Oh, the driver of the 4-wheeler also said, " I will never hang on the side of a big truck like that again, will stay back, or pass and get out of the way."

Lesson Learned

 

Thanks GFIW....I take it as a real compliment coming from a "pro" poster!!

 

Well at least no one was hurt. And what did that 4wheeler think....that YOU blew the tires intentionally? :lol:


Happy Father's Day to you as well

 

Glad to hear he learned his lesson.....that's one down and how many millions more to go?

 

Driving Day 1 of CDL School 6/18/07:
Well today was my first official day of “Behind the Wheel” Training. What can I say other that “WOW”. Wow was it nerve racking, wow was it frustrating, wow was it FUN!!

I started at 6am with a safety brief as well as a brief on what I would be doing. I would be learning how to up shift, down shift, coupling, uncoupling, driving bobtail in a figure “8” and forward serpentine and then the same thing with a 53’ trailer. All of this is done in their gravel yard, not on the roads.

So I started off with a pre-trip inspection. Once complete, I got into the jump seat while the instructor demonstrated everything I mentioned above. When he felt comfortable I understood everything that was expected of me, it was my turn to give it a go. I started off bobtail and up/down shifting. Lets just say that at first it was a little comical (at least to me), then it became a little embarrassing, and finally down right frustrating!! I knew that shifting a truck is completely different than a car, yet I would constantly try to shift it like I was in a car…..grrrrrrrrrr. :evil: The more frustrated I got with myself, the worse my shifting became. Eventually, I asked the instructor to let me park it, take a short break and regroup.

So I parked it and stepped out. By now, I am down right disgusted with myself. The instructor said to just take a deep breath and relax and he would be right back. Funny thing is that when I was a Naval Instructor, I would say the exact same thing to my students when they were getting frustrated. Being on the “other side” of that statement now, I realize that it is easier said than done. :roll:

While the instructor was away, I jumped back into the drivers seat and began to try and figure out where my disconnect was. I know what to do and I even had the correct coordination between my foot and hand, but my shifts were rough. One of my problems was pushing the clutch too far down. Then it hit me like a bolt of lightening :idea: ...the SEAT! Check the seat dummy!!!! Adjust it in a way that I am comfortable, but which also does NOT allow me to push the clutch in too far, and guess what? When I did that, it worked. Now that I had the clutching down, I needed to work on not putting the death grip on the stick. My instructor told me to “rest” my hand on top of the shifter and when shifting to a gear away from me, gently push it with the palm of my hand. When shifting to a gear that was toward me, gentle us my finger tips and all the while ensure that I did not remove my hand during the shift procedure. Once I did that, low and behold I was shifting smoothly!!!!!!!!! Whew, what a relief and great feeling.

Next was to connect the trailer and do the exact same thing I was while bobtailing, figure 8’s and then serpentine. I have towed a boat and a few other trailers in my life but nothing that came close to being 53 feet long. The trick was to navigate the course without “killing” the orange cones. I was a little nervous at first, but that nervousness quickly turned into fun. When I started, I was making really wide turns. The trailer tandems were probably 5-6 feet from each cone. As I got the feel for it, I was able to get within 1-2 feet. Then it became more of a game or challenge to me to maneuver through them, getting as close as possible without hitting them. By the time it was all said and done, I was maneuvering so that the trailer tandems were within inches of the cones and never hit a single one. Well, I take that back, I did “touch” one but never killed it.

All in all, today was a great day and I walked away with some more knowledge. Let’s hope that I do not have a data dump over night and forget everything I learned before tomorrow morning.

 

The real "fun" begins when you go backwards through the cones! :wink: :lol:

 

I think that is day 3 :?

 

I have had a few people ask me if I knew who I would sign on with after school. My standard answer would be "yes, but I prefer not to say just yet as I am keeping my options open". After a lot of research and weighing my "wants" against my "needs", I went ahead and finalized everything today and will be flying to Missoula, MT on July 8th to start orientation with Davis Transport.

I have no one other than GFIW to thank as it was her posts about her hubby that got me looking at Davis. I have been in constant contact with Davis as well as GFIW, GFI (her hubby) since January and think that Davis will be the best fit for me and my family. In fact, Davis has had my "trainer" already lined up for some time now. He is a "Two Million Miler" and after speaking with him on the phone, sounds like a really down to earth guy and I look forward to learning everything I can from him when the time comes.

 

Good luck on your start.

 

Driving Day 2 of CDL School 6/19/07:
Backing, backing, backing, and then some more backing. That was the lesson for today. We did straight, alley, dock, parallel, off-set, and serpentine backing both sight side and blind side. I must have done 20+ miles in reverse!

I do NOT want this to come across as being arrogant, but either I am a natural at backing, or “Lady Luck” was in the jump seat, probably the later. I was nailing almost every backing maneuver the instructor gave us the first time around. And not only one time, but over and over again. Now I know this is a controlled environment and the only worries here are killing the little orange cones, but if I can apply the same “luck” when I am in the real world, I should be fine. My biggest problem today was the blind side parallel. It was nothing less than a thorn in my side. The sad thing is I KNOW what I am doing wrong but for some odd reason I am struggling to get my brain and my “reactions” to get on the same page. I am confident that with practice I will get it, well at least I hope I do.