backing skills test. We grade each other and try to learn from each other’s mistakes. Progress is slow sometimes, but each time the results are just a little more predictable, a little closer to the ideal parameters. The nerve wracking thing about preparing for this test is the sudden-death nature of it. One inch over the line is a failing grade, so no matter how skilled you are in general, a small slip can end the test.
Traffic through the yard is especially busy today, though not for any obvious reason. Each time through the practice routine requires a U-turn around the yard and often someone parks a truck and/or trailer in the way. On one occasion, I decide that it would be easier to go to the back of the yard and back up than wait for a truck to move, plus I was bored doing it the old way. Well, I got my first taste of taking a 48 foot trailer into an unknown situation and backing up in an almost blind direction. I suppose that happens all the time out there on the road.
Afternoon brings a classroom session on weights, scales and inspections.
Morning is Shifting/RPM class with a video from Eaton on proper shifting techniques and charts of the gear ranges of the trucks that we use. I find it a great help because when you shift, you have to either get information on the gear ranges or guess them by grinding gears until you figure it out. Skip shifting is particularly interesting and I am happy to learn that it is recommended when it can be done safely and gets better fuel economy. That will be something to practice out on the road.
Afternoon class is about job placement and interviewing and federal safety regulations (how to read the green book). Not much rocket science on the job placement front, but if you think it through, it takes some of the mystery out of approaching potential employers. I hope to get back on the road soon – I have the taste for it and this has been enough class for now.
What a crummy day! One of our defensive driving lessons suggests to “pre-trip your attitude” so you don’t take it out on equipment or other drivers. Usually, I have no problem with that and I do not carry a bad mood around, but for some reason today is a big exception.
The main reason is that the school is gearing up to help students who are going to be testing on Friday. I am ready for two out of the three tests, but I am signed up for a 200 hour course and they leave me off the schedule. Other students have higher priority, some of whom are struggling and are getting a lot of attention. In addition, I get no road time for the third straight day.
Of course the cloud over my head is counter-productive to my driving and nothing seems to go right. Right when I would like to be proving that I am ready to test, I start going too fast, missing my timing, and trying to do too much. I am pretty good at parallel parking, but during that drill, I can’t find the angle at all and the trailer gets away from me. Nothing unsafe, but even the skills test that I usually do by habit comes out wrong and I go over the line.
Attitude or no attitude, the instructors are patient and agreeable. It only takes a little bit of begging to get put into the testing rotation for Friday. In the meantime, I stay out of the way of the other students when it gets too frustrating and wait while they practice and try to get better. My competitive side comes out and I really, really want to do better on the test then they do. In my heart I know the test is really pass/fail and we are all going to pass eventually, but like I said, this was a frustrating day.
Today, I am back on track, attitude and all. I am testing tomorrow and the whole day is geared to preparing for the tests tomorrow morning. We quiz each other on pre-trip details and we rotate through the skills test to make sure we can do the steps without a hitch. One instructor helps me review, emphasizing that the tests are keyword oriented and coaching to use short answers for pre-trip details (list the suspension parts) rather than starting conversations with the examiner.
After my three-day drought, today I return to the road. I qualify for the sleeper cab (another Ford) with 10-speed transmission and the 53’ trailer. We head out and the first thing I notice is that when you practice in the yard with a day cab with a quick turning radius, it spoils you. This truck does not turn nearly as quickly and I need that to handle the 53’ behind me. Shifting is in a different pattern with 6th gear being lower left. It goes very well, but just as I begin to settle into a rhythm, a traffic light changes at a different time or we hit a right turn. Right turns are amazingly difficult and I hit a couple of curbs, but not by too much. I will have to think a lot about what I am doing wrong. Next time I hope to do better on those turns.
Near the end of the day, some of us begin to get last-minute help from an instructor. In a prophetic act, he moves a couple of the cones for the measured stop to see if we can stay accurate with different sight lines. He suggests that I line up the truck at a different angle for the angle back. Other students are given many new hints, sight lines and suggestions to check for all parts of the exercise. The students all agree these are good things to know, but not the evening before the test.
I am prepared, but as I know from last week, anything can go wrong on test day.
In an uneventful way, the results were good and I passed both tests. On the pre-trip, my toughest question was about the specs for brake drums. We studied the brake shoe limits (1/4 inch), but not how thick the drum linings need to be…also ¼ inch according to the examiner. Most students passed, a couple of students failed, but it was their first time at the tests and Bob has been clear about continuing to help all students until they pass.
After all of the tension of waiting for the tests, I did not want to return to yard practice so I decided to press my luck and make today a 5-test day. I went to the SOS office and took the three tests for Tankers, Doubles/Triples, and HazMat endorsements. The pre-test preparation from the school made it a low-pressure task and I passed easily.
So, I finish the week with a lot completed. Five out of the six SOS tests, 120 hours of instruction done, 80 hours to go. All that is left for the CDL is my road test that I can take at 160 hours. As one of the most senior students now, I should get a lot more road time next week. In between, I’ll probably end up helping to coach other students which is easier to do when the pressure of my own tests is gone.
Week 4
Monday, a student brought in donuts to celebrate our successful testing – nice treat. For me now, life is looking for things to do to fill in between road trips. I get a short road trip early, where we go over the road course that the test usually runs on. Two sharp right turns, up to 30-35 MPH, an easy turn right going up a small hill, tight left into an industrial park, pull up to stop, left turn (I hit the curb first time) onto a fast-moving highway, get up to speed, come to traffic light, turn left, left turn back into our yard. Runs about three miles.
In the afternoon, I go back to a six-speed with a 48-foot trailer. We are going for an extended road run to practice turning. A nearby industrial park has fairly wide streets and low traffic with a great combination of easy and tight turns both left and right. It takes many tries for me to get used to entering the oncoming traffic lane for any reason – such a major habit for car driving to NEVER go into that lane. But, if my trailer is going to make it around that curb, I have to take the room. It is just what I need to learn at this point and even if the instructor is barking like a drill sergeant, I am happy to be out there driving and turning.
Tuesday is a drought day. No road time. They offer to let me do just about anything in the yard I want, including backing up to the real docks and parking in-between trailers. Lots of hours backing up, learning angles, correcting for trailers that are already parked crooked at the dock. Great practice, I didn’t hit anything, but a tiring day.
Wednesday is looking better. In the morning, I’m still backing, but I’m sure I will get a road trip today. The yard is strangely low on trailers that were stacked two deep only 3 weeks ago. One trailer sits out from the others, getting in the way, so before I hook up the practice trailer for me, I hook this one up and move it to the back row just like I was a yard-spotter. In the afternoon, we go out for two hours of turns again, this time in the big-cab 10-speed with the 53’ trailer. Those turns are even tougher with the long trailer, of course, but I now watch that trailer tire much more closely and I’m more comfortable taking the room I need to turn. Sometimes I even take too much room now. Shifting is going better as I regularly skip from 7th to 5th when slowing down. I’d like to be able to do 8th to 5th when a yellow traffic light pops up, but that will take more practice. I could use a lot more than two hours of road per day if they would let me. Back in the yard, it is HOT and I almost burn my arm on the truck door when I try to rest it there. After an hour of parking that practice trailer, I pack it in and go get some water. Vacation is welcome after 3.5 weeks full-time school and we’ll see if I still remember how to drive on Monday.
Week 5
My road trip today was with the other instructor, less drill sergeant, more compatible with letting me get my feel for the truck. We start with a trip through the SOS testing course, then head off for a 25 mile loop through traffic, a couple of tough turns, and a lot of stoplights that reinforce shifting. It feels good, but something would happen about every 5 minutes to throw off the timing: a hill, a quick light, a RR crossing where I missed the downshift and coasted across the tracks in neutral, or just loss of concentration. Could I count on no lapses during my test? Then it got interesting -- we picked a road that should have gone through, but today, was closed. The detour ended up on a small road with not just a tight turn back onto the US route, but about a 60-70 degree right turn onto a two-lane highway with no shoulder on the far side. I would have bagged the turn and picked another route, but the instructor thought we could make it. I took the left lane of my road, making the green pickup coming toward me wait (where did he come from?!?), took it out across both lanes of the main road just short of the edge and looking back in the mirror to see how it was going. We missed the stop sign, but could not miss the light pole. We stopped less than a foot short of slamming the pole into the trailer (or is it the other way around?). Now I’m blocking two lanes from where I came (5 cars/trucks behind) and both lanes of the US route (cars backing up both ways).
Nothing to do but to back up until I can clear the highway going to the left where the turn would be easier. It worked, and trying to ignore all the traffic, I pulled out going the other way. We found a truck repair yard in about ½ mile and pulled in. The driver of the truck behind me flipped me off as he went by – welcome to the industry, I guess. Turning around was no big deal and we were back on our way. I don’t plan to be back in a situation like that, but I assume I will be in trouble again someday and I hope that getting out is no harder than it was this time. No harm, no foul, that light pole is still standing. Did I mention hitting and breaking a light pole with a car when I was 17? I can do without the childhood flashbacks.
One of the other instructors noticed I was back early and he must have pointed out that I needed one more hour for my 16 hour total, because an hour later I was back on the road for another 45 minutes (counted as an hour) going through the state test route 3 more times. I only failed one out of three this time for losing the gear before a turn. But that ends our day and tomorrow I go, ready or not.
Final Exam Day
There are about 8 people testing today, several bundles of nerves wondering what could go wrong, hoping for the best. We set up the trucks and start our pre-test practice runs with the instructor. I am first on the road with the big cab and the 53’ trailer and we try running the test course. It is not particularly any harder, just with that huge delay as traffic was obviously getting worse. The next person out got through the construction one way, but with a mile-long backup, they chose a different route to return to base.
One examiner showing up means much longer waiting time for the students, so we heavily prefer having two. Today, only one shows up and he is the one no one wanted to see again after last week. Not that he was a complete jerk, just one with a super-examiner attitude that puts your nerves on edge and lowers expectations for catching a break during the test.
After the usual 20 minutes of paperwork, he comes out and picks me to go first which could be good or bad, at least I don’t have to wait. He tells me we are going to try the normal course first and alter the route if necessary. I’m thinking that just creates plenty more chances to hit a curb or miss a gear. From the school parking lot, the first two turns are the worst and I have been hitting one curb or the other about half the time. I squeak through them and then we hit the construction. When I see that the single lane is back to two lanes and then see that the traffic backup is cleared, I realize the rest of the test is all downhill (so to speak). My blood pressure drops a couple of points and I just concentrate on the drive as I have practiced. Since I already qualified for HazMat, he throws in an extra step, a simulated HazMat RR crossing. My instructors had prepared me for that, so it went smoothly. As we pulled in, I figured I had it, no curbs, missed one turn signal cancel and missed gears only 3 times and found them all on the second try. It wasn’t exactly a slap on the back, but he started stamping and signing the form instead of telling me why I failed. Finally he said I had passed and to “drive safe.” Ready for the next student.
The rest of the day was mopping up details, enjoying my very good mood. I drove to the state CDL station to get |
