[TruckinRanger]

hey iowarider sounds like your enjoying your schooling. Once you get a little bit more proficient with driving an big rig your feel more comfortable going through construction and etc. As far as stupid drivers get used to it you WILL see plenty more if you plan to make this a career.

[Trapper]

Iowarider does CRST own this school you're attending or is it a Tech School?

[iowarider]

The school is Kirkwood Community College. CRST contracts with them to provide a compressed, boy is that an understatement, course for them. It turns a good program into a CDL mill and that is un-fortunate. We get nothing but how to pass the exams, skills and driving test required for the CDL. Everything else is left up to CRST during its, I believe, week long orientation and training and the 28 days with an "experienced" driver to teach you the rest.

We have not even un-hooked and hooked a trailer and that bothers me.

[iowarider]

Today, we are driving the CDL exam course and getting feedback as to how we are doing. I did fine, except for this little problem of missing a downshift, just one, and coasting to far, which is a FAIL. sigh. Then I re-took my hazmat, missed it by one point. That one was frustrating as heck, I am not one that blows test. OH well, tomorrow is another day and another test taking opp. Even our short days are going to be messed up a bit due to President Bush coming to campus to present a speech on his social security re-make plan. Or, as I like to call it, Let the wealthy get wealthier and the rest be damned plan. They are going to use all but two of our trucks as road blocks. Iowa has seen far to much of bush and because of this has spent waaaay to much on security expense to be just one more background for a photo opp.

We are having a bit of a break and I will go back to work on skills test, "backing" this afternoon. Looking forward to moving on inot the CRST part of the program and getting paid.

Lesson for the day: Would I attend the program if I had it to do over. Probably because it is the only way I can get the job without money up front.

If I could borrow or had the money for another community college program that was longer and more in depth would I do that instead, in a heart-beat.

I will survive and learn what I need, but there are much better ways to do this. I know lots of folks have said that on this board, Its just the way it had to be for me.

Onward and upward. :roll:

[lisag]

Awww, I hope things start going better asap! Keep your chin up and all that!

[GMAN]

Hang in there things will get better. It just takes time. The company wants you to be successful, just as you do. Try to relax things will go more smoothly.

[iowarider]

Today was a mixed bag, started out on a bad note and then thought I had recovered than went down hill from their. Could not find my glasses, so most of the day was map reading and that just didn't fly since I could not read most of the map. The past educator in me was a bit put out that they did not have a large type version of the Rand Mcnally Road Carrier Atlas for just such an occasion. Yes the regular size ones made it very clear that a large type version is available. We were to take our Pre-trip, skills, and road test today. The map reading was filler for the times we would have been waiting to test. A skill we need but presented as filler. All of us passed the Pre-trip, yeaa. One of us failed the skills, read backing, test. Guess who :sad: of the dozen others three failed the road test. All in all not bad for only 10 hours behind the wheel of these things. Only five times on the backing range and seven times through the backing range maneuvers. Again, "at this mark, turn hard left, watch for your rear tandem to cross this yellow line, count 1 one thousand 2 two thousand, crank it left hard as you can. You get the idea. get em through the DOT skills test instead of teaching us to back!!! Not at all satisfied with the teaching method and lack of time on the range, even with request for clarification. Damned hard for a good even though X teacher to put up with what I can professionally say is way below standard teaching practice and a ridiculously inadequate time on the range practicing a make or break skill for truck driving. Yea, OK, little sour grapes, tomorrow is another day.

[iowarider]

Bit of a side bar as the lawyers say. I started this diary on inspiration from Papa Bear and Cool Breeze, I thought and still think the more true diaries of experiences, we trying to become truck drivers, can put out here for those of you considering it, the better the decision can be. I am, like others, very disappointed to read the last few post of coolbreeze, finding it is fiction as well as fact, making the point of the exercise a little hard to understand.

I just wanted to take a minute to re-assure any reading this that I am indeed a real person, going to a real public community college of an Iowa town, and trying very hard to be as honest as I can be with my feelings, observations, and decisions. I am trying to keep it objective and warn you when it slips into personal bias. I hope more will follow Papa bear and my example as they Tirane, and get hired, through their first years with other companies. It is only with open and honest information that we can truly pick the good from the bad and avoid the truly ugly. Oh, by the way, following that the am, in my first post I mentioned that my major decision factor for CR ST was the no up front cost of the training and that I had all of nothing in my pocket and half a tank of gas in my car. I am pleased to say that a final check from a school I subbed for came in and I now have a full tank of gas and 20 dollars in my pocket after making personal over due small loans good. Hey, its over 100 % increase, things are looking up ops:

[Maveric]

Glad to hear your hanging in there Iowarider! And don't worry about failing a test. If you never failed, how would you ever know that you passed? All good things in good time. Just keep your head up and don't beat yourself up over it too bad.

[iowarider]

Well today was one more in a too long line of mixed days. Hazmat passed, skills test past, driving test Sigh. Wouldn't be so bad, if I had been having trouble all week, did things I have never done while learning to drive this thins, ran over two curbs. Instant fail. Never ran over a curb before the driver was beside me. Thanks for the encouragement. Not at all used to this. I have always been the kid that was blessed with the ability to learn quick, take test well, and never ever fail a test. Boy, what a blow to my ego. Rest of the class goes to CRST tomorrow for their road test and starting their week long training program. Me. I get to go home, come back Monday at 3:30 for "some more CDL time", hope its better, but that has been one trip around the course in the truck per day in the past. Tuesday I will take the test again and when I pass that one will go on to CRST, but not sure what day.

Lessons: Never ever start a program of any kind with finances in the shape mine are. Literally every penny I've left has went to just food and gas for me. Would not have been able to do it if I had not had friends and relatives in and around Cedar Rapids. One of the guys in my group passed the driving on portion, and is going to need to make calls to friends and relatives for money to pay for the license. CRST will not cover that. I would have been in the same shape, so now this gives me a chance to get home and beg for money. God I hate this. I had a $350 dollar check from substitute teacher pay that should have covered my expense. Then it gets here and Iowa decides its time to take out back tax from last year, and start child support payments. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the child support payments when I'm working, but man its tough to think things are planed and only get half of the money I though I had to work with. UN-employment is supposed to have been hear two weeks ago and still it is not. Sorry folk, bad day on the ranch. I'll do better.

If anyone cares there will be no up-dates until Monday evening due to my having FAILED, the driving exam and that being the quickest time I could re-take.