5 pm Thursday May 22, the graduation ceremony for us eight trucking students. Craig's wife and two teenage sons were there, Lalo (aka Eduardo Martinez) had his mom, brother, sister-in-law and wife in attendance, and "Biker" Ed, one of our three Eds (also including "Special" Ed, the FBI agent, and Lalo), who rode a beautiful Harley to class each day, his fiance. The rest of us were stag. A nice group to hear the final exhortations from our instructors: "Slow down and watch your mirrors!" Apparently when students stop back who have had reportable (mostly minor) accidents the cause is either "I was going too fast" or "I forgot to check my mirrors." The most dangerous time, they say, is after about six months of driving, when you can get a little cocky. Everybody got a certificate and a class picture (I'll try scanning it).
Earlier that day "Biker" Ed and Lumpy (real name Clarence, so maybe Lumpy isn't so bad), passed their CDL tests. Craig and I were scheduled for Friday morning. I felt pretty comfortable about my chances when I left school Thursday, but, of course, that didn't last. I kept thinking about the right turn, which is the first of the four driving skills you must demonstrate before you take the road portion of the test. You get a total of 9 points to work with on the four skills. The problem is that if you hit the cone on the right turn you use up 6 points right off. If you miss it by too much, you can get as many as 5 points off. I was notable during the practice sessions for several times getting no more than 9 points total after hitting the cone. Skill two is a bumper stop--stopping at a line you can't see from the cab before the truck's bumper crosses it. It's not that hard really. There's a cone next to it and as soon as you see it in the vent window you stop. I routinely zeroed it. Skill three is straight-line backing--showing you can back the tractor and trailer in a straight line for 60 feet using just the large driver's side mirror. Again, not very difficult once you learn to sight along the trailer and make the proper steering adjustments. An easy zero. Skill four is the 90 degree alley dock backing maneuver. So if you hit the cone and get six points for the right turn, you have just three to work with on the alley dock. In practice, I usually managed to get no more than three points, but I surely didn't want it to come to that in the real test. So my anxiety level was up there Thursday night and when I woke up Friday morning I was dreading that right turn.
I remained anxious Friday morning until I sat down for some quiet time during which I turned over the whole thing to my Higher Power and settled down a lot. I headed for Zingerman's Road House for coffee with a book that had nothing to do with trucking--a WW II memoir by the late CBS newsman, Eric Severeid. His descriptions of London during the blitz simply transported me there. By the time I started for the school and my test, I was as relaxed as I could have been. I left in time to get there by 10 am for my 11 am testing appointment.
In the previous post I mentioned that Craig had not made it past the alley docking. I have to admit that I considered that was a possibility based on his visible lack of confidence on Thursday. I figured if I got there around 10, and if the truck we had both picked to test in was in the yard, I might be able to test early. That was a little cold, I guess. Yet I was genuinely sorry to see the truck sitting there when I arrived in Taylor.
Sandy was my examiner. A pleasant, motherly sort of woman I judged to be in her early 50s. Nevertheless, she had a reputation of being a tough examiner, though not as tough as our instructor, Sharon, is supposed to be. In that regard, we were lucky she couldn't test us. After doing the 113 point inspection of the truck (I missed five points; you can miss as many as 23 and still pass), she carefully described the skills that I was to demonstrate. Using a tip Lumpy had given me the day before, I got 2 on the right turn. I then zeroed the bumper stop and the straight line backing. That meant I could get 7 points on the alley dock and still pass, but I got just 3 points for a total of 5 on the skills, and it was time to go out on the road. I had heard from Lumpy and "Biker"Ed that Sandy was good at putting them at ease during the road test. When you think about it, that makes good personal survival sense. She took me through the streets of Taylor, including a turn off Telegraph that's preceded by a merging lane that requires you to move the beast over three lanes to get to the corner. No problem. In fact, I did really well on the substantive parts of the road test, all the time carrying on a pretty lively conversation with my examiner. That could have been distracting, but she must have known what she was doing because it actually helped me keep focused on my driving without white knuckling the wheel. I was pleased at how at home I felt in the cab. You do sit well above the traffic, but somehow it doesn't seem to me that I'm all that high up as I look through the windshield. Of course, I'll have much more to say about what I see from the cab when I'm really on the road.
The next step is to get a job. I have three applications out: U.S. Xpress, Swift and Garner. The latter is a relatively small company based in Findlay, Ohio. Only 80 trucks. The other two have hundreds. I'm excited. Ready to roll!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
I DID IT!
I PASSED!!
I took my CDL test this morning and passed it.
I immediately hied myself to the SOS office and now have a CDL/A license with endorsements for tankers, multiple trailers and hazmat. It really feels good. I'll post details about the test after a long weekend at our Lake Huron house.
One sad note: my classmate, Craig, scheduled to test before me this morning, didn't make it through the skills portion (right turn, straight line backing and 90 degree docking. It was the last one that got him.) Fortunately, our instructor, Sharon, was there. She told him to get away for the weekend and she'd work with him next week (no charge) to get him ready for a re-test. It's too bad, because, he's good at everything else. I'll be thinking about the last four of my mates (two others passed yesterday) who are testing tomorrow.
The road awaits!!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Third Week
Time seems to be moving fast now. I ended my third week at the school on Thursday by doing a pretty good 90 degree alley dock backing maneuver, then driving the full rig (with my instructor in the right seat and a couple of classmates sitting on the sleeper bed/couch) twenty miles down I-75 to Monroe. There I pulled into a truck stop and into a fuel bay between two other trucks. I felt right at home diving that truck. A little nervous, but I would have been worried if I hadn't been. What a BLAST!
We have next week to hone our skills before taking our CDL tests. I'm scheduled for 11am Friday. Now, thinking about that raises my blood pressure.
My classmates have turned out to be a really great bunch. We all seem to like each other and there's a lot of friendly joshing all around. No assholes in the bunch. Nobody even acting like one. The school is surely a bonding experience. We're all concerned about one of the guys who is very tight, thinking too much; easily gets down on himself. We give him all the encouragement and moral support we can. Actually, that goes on among us all because we are all crushing our share of cones now and then. And worse.
As good as the week ended, it started out rocky for your reporter. I had just finished a backing maneuver in the lot, and had gotten the truck rolling when one of the instructors called out something to me. I stepped on the brake, but not the clutch (I had just gotten out of a smaller truck with automatic transmission--not a very good excuse) and immediately the engine lugged and the truck bucked a couple of times before I could react). My head in my hand, I thought, "Shit!, I've broken the fucking truck." Sure enough, the ring gear in the diff lost a couple of teeth. But...the instructor didn't freak out or shame me. He said, "Hey, don't worry about it. Shit happens. These are old trucks. Shake it off, man." My classmates were equally supportive (VERY glad it hadn't been them). I was still shaken and a little hangdog, but I eventually came out of it, mostly because I started getting good-natured ribbing from my mates that continued all week (and will continue, I'm sure). In fact, I was out on the road with another truck on Tuesday, when the driver's side convex mirror that had been a bit loose finally loosened enough from vibration and started swinging below its normal position. I tried to swear the other guys in the truck to secrecy, but that didn't go anywhere. A fresh round of crap ensued, of course. It was really funny.
Wednesday of this week, we had a "career day" at the Western Branch of WCCC, where we heard from seven recruiters who all want us to come to work for their companies. I particularly liked U.S. Xpress. You've seen the trucks...red tractors with red lettering on white trailers. There was one of the four flatbed companies we heard from that I also liked--big new shiny black Peterbilt tractors with leather seats and all the bells and whistles. The thing with that kind of work, though, is that the driver is fully responsible for tarping and tying down the loads. The tarps weigh 80-100 pounds. In my road warrior haze I thought, "I can do that." But, when I talked to my instructor about it, she said, "No offense, Joel, but maybe you shouldn't take that on at this point in your life." Nicely put. However, later in the day as we were tooling down I-75, she asked me if I'd mind wearing a suit in a job. My mind had fun with that image for a second. Then she said she rarely suggests this opportunity to students, but she thought it might work for me. Apparently Park West Galleries has a fleet of trucks that haul vans with art exhibits in them. The driver parks it then, kind of like James Bond who pulls off a jump suit to reveal a finely tailored tux, he puts on a suit and becomes the greeter. Perfect for me, or what?! That's all I know about it. She will give me an app on Monday. I don't want to think about it too much.
OK, I've found the digital camera. I promise pictures not later than Tuesday.
We have next week to hone our skills before taking our CDL tests. I'm scheduled for 11am Friday. Now, thinking about that raises my blood pressure.
My classmates have turned out to be a really great bunch. We all seem to like each other and there's a lot of friendly joshing all around. No assholes in the bunch. Nobody even acting like one. The school is surely a bonding experience. We're all concerned about one of the guys who is very tight, thinking too much; easily gets down on himself. We give him all the encouragement and moral support we can. Actually, that goes on among us all because we are all crushing our share of cones now and then. And worse.
As good as the week ended, it started out rocky for your reporter. I had just finished a backing maneuver in the lot, and had gotten the truck rolling when one of the instructors called out something to me. I stepped on the brake, but not the clutch (I had just gotten out of a smaller truck with automatic transmission--not a very good excuse) and immediately the engine lugged and the truck bucked a couple of times before I could react). My head in my hand, I thought, "Shit!, I've broken the fucking truck." Sure enough, the ring gear in the diff lost a couple of teeth. But...the instructor didn't freak out or shame me. He said, "Hey, don't worry about it. Shit happens. These are old trucks. Shake it off, man." My classmates were equally supportive (VERY glad it hadn't been them). I was still shaken and a little hangdog, but I eventually came out of it, mostly because I started getting good-natured ribbing from my mates that continued all week (and will continue, I'm sure). In fact, I was out on the road with another truck on Tuesday, when the driver's side convex mirror that had been a bit loose finally loosened enough from vibration and started swinging below its normal position. I tried to swear the other guys in the truck to secrecy, but that didn't go anywhere. A fresh round of crap ensued, of course. It was really funny.
Wednesday of this week, we had a "career day" at the Western Branch of WCCC, where we heard from seven recruiters who all want us to come to work for their companies. I particularly liked U.S. Xpress. You've seen the trucks...red tractors with red lettering on white trailers. There was one of the four flatbed companies we heard from that I also liked--big new shiny black Peterbilt tractors with leather seats and all the bells and whistles. The thing with that kind of work, though, is that the driver is fully responsible for tarping and tying down the loads. The tarps weigh 80-100 pounds. In my road warrior haze I thought, "I can do that." But, when I talked to my instructor about it, she said, "No offense, Joel, but maybe you shouldn't take that on at this point in your life." Nicely put. However, later in the day as we were tooling down I-75, she asked me if I'd mind wearing a suit in a job. My mind had fun with that image for a second. Then she said she rarely suggests this opportunity to students, but she thought it might work for me. Apparently Park West Galleries has a fleet of trucks that haul vans with art exhibits in them. The driver parks it then, kind of like James Bond who pulls off a jump suit to reveal a finely tailored tux, he puts on a suit and becomes the greeter. Perfect for me, or what?! That's all I know about it. She will give me an app on Monday. I don't want to think about it too much.
OK, I've found the digital camera. I promise pictures not later than Tuesday.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Second Week
By the end of the second week last Friday I was feeling pretty good about my progress. The most important milestone was going out on the road last Wednesday with the tractor pulling a 53' trailer. My double clutch shifting had gotten quite good by that point so that I wasn't worrying about it. I did miss some shifts, but I was able to recover well by going back to the previous gear. There was a minimum of grinding generally. The instructor was impressed, especially considering the bad scene on Monday. So I was able to concentrate on the problem of turning the behemoth without hitting anything. Except for a curb coming out of the school lot, I didn't. I'm feeling more and more at home in the driver's seat. Traffic was moderately heavy on the streets we covered in the city of Taylor. Maybe it's because I've had experience on a road racing course, but I wasn't bothered by the traffic passing us. But, as the instructor says (the male instructor): "Hey, this ain't a race you guys...SLOW DOWN!"
The biggest challenge is still the 90 degree docking maneuver, i.e., backing into a narrow space starting with the truck at a 90 degree angle to the "dock." In the "real world" (as opposed to "cone college") we'll be able to pull up several times in such a situation, but for the skill test to get the CDL, you only get one pull-up, though you can stop as you back up to see what corrections you need to make as often as you want to. Everybody in the class is struggling with it.
This week on Wednesday, we have a career day at one of the WCCC campuses when we'll get recruiting pitches from 9 trucking companies.
The biggest challenge is still the 90 degree docking maneuver, i.e., backing into a narrow space starting with the truck at a 90 degree angle to the "dock." In the "real world" (as opposed to "cone college") we'll be able to pull up several times in such a situation, but for the skill test to get the CDL, you only get one pull-up, though you can stop as you back up to see what corrections you need to make as often as you want to. Everybody in the class is struggling with it.
This week on Wednesday, we have a career day at one of the WCCC campuses when we'll get recruiting pitches from 9 trucking companies.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sixth Day
We had a half day today because of some instructor training. That means a half day on Friday as well. After yesterday, a day that left me thoroughly exhausted, I wouldn't mind a few more of these. I was exhausted and kind of depressed because I did not do well on the road in the morning, guessing where the gears were instead of thinking ahead. I got flustered and the other two guys who drove didn't do any better. We are bringing up the rear of the class progress-wise. (Of course, two of us are the oldest in the class and our younger colleague has never driven a manual transmission.) But that was then. Today we all applied serious focus, stayed calm, and did well enough that we will go out with the trailer hooked up tomorrow!
I haven't mentioned our instructor. SHE is in her forties, a single mom who raised her kids by hauling steel on flatbeds around the Detroit area for 10 years so she could be home every night. Sharon is a very good teacher, which is why we three made the progress we did today. She has a fog horn voice, which she uses effectively out on the lot (unfortunately, some of that comes from the fact that she smokes). But very calm and steady in the truck, even while we were grinding several pounds of meat with the transmission yesterday. She is assisted by a couple of men, one who has about the same level of experience as Sharon, but the other is in his mid-fifties and just retired from the road after 35 years. I think he's in withdrawal. Sad eyes.
I'll check in again tomorrow after the tractor pull. I won't promise when there'll be pictures, but there will be pictures.
I haven't mentioned our instructor. SHE is in her forties, a single mom who raised her kids by hauling steel on flatbeds around the Detroit area for 10 years so she could be home every night. Sharon is a very good teacher, which is why we three made the progress we did today. She has a fog horn voice, which she uses effectively out on the lot (unfortunately, some of that comes from the fact that she smokes). But very calm and steady in the truck, even while we were grinding several pounds of meat with the transmission yesterday. She is assisted by a couple of men, one who has about the same level of experience as Sharon, but the other is in his mid-fifties and just retired from the road after 35 years. I think he's in withdrawal. Sad eyes.
I'll check in again tomorrow after the tractor pull. I won't promise when there'll be pictures, but there will be pictures.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The First Week
I'm late getting this going. The first week of truck driving school was pretty stressful, but a lot of fun and as much of a challenge as I imagined it would be. The school is in Taylor, about 25 miles from home. A fairly easy commute, actually. 94 to 275 South to Eureka Rd east. The school is on Eureka just past Telegraph. At 7:15am the traffic is very manageable. We're in school from 8am to 6pm Mon-Thursday with 40 minutes for lunch. There are 8 guys in the class. I'm the oldest (naturally), but there is one guy in his early 50's. The rest range from late 20s to mid 40s. One is an FBI agent. They're sending him through because they have some vehicles requiring a CDL (Commercial Driver's License). It's a good group. We're all helping each other when we can, including the all-important moral support. A couple of the guys have driven large trucks before, but the rest of us are novices. One of the experienced guys told me a great story about getting stuck at the Canadian border for 13 hours once because the bill of lading for the load of prototype dog food he was hauling didn't list 100% of its ingredients. He ended up losing it and punching out a loud mouth Canadian driver and things went down hill from there. He vows never to enter Canada again (maybe because there's an outstanding warrant waiting for him?) I'll spin the whole tale another time.
Man, these are big vehicles! The tractor is 20 plus feet long and the trailer is 53 feet. We spend most of our time out in a big parking lot maneuvering these things around. Some class time, of course, but no more then necessary. All of us were required to get our CDL student permit before classes started. That requires passing a number of written tests give at Sec of State offices. I took a total of six tests, including the one for a hazmat endorsement. Apparently other schools waste a week teaching you this stuff.
So last week we learned to back the truck in a straight line just using the side mirrors. It took a while, but eventually, you get a picture of what you need to see and it becomes pretty easy all of a sudden. The next maneuver is backing into a space. In this case it's an area marked off by cones. They do get run over. So far, the hardest is a 90 degree docking maneuver. I've backed little trailers before, but this transcends my experience. I got pretty frustrated late Thursday afternoon, and I wake up in the morning thinking about how the hell I'm going to see what I need to see (like the straight line backing), but I'll get it (by Gar).
And we have been out on the road! We had some double-clutching practice on the lot first and we only drove the tractor (the trailer gets added this week), but it was a rush (OK, pretty scary). Driving a tractor without a trailer is called "bobtailing" and it's more problematic than when the trailer is attached. The most advanced guy--Clarence aka Lumpy (our nickname for him)--got a shot driving with the trailer Thursday afternoon. He did great! I'll get my shot tomorrow or Tuesday. We drive around the area the Eureka Rd/Telegraph area and down towards the airport and back. We do create "trains" behind us and occasionally get the "number one sign" as they pass us. Hey, they shoulda left 5 minutes earlier!
This weekend, I started memorizing a 113 point pre-trip inspection you have to know to pass the CDL test. You have to walk around the truck and point out various parts and say what you should and shouldn't see, e.g., "All mirrors secure, clean, not cracked or broken." There are repeating patterns, so it's not too difficult to remember everything, especially with all the visual cues.
So far, the whole experience is fun and I'm trying to keep it that way by not to put too much pressure on myself.
I'll get to adding pictures and sound to this thing eventually. My theme song is gonna be an old country ballad called "Gimme Forty Acres and I'll Turn This Rig Around."
Cheers!
Joel
Man, these are big vehicles! The tractor is 20 plus feet long and the trailer is 53 feet. We spend most of our time out in a big parking lot maneuvering these things around. Some class time, of course, but no more then necessary. All of us were required to get our CDL student permit before classes started. That requires passing a number of written tests give at Sec of State offices. I took a total of six tests, including the one for a hazmat endorsement. Apparently other schools waste a week teaching you this stuff.
So last week we learned to back the truck in a straight line just using the side mirrors. It took a while, but eventually, you get a picture of what you need to see and it becomes pretty easy all of a sudden. The next maneuver is backing into a space. In this case it's an area marked off by cones. They do get run over. So far, the hardest is a 90 degree docking maneuver. I've backed little trailers before, but this transcends my experience. I got pretty frustrated late Thursday afternoon, and I wake up in the morning thinking about how the hell I'm going to see what I need to see (like the straight line backing), but I'll get it (by Gar).
And we have been out on the road! We had some double-clutching practice on the lot first and we only drove the tractor (the trailer gets added this week), but it was a rush (OK, pretty scary). Driving a tractor without a trailer is called "bobtailing" and it's more problematic than when the trailer is attached. The most advanced guy--Clarence aka Lumpy (our nickname for him)--got a shot driving with the trailer Thursday afternoon. He did great! I'll get my shot tomorrow or Tuesday. We drive around the area the Eureka Rd/Telegraph area and down towards the airport and back. We do create "trains" behind us and occasionally get the "number one sign" as they pass us. Hey, they shoulda left 5 minutes earlier!
This weekend, I started memorizing a 113 point pre-trip inspection you have to know to pass the CDL test. You have to walk around the truck and point out various parts and say what you should and shouldn't see, e.g., "All mirrors secure, clean, not cracked or broken." There are repeating patterns, so it's not too difficult to remember everything, especially with all the visual cues.
So far, the whole experience is fun and I'm trying to keep it that way by not to put too much pressure on myself.
I'll get to adding pictures and sound to this thing eventually. My theme song is gonna be an old country ballad called "Gimme Forty Acres and I'll Turn This Rig Around."
Cheers!
Joel
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