Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin0915
Hey, we had our last update on the 9th. "Day 10".....where are days 11 and 12? =)
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SORRY KEVIN !
No I did not forget to post on Friday, but I was really tired and I ended up moving into a different room in the motel. I am now roommates with Dave, my teammate in the truck. We are both going to be based in Sumner, we are close to the same age, and we have a lot in common. So we decided to become roommates rather than be stuck with some unknown new student.
So day 10, Friday started out with me driving out of Lewiston along the river. I drove for 1.75 hours and 72 miles all on line 3. Next Dave jumped in the drivers seat in Kamiah ID, and drove for 1.75 hours and 52 miles. Daves driving included some windy uphill grade as we headed to White Bird ID. Once in White Bird we switched again and I drove to Winchester ID. This was 55 miles and 1.5 hours all logged on line 3. When we reached Winchester ID Dave drove all the way back to the academy in Lewiston for 44 miles and 1.5 hours.
Here is a link to the morning GPS Track. Now one problem with the tracker. My phone was low on battery, so it was turned off from White Bird to Winchester. The GPS program simply drew a straight line between the two points. The actual route I drove was on Highway 95, as opposed to the plotted route.
11 | Author Ford390pwr | free Mobile GPS Tracking Service
After lunch I again got behind the wheel for 1.5 hours and 26 miles on line 3. This was all in town driving and focussed on some tight turns, a few residential streets and a bunch of traffic. All went well with the exception of a few curbs that may need new paint. I quickly learned that it may not always be possible to miss the curb.
Dave got 25 miles and 1.5 hours of similar driving. He got frustrated with downshifting from 5th to 3rd, but again he did not have any major problems. All in all, the afternoon was a lot more stressfull than the morning, but we still had an awesome day.
Here is the link for the afternoon of day 10:
10-2 | Author Ford390pwr | free Mobile GPS Tracking Service
We heard that most of the other students went on the long runs and did not get into the traffic as much as we did. 2 trucks with 4 student even revisited the road that we did on the first day of driving where they practiced upshift and downshift for the 27 mile stretch.
Bob still says that we are way ahed of the other teams. I don't think he would tell us this if it wasn't true. He continues to give us greater and greater challenges, so I think that means we are improving. Nobody else has been on Lewiston Hill, and we have both driven down the hill already.
Now, I am adding Day 11 to this post also. Today was Saturday and Bob was the only instructor on duty. He showed us how to chain up, slide the 5th wheel, and slide the tandems. Being on the range, we had all of the usual stations. 100' backing, offset backing, 90 degree dock, 45 degree dock and straight back. We also had a station for drop and hook, sliding 5th wheel and tandems, and tire chains. Chaining up in 95 degree weather with no trailer was not realistic, but at least we got to do it!
So Bob helped the students that needed to still take the school tests for offset backing, 90 degree dock and straight back. There was one studen that had problems with these and needed to retest. Bob was able to get them comfortable by the end of the day, and she was able tocomplete them all with a passing score. This student is going to run teams with her husband, so once she passes the state tests, she can learn more on the road.
At the end of day 11, we still have 10 students, and the only retests that still need to be done are for the pret-trip inspections. Everyone seems to be ready to get out on the road and try to maneuver through some city traffic. I think Monday will bring some pretty intense driving fo everyone.
Sunday will be a day off for us. Most classes will only receive this one day off during the training program. Because of the July 4th holiday, this is our second day off. We have all been able to accumulate the required hours of Lab and Range time to meet the PTDI requirements. Next week will have 4 days of Road hours, so we should have plenty of hours to graduate. Testing for us will be in Spokane WA on Friday, the last day of school.
