Glendale Community College Truck Driver Training Course

Ok today we head to the range to start driving in the trucks, We will Pre Trip everyday and also couple and uncouple everyday. Me and my class mate gets Rich the Cagedtruckers instructor told him to tell me to request.. We will see. Good Day. TD.

 

Ok I've been really tired when I was getting home and didn't have much to say, We went out on Wednesday after practicing the parlel and the off set back as well as the 100 ft. straight back which is harder then one would think, "Well you just hold the steering wheel steady" It isn't that easy with the pivet on the truck and at the other end of the trailer it tends to drift where ever it wants to, I have all three of these down pretty good, I am still working on the shifting thing but my partner is still working on the shift patern.. We lost another guy this week due to finiances I guess? We went on the road on Wednesday night and we were practing shifting up and down, I got back to town and was making a right turn thru construction and was slowing manouvering thru it and here comes a left turning car with no patients, I slammed on the brakes and missed him but what are these people thinking? Till my next post take care be patient when you see us students out there. Thanks. TD.

 

Hey, I can't believe it has been this long, It seems like yesterday that I was just sitting down in class, Well this week we are back on the range practicing the 100' backing the parlel park and the off set trailer movement(moving the truck and trailer from door 2 to door 3, It amazes me how setting up for the move can make it or break it for these manouvers, I was practicing last night and was a little off and it made all the difference in the world where the trailer wound up. We are out on the road tonight, We go one day on the range then one day on the road, I like this set up, I'm practicing shifting and trying to remember to use the clutch. Take Care till next time. treydavid.

 

Ok, I am finished with week 6 now, I have had a great learning experience here at my community college, My instructor is the best in all the area, I'm not just saying that but after 35 years of driving everything imaginable in every condition he is the best instructor there is, I would highly recommend him, He is tough and you know when you have made a mistake but he tells you that is what practice is for.

This week we were on the road more then the range me and my driving partner are pretty comfortable with the runs on the range and so we elect to hit the road as much as we can, This week I have been really practicing when to shift and not to shift and grind the gears, I am learning that if I am patient and the RPMs are in the right range the gears will slide right in, Then on Friday we coupled to a flat bed with 25K pounds of the concrete barriers and this was a bit different then pulling the empty box van around, I learned that with a load it is easier to manouver the tractor, I feel it is easier but maybe I'm missing something, I am learning to watch my mirrors and see that my trailer tandems are not running the "school kids" over who are standing on the sidewalk(my instructors say that just so we will know what may happen) minding their own business, I'm getting much more comfortable with coupling and uncoupling and all of the procedures. Till next time, Be Safe. TD.

 

Week 7 of 8 I'm excited that I have made it this far, We are in our 7th week and we are looking more and more like we know how to drive, I'm getting the shifting and double clutching down amd that is good, Monday night we showed up and Rich our instructor, there is 2 of us in a truck and him, He says to my driving partner that we are going up the hill, He says ok and jumps in his car and heads home and on his way out he tells Rich, I need to go home, He takes off while we wait for him to get back I did the pre-trip and then waited, I let him drive up, Now for us going up the hill is a bit of a hill, We go north up I-17 to Sunset point, So we take of up the hill and he is doing pretty good, He is then told to pull off the road on a seldomly used exit and pull up the on ramp so he does and he is then told to stop it right here, He stops the truck on an incline and then told to get it moving without killing the engine with 25K pounds on the flat bed trailer, He does it ok, So we get to the top and head back down the other side and we pull into Black Canyon City and switch drivers, Now it is my turn to drive, I did well the instructor kept pressing the point that the peddle should be to the metal, He tells me to up shift as we are going up the hill, I do so quickly but we still lost momentum and we are being passed by everyone, I made it back up and down we come, He showed up how we could use the engine brake as a slowing device and that was pretty cool. I will report later on how the rest of the week goes, I'm getting close to finishing up my training and I would still encourage anyone who may be thinking about going to GCC to do so, I mentioned in another thread that the school is actually off campus and not on campus it is down at 59th Ave. and Buckeye Rd. Take Care till next post Be Safe. TD.

 

Well, I greatly appreciate the support that I have received throughout my training on here, I'm going into week 8 I was told the other day that I will probably have a few more days of practice driving and then start testing so I can get my CDL and move on, I had a test dropped on me the other day as well and did not as well as I should have, I have practiced the things I felt I was weak in and am doing much better now, These next few days should be good as we complete the driving practicing and then on to the testinfg, I set the truck up a few nights ago as if I was backing into a space at a truck stop and got it in the hole first try, I'm comfortable that if I get out on the road and need help that I can ask but for the most part I will be able to hold my own. Take Care till next time, Be Safe. TD.

 

Hey, What a past few days, I was laying in bed on Tuesday morning and felt a pain in my lower back on the right side, I thought hmmm Must have rolled over wrong or something, No big deal, I tried to get comfortable and every turn made it worse, I started sweating like crazy, the pain intensified and then it felt like there was someone behind my about where my kidney would be drilling a hole on my back, I knew it wasn't a stretched muscle, I had this type of pain back in 2000 and so I tried everything to get the pain to go away, I tried heating the area and I tried a massager that we have, I tried the shower massager, I finally called a friend to take me to the ER, While all of this is going on my expecting wife is downtown at 1 of her 2 appts with Drs. To determine when they are going to deliver the baby we are expecting, She calls me and says the van won't start.. Oh Great I had loaned my car to a friend of mine as his vehicles are all on the blink, So he goes and rescues my wife, While I am in the emergency room, I got there and they moved me back right away and got an IV going with some pain meds in it, and I was home by about 8 P.M. needless to say I missed school, and we are testing out this week, I'm headed back tonight and we will see what happens. Till next post take care. TD.