High-Seas to Highways

[Jarhed1964]

Forget ARMY............USMC RULES!!!!!

WORD :mrgreen: 8)

I have a brother in the that is a Master Sargent in the USAF he told me a joke about why he chose the Air Force. The Navy comes in and Softens up the beach the Marines take the beach. The Armay expands and takes the objective. Then the Air Force comes in and builds the Officers Club.

Of course he works on the ejection seats on the F-16 and also on the F-15 and is 15 for 15 which means all the times someone has had to punch out and has been able to reach the handle that pilot has lived.

[devildice]

Driving Day 8 of CDL School 6/27/07:
Today was my 11th and last drive as well as my 3rd and final exam for the school. It was a breeze since all it consisted of was driving the DPS route that I drove yesterday. I managed to score a 100% on it and feel both comfortable and confident I will pass my road test. Not sure what my “final” grade is, but I suspect that it is in the low 90’s.

After that, the instructor just had me driving all over the place with no particular route in mind. It was a combination of city & highway driving with a little bit of everything mixed in as far as tight turns etc. As we drove down the road, he would ask me what a particular road sign that we passed said to see if I was paying attention to bridge heights, exit ramp speed, construction zone signs, etc. He also had me go to one of the truck stops near by and pull up next to the scales to explain how they work and what to do when I need to use them. It was just a little “extra” training.

My last little hurdle will be tomorrow morning when I go to DPS to take the actual road test to earn my Class “A” CDL. If, and I say IF, it goes as smooth as it did yesterday and today, I should do O.K. Wish me luck!

[K.POP]

You will do fine...the way you have been doing so far you should be OTR in know time.

Good luck and dont kill the cones

[devildice]

Final Day of CDL School 6/28/07:
Well the last several weeks have been a fun, exciting and sometimes frustrating to say the least. All of it was preparation for today, my CDL road test.

My appointment time was set for 8am and my instructor and I arrived at 7:30. When we arrived, there were 4 Swift trucks with about 15 students and 3 Roadmasters with 12 students. Then there was Sage, with just me, the “lone wolf”. Shortly after arriving, a DPS Officer came out and briefed all of us as to what was going to happen. He also mentioned that if it should start raining (we have been under a storm warning since yesterday) that they will either postpone or possibly cancel the drives. I was crossing my fingers that it would stay dry…..at least long enough for me to get my test done and over with.

At 8am promptly my examiner showed up. As she was walking towards us, my instructor let out a little sigh. My natural reaction was to ask what? He stated that she was one of the tougher examiners. Oh great, that’s all I need, Ms. “Hard-ass”. After introductions, she looked at the truck & trailer registration and insurance papers. She then proceeds to check the operation of the horn, turn signals, and all lights. After that she got in the truck and had me perform an air brake test. Once that was completed, she had me do a brake test in where I would release the tractor brakes but leave the trailer brakes on and try to gently pull forward, then do the same thing with the tractor brakes on and the trailer brakes off. Up to this point, everything is good to go.

She then explains to me all the things she will be grading me on (too many things to list), and off we go. I am a little nervous but feel confident enough that I can pull this off as long as I concentrate. We drive the same course that I practiced on the past 2 days and all is well. We get to the place where I need to demonstrate straight backing and parallel parking. To my surprise, I do it flawlessly and receive a perfect score.

When it was all said and done, I took a total of 2 hits. One was for not looking in both directions as I went through an intersection where I had the green light. I did it on all the others, but apparently missed one. The second hit is a little hard to explain but I’ll try. I was approaching an overpass and was to turn left on the other side and then enter the freeway. As I am approaching, I have a green left arrow but just as I get about 20 feet or so from the intersection, the green arrow goes away and it is now just a solid green light, allowing oncoming traffic to proceed. I slow down and come to a complete stop just past the solid white line and then proceed to turn when it was clear. Well she “gigged” me for not stopping before the line. Oh well, can’t win them all I suppose.

Needless to say, with only 2 hits I am now the proud holder of a Class “A” Commercial Drivers License. “Phase I” of training is now officially complete. Since I am the only student left in this class, I told the Director that I did not want any kind of official graduation ceremony. He understood and insisted that he and the staff present me with my certificates over lunch. That was very generous of him so I took him up on his offer, besides, how can I pass up a free lunch….LOL. Over all, I am very pleased with the school and the course. I feel that it far exceeded my expectations and I would recommend Sage Truck Driving School to anyone.

“Phase II” of my training will come starting the week of July 9th when I head to Missoula, Montana to start orientation and head out with my trainer for Davis Transport. “Phase III” will be a continuous ongoing, never ending process of learning and fine tuning my skills on a daily basis when and if I get my own assigned truck and am running solo.

I hope that everyone enjoyed this day by day journey through CDL School and will stay tuned as I intend to continue the journey through my training at Davis Transport.

[geomon]

Congratulations!!! I enjoyed reading your blog and look forward to hearing about the next leg.

[K.POP]

Thats awsome! Congratulations!!! Wish you the best of luck with Davis Trans. Keep us updated with how things are rolling with you. Did you attend the school in San Antonio?

[devildice]

Congratulations!!! I enjoyed reading your blog and look forward to hearing about the next leg.

Thanks .....glad you enjoyed following along.

[devildice]

Thats awsome! Congratulations!!! Wish you the best of luck with Davis Trans. Keep us updated with how things are rolling with you. Did you attend the school in San Antonio?

Thanks K.POP I intend to continue the journal as I go through training with Davis. And yes I attended Sage here in San Antonio and I would DEFINITELY recommend this school to anyone that is interested.

[Folsom Flash]

Congrats and good luck, good job on the training and getting the CDL. Now the fun and hard work begins.

[devildice]

Congrats and good luck, good job on the training and getting the CDL. Now the fun and hard work begins.

Thank you. And I agree with you about the fun and hard work. Although the school was great, it just helped me earn my CDL and laid the foundation to which I will start to build on when I head out with my trainer.

[fireman932003]

Congrats Chief!!!!

[devildice]

Congrats Chief!!!!

Thank You!!

[BigWheels]

Way to go devildice! CONGRATS! 8)

[devildice]

Way to go devildice! CONGRATS! 8)

Thank you BigWheels!!

[Jarhed1964]

Congratulations!!!

I'm on your heels, brother!! 8)

[devildice]

Congratulations!!!

I'm on your heels, brother!! 8)

Thanks.....

[Kurbski]

Awesome JOB on the CDL drivers test and your Posts Here.

I have been reading the entire thread since since day one and look forward to reading about your adventures. Im a newbie and taking my CDL permit test next week. Not in a big rush..have a couple of yrs to go before I retire form FD. Keep up the great read and thanks for your efforts. arty:

[fireman932003]

have a couple of yrs to go before I retire form FD

I am assuming you meant Fire Dept?? If so, where at? I was a fireman for right at 15 yrs.

[danske]

Congrats and good luck, good job on the training and getting the CDL. Now the fun and hard work begins.

Thank you. And I agree with you about the fun and hard work. Although the school was great, it just helped me earn my CDL and laid the foundation to which I will start to build on when I head out with my trainer.

Way to go!! I have been following yours and GFIW blogs for some time now. I have been thinking about returning to road after 11 years off, and this website has been very helpful.

I have messaged GFIW and spoke to GFI on the phone. Davis is at the top of my list of companies. I hoping to get an offer here soon to start in Sept or October.

Anyhow, Congrats!!! PM me and we can swap some information.