The most challenging part to get to the top of the mountain, is the climb to the summitt :D I'm sure that once I am able to actually perform and practice the pre-trip, instead of reading it from a manual, i'll be fine. I currently work for GM on the assembly line, and know all about doing something EXACTLY the same way every single time, so maybe that will give me a slight advantage :wink: I'm more of a hands-on person anyway. I learn quicker and better by "doing" something, instead of reading it from a book. And Uturn, you're absolutely correct about only memorizing 1/2 of it...never actually looked at it that way. I feel better already :lol: Thanks

We were told that anyone with the coordination to drive a stick-shift car can be trained to drive an 18-wheeler. In my class of 30 in 1964, one man failed because of his inability to keep one eye on the road while glancing at the tach and the speedometer as he tried to recover from a missed gear change.

More recently, an acquaintance passed the school backing tests on her sixth attempt. I give her high marks for perseverance. However, I was criticized by others for suggesting that perhaps she was not cut out to be a truck driver in spite of her strong desire for the truckers' life style. Subsequently, she washed out of Swift's training program, but found a job co-driving a straight truck at Panther. Her career ended with a wreck on a big city freeway. She had difficulty reading route signs at 60 mph.

I don't mean to disparage anyone who fails to make the grade in this occupation. The man who failed in my class back in 1964 had a Masters Degree and was undoubtedly the smartest person in the classroom. The woman acquaintance had an excellent work ethic and was generous to her friends. My point is that some people are not cut out to be truck drivers. We should acknowledge the "weeding out" process and try something else.

making you do a pre trip without a check sheet is one of the most ridiculous things our wonderful idiots in the government have come up with, if you knew an airline made the pilots check the plane from memory and didnt let them use a checklist, would you get on the plane? they say the reason is that you need to know what to check, well, if you had a standard checklist you WOULD know what to check, then they could just make sure that you knew how to check everything, On second thought, that seems to make too much sense, it would never work.

Study Study Study.
When taking the driving test, take your time, relax, and think of it as an exercise of skill not a test.
Have someone you have gotten a lot of support from there to give you encouragement.

When I took my written I passed doubles/triples and Airbrakes on first attempt. The CDL portion I passed on the 2nd.

When I took my driving test I almost failed the course because I got nervous (keeping in mind that I had no problems when I was practicing), I remember distinctly doing a straight back and the trailer got out from behind me and I took out a cone and instead of correcting, I knew I got a point on it so I just let it go.

When I took the road test, I passed with flying colors.... Mainly because I knew the course.

Lastly, if you are used to driving a specific truck, try and test in it as it will make life easier!