Day nine...

Today was very nerve racking...being in the city on the road with other cars and trucks is a scary thing for someone that has not maneuvered a 53 foot trailer. It makes you think. Shifting gears while watching mirrors and the rear of that trailer, while watching cars...needless to say I was sweating like a whore in church. I was nervous...real nervous. I missed some gears...Out of the two things that's an automatic fail at DPS for a CDL license...number one is hitting a curb with the trailer tires...I was so nervous...I missed a gear before my turn and got my set up too short...I worked it out to where I did not run over the curb...I just grazed it with the right trailer tires. My instructor told me that I recovered very well from that and did not roll over the curb onto the sidewalk...but still would have been a fail. I did not hit another curb :-)  Tomorrow is gonna be a real fun day...we are going onto the interstate...YAY!!!!!!

Day eight...

Today we are on the skills course again with our trailers...what fun...still have not hit a barrel yet. I did however make my own way through them...ooops...instructor said you must be really lucky to get that trailer through there...I said, yeah, I was watching the rear of that trailer...I got this.  She just smiled and marked needs to watch gauges on my sheet ;-)

Tomorrow is driving in the city...watch out motoring public...here we come!

What do you think when you see "Student Driver" on an 18 wheeler...

Day seven...

WooHoo...all skills course today...around the track with a 53 foot trailer and I did not hit a barrel once...I hit every upshift and every downshift smooth as butter...I am so stoked.

After lunch break onto the P. Parking course...I jump in the front seat with instructor first...I am gonna get this one...gotta get over the fear of it. I set it up pretty as a picture and am 6 inches from the curb with truck and trailer straight...instructor asked "have you done this before?" no sir, only a 14 foot trailer and an F-150...which is a hell of a lot different than a 53 foot trailer.

Back to DPS to take written tests...I am gonna make this my last trip here...I want the extra drive time. I take General Knowledge and pass it with a 98 and the dreaded Pre-Trip Inspection...Ha...I studied for it...passed with a 93...all is good today, over my fear of shifting, P. Parking and all my written DPS test done.

Day six...

Only half a day today, we are doing map reading and trip planning. All class room....blah

Get back to the hotel and have a new room mate. Another Georgian...don't know how I am gonna like this one... 

Day five...

Today is our first class test on what we have learned so far...pass it with a 95. More class room stuff until lunch.

After lunch we head to the skills course to learn parallel parking...WTF...I can barely P. park a car, much less a 60 foot truck and trailer. We are divided into teams of 10 and we get to it...we start and get through 4 people and its time to go to DPS to take written tests...damn it...I didn't get a chance to P.Park.

I take the Air Brakes test and pass it with a 92, take the Combination test and pass it with a 94, the clerk tells me I have time to take one more, so I take Pre-Trip Inspection...have not studied for this one but decide to take it anyway and see if I can pass it...nope, epic FAIL. got two more shots at it starting on Monday...no worries.

Back to the hotel...have the room to myself again tonight...they have not given me another roommate yet.

Day four...

We have to fill out background check forms for Canada to make sure we can cross the border. we are told we are required to get passports ASAP. Oh joy...that's about $170.00 I don't have. My roommate gets called into the directors office and comes out and gets his stuff and is gone...he was released for something in his background for Canada.

We go to the skills course...we are divided into 4 person teams and told to get into a truck, bobtail with no trailer, the instructor gets in the drivers seat and tells what we are gonna do and how to shift gears, she drives the track twice and gets out...we take turns...nervous as hell, this is not like driving grandma's Oldsmobile. I get in let out the clutch to take off in third gear, WTH in third gear and away I go...double clutch and I am in 4th no problems, double clutch and I can't hit 5th, stop back to 3rd and off again, double clutch and hit 4th, double clutch and hit 5th...awesome right? Time to downshift to 4th and can't do it...damn. Stop and start all over again, get the upshift perfect and grind on the downshift, but its there...need more practice getting the RPM's and speed just right. Moral of this story is...driving a big rig is NOT like driving a standard car or pick-up.

I am off to DPS to take my written test for my permit...pass with a 98...woohoo I now have a CDL learners permit, watch out. 

Day three...

Started raining about 3AM and still raining when I get to the school...the draw back to driving myself is that I have to park a ways from the building in the student lot. Got wet. After roll call, the assistant school directer calls me into his office and says the only thing wrong with you is that you have to have a sleep study to see if you have sleep apnea and you will be placed on medical hold until you decide if you are willing to take the sleep study and pass a skills test. I said well I can't go home so lets do the sleep study and show me the where to go for the skills test. he said after lunch I will come get you and we will make sure you can fit under the truck and can climb in and out of it with no problems.

Kind of bummed on the medical hold because I might have sleep apnea...but ok. 2PM the rest of the students get sent to DPS to start written tests to get their permits...I can't go because of the Medical hold. 3PM I go to take the skills test...climb in and out of the truck, crawl under it and out the other side...cleared from medical hold for 30 days until I graduate and do the sleep study...worse case scenario I take the test and am 4 days behind my graduating class in training on the road because they have to calibrate the CPAP...best case scenario, I don't have sleep apnea and I am one day behind my class for training!

roomie is on Med hold for high blood pressure...if he can get meds and lower it he will be taken off hold. After class I take him to a redi clinic and he gets meds...everything is groovy.

Day two...

Day two is D.O.T physical day! 6AM at the school, pee in a cup and then get checked by the Doc. I peed in the cup, brought it out and was told that is not enough, you need to provide enough urine for two samples. Well hell I just peed ain't got to go again. I was put on the "shy bladder" list, given a bottle of water and told that I had three hours to sit and wait to go again, getting an 8oz bottle of water every 30 minutes. Well an hour and a half and three bottle of water later, it was time. I filled that cup...she said we only needed a quarter of this, I said I wanted to make sure there was enough :-)


Next was wait in line for the vision test, well 38 years and I still have 20/20 vision and ain't color blind. Next is have a seat and wait to see the nurse for blood pressure test, passed with flying colors. Next wait in line for the Doc to conduct the rest of the physical and tell me the good or bad news. Damn she had cold hands...needless to say, I am as fit as a horse...I was worried a little about diabetes, since it runs in the family...good clear bill of health. 

Day one....

Get up at 4AM to be the first to catch the shuttle van to the school at 5AM. First van too full so had to wait for next one. Packed in like sardines...get to school at 6AM and wait for 7AM. Lots of paperwork. Basically boring stuff. Out of class at 4PM waiting for shuttle van...again first one full have to wait for second one...packed like sardines and back at the hotel at 5:30PM....screw that driving my truck from now on...my roomie agrees. Will update days 2,3, and 4 tomorrow.

The Company I will be training for...

Decided to start a blog...

OK, I decided to start this blog to share my adventures on the new career path I have chosen. The path of an Over The Road long haul truck driver. I start driving school on Monday the 10th and a bit nervous and a lot excited. I have always had a wandering spirit and I love to drive, so maybe this will be the answer I have been looking for...and hey having a job right now will not hurt either.

I will update when I can.