update and a question.

Just wanted to update you on how its all going.

I'm back in Spokane now with the company testing out. Things with STT came to an end I could not handle it anymore and blew up at him. He was only using me for the money of course we knew that already. We spent so much time running team that he didn't have time to teach me. What I do know I taught myself. Sadly that also means I was taught wrong. When I came in for testing after yelling at STT I failed my test.

I have an issue with keeping the trailer in line where it's supposed to be (do fine on regular corners and on straight stretches it's the sharper corners that get me) and they said anybody can drive a truck you have to learn how to drive the trailer and all STT ever showed me how to do is drive the truck.

Thankfully, another one of their testers was a driver before and he offered to work with me on the pre trip so that I could pass it. I learned so much in that short amount of time it was amazing the difference between what he was showing me and what I didn't learn from STT. The test drive was on me to figure out in those few minutes what the testers were telling me which is completely different than how STT has had me running for the past 2 months.

With some work and some instructing from both the other tester and the ones that I had I managed to pass both the pre trip and my test drive. With the knowledge that i have some bad habits that STT taught me to get rid of. one thing that did make me angry was that they say it was my fault that I didn't learn what I was being taught but I wasn't taught what they think I was. Oh well I will overcome this and do better in the future. Now I know I have a ton of work to do to get where I need to be. Sadly, it will be as a solo driver.

I have a lot to learn. My big question for the day since STT decided not to teach me how to drive properly is:

When I approach a sharper corner I know I need to slow down but apparently I am not setting it up properly to keep the trailer in my lane completely so the trailer went over the white line. How do I get it set up properly when I'm looking at a sharp corner coming up to ensure that my trailer will stay in my lane? The corner they took me around was in town.

I appreciate any help you be able to give me on that thank you.

 

Yes, Ridgeline I did.

Pattyj STT stands for super trucker trainer. He's the one I posted about recently. He was more interested in the money I made for him than training me. He was the one that kept getting sick and I got stuck in the hotel twice due to it. I tried to get a new trainer but they didn't have any available so I had to put up with his crap or sit at home waiting for a trainer that might not have ever showed up.

The corner I'm talking about was on a 4 lane road doing 30 mph to the right with a divider between the 2 directions. I was in the left lane. The divider was more like a speed bump for a semi but still there none the less. I put the front of the truck as close to the divider as i felt i safely could without running over it. However, the trailer still went over the white line into the right lane. The inner duel was on the white line. The testèr said i should have set it up better so the trailer didn't go over the line but didn't explain how i could accomplish that.

I refuse to call STT ever again so right now I have no one to ask how to do that.

I'm not sure what you mean by pivoting the trailer tires. Could you explain that please? Thank you.

 

Thank you PattyJ.

I would love to get more training and have told them several times that I feel I'm not ready to go solo and want to get more training but they still do not have any trainers and they feel that after spending 2 months with STT I should know all this stuff already. I've explained repeatedly what happened while with STT to no avail. They will not be giving me more trainer time.

It's sad that I was with STT for 2 months and I learned more in the 3 days I was here than those 2 months. Sadly, now I have bad driving habits that STT taught me to break and have to relearn how to do the paperwork. I talked to my trainer manager and the best I'm getting is that they are working on the issues that I told them about. Sounds like they will use my experience to make it better for STT's next student.

They were upset with me for over revving the engine to 1600 rpms but that was what STT taught me. They had to show me what progressive shifting was then got upset with me for having trouble relearning to use it in that 15 minutes.

There were other things that they felt were my fault for not knowing even though nobody taught me those things or taught me to do it wrong.

On a good note using what I learned here and on YouTube I managed to get decent scores on my backing and did a decent job on my pretend trip from Spokane WA to Delhart TX.

From what I'm hearing they are going to send me out either this afternoon if I'm done in time or tomorrow morning. The current thought is that I'll be going from here in Spokane WA to L.A. CA. I hope not but I need the job at this point and I can't pass up starting at. 40 cpm.

I'll keep trying to get at least something for extra training because you are very right. I'm not ready to go solo but I would rather learn it myself than go back to STT.

I'll let you know what happens.