This week began at the Best Western in Georgia, close to my T's home. I stayed there from Saturday night until Tuesday morning. It was a nice big room, and this time I had it all to myself as I didn't have to share it with a roommate that decided to call his girlfriend at 3 AM (previous blog).

Across the street was a market, Chinese restaurant, a Big Lots, and a "Fred's". Fred's is a discount, full service store that seems to be prevalent in the south. I checked out the ...

As I mentioned in my last blog, I'm training with Arnold Transportation Services (ATS). On Thursday, August 16, my trainer (T) and I had to spend the night in the Cascadia waiting for a load. Freight was slow. He had bobtailed from GA so we were in need of a trailer. I was walking around the terminal in Jax, just checking out the trucks, when another driver approached me and out of nowhere told me that he had just dropped an empty (and clean) trailer. I told my trainer about it and he was pretty ...

NOTE: There's a tip regarding taking the Greyhound bus to orientation. Located at the bottom of this blog...



Last week I had orientation with Arnold Transportation Services (ATS) in Jacksonville, FL. I'm just catching up now.

I took the Greyhound down from NC to FL. We had an unexpected bus change in Fayetteville, NC due to a problem with the bus. That's when I almost lost one of my bags with a lot of my stuff in it for the orientation/training. It was ...

Next week I have orientation with a trucking company based in Florida. I won't be saying the name until I make it to training. I don't want to assume anything, and I certainly don't want to drop a name like I've already got the job, when in fact I've got to get through orientation first.

I should do well. I've got time to review materials on the way down to FL, sitting back in the relaxed atmosphere of a Greyhound. I'm basically one part nervous, but 4 parts excited, so overall ...

Wednesday and Thursday of last week I practiced for the road test, the last step in getting my CDL. My road test was scheduled for 1 PM on Thursday and luckily before the test I received more practice setting up for green light turns.

Approaching the light, by downshifting well in advance into the proper turning gear, was something I needed some work on. After some practice I was ready for the actual test as we rolled into the school and prepared to stop for a simulated RR Crossing, ...

NOTE: I've included tips this week for the benefit of any newbies that may be reading this blog...



This week I passed my Pre Trip Inspection, 100 Foot Straight Backing, and 45 Backing tests. The only requirement left for the NC CDL is the road test.

The straight backing was no problem. The trick is to keep an eye on the rear trailer tires and to immediately steer to the problem (tires getting larger in the mirror), slightly, then quickly cancel the correction ...

Week #2 ended this Tuesday instead of last Thursday, thanks to the July 4 holiday pushing the schedule back 2 days last week.

Week 2 was very trying. There was still the Pre-Trip Inspection to nail down and then pass, along with the challenge of newbie BTW (behind the wheel time), nighttime observation (and getting home at 11 PM, only to have to wake up for another training day again the next day at 4:45 AM), and straight backing and 45 backing in the yard.

The week started ...