Falling behind in school...

Thank you for the helpful pointers! The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

 

I appreciate your input. Several instructors have over 30 yrs experience. Similarly, we're reminded that "you never stop learning".

 

Wk 7 looking back

Got an in-cab demo on 13 sp & then short run with another student who had driven 13 sp already. With a loaded trailer, it was nice to have the extra half gears in high range. Useful, but both the classmate & I got the tranny to make loud grinding noises when attempting to shift the splitter. I think we didn't pause (release torque) long enough when upshifting. This truck was used a lot as a 9 sp when training for CDL; it never made such a noise then. It seemed like the truck was out of gear (coasting); to recover, downshifted with the shift knob. I wonder if you could just single clutch to recover, if speed hasn't dropped too far.

Had a few short runs, about 20-50 miles each (incl 13 sp). Only the 13 sp demo included an instructor. The balance were 9 sp. Interesting to see that students generally will cut corners when there's no instructor watching. I can see why instructors will loudly remind student convoys to be careful. There's a student or 2 that I've been with/observed that I'd be comfortable with. They're consistently observant.

This was skid pad wk. This is made out to be a highlight of the course, starting with campus visit. Some students were excited as if they'd been to an amusement park. Some were tense & skeptical, overly cautious. Some, incl myself, felt mixed emotions. 2 instructors do skid pad. One tries to explain the skids & any false sensations that arise. (The straps will bounce tractor back from 15 degrees/approaching jackknife: not so in reality) The other deliberately gets into the straps, causing a lot of sideways whiplash. There was an injury. I feel that knowing how to avoid skids is most important. Lessons learned: easy on the brakes, esp when slippery (watch for black ice); look in mirrors when braking to see if trailer is coming around; trailer skids produce no feeling; as soon as skid is detected, clutch in & off brake/throttle to release torque. Evidently ABS helps skid prevention. The old skid pad rigs look like they're circa 1990. I found is hard to know which steer tire locked up & thus which way to steer/counter-steer.

After 30 mins of skid pad, spent the rest of the AM (3 hrs) rotating among several trucks on evasive maneuvers. To me, this was the best part of the day. Nice to get exposure to some road rigs. KW's with 53' performed well for me in evasive challenge. You approach stop lights at 20-25 MPH. A green light appears a split second before you have to swerve in it's direction. Cones on each side form a lane, plus block the middle. After going through this, there's 3 cones setup as serpentine. With empty flatbed, I got within 2 inches of serpentine cones. We're encouraged to barely miss cones, to learn how tandems react to steering input.

In the PM of skid pad day, learned about braking. This was boring, except for the rotation among rigs again. Without clear & consistent instructions & no demo, many students (incl myself) found it confusing. We were supposed to alternate between controlled braking & stab/release. This was done with bobtails at 35 MPH on skid pad. From this I gathered that you can't steer while braking, esp when in a skid. Kind of obvious (overkill), IMO.

Rather than PM braking exercise, I would have chosen yard practice. However, choices are not given. Furthermore, there was already plenty of yard trucks in use.

Wk 8 look ahead

Speaking of yard practice, therein lies 1 of 2 remaining 100 point tests. (the other is written final exam) The yard test consists of 5 maneuvers, each allowed 2 mins. There's serpentine forward, serp. reverse, alley dock, alley dock blindside & blindside parallel. I'm happy to report my alley dock has improved. Blind side alley dock is not too difficult either- as long as I can look out back window in day cab. Biggest issue here is knowing how far forward to pull before initial backing. Until trailer starts to swing right, can't see the dock at all. Guess I'll have to use visual clues to know how far forward to pull. Forward serpentine is no problem. After evasive maneuvers, should be even easier.

However, there's some trouble spots for me in yard test. Backwards serp has yet to be successful. I can only make it past first barrel, before hitting either second barrel or boundary/yellow line. Parallel parking makes no sense to me. Something about looking in blind side West Coast & seeing 2 corner barrels in line. How far forward to pull, how much angle, when to turn, how much to turn: no idea. My attempts bring me way over the lines.

We have no more than 2 more days to practice in yard. Monday we come in for overnight run. This displaces both Mon & Tues regular class time. Then Wed & Thurs are yard tests. Fri is written final exam & graduation. I really doubt I'll get comfortable with my problem areas in the yard in time to ace the yard test. If I do, it'll be at the expense of having no more time in 13 sp, no road time at all in S10 & no road time in big trucks. I could see this coming a few wks ago, when struggling to get alley dock & CDL figured out. The (majority) students who've been licensed since wk 3-5 have been getting several 100 miles of road time in big trucks. I understand this is beneficial to them as an applicant. I wish I could say that I'm a master of yard maneuvers instead, but that's not so.

Going back to this thread title, I feel I'm not getting nearly as much (useful/employment-related skills) from this course as I would have liked to. Lunch is 30 mins (usually more), I wait 15 mins several times/day for an instructor to show up, 2 whole days were missed (Labor Day & night run), plus being sent home early several days= 225 hrs of training. Of these 225 hours, over a dozen videos were shown & 32 chapters were lectured on. Total hours in a truck are estimated at just under 200. This includes watching other students drive; often 3 students/truck (until CDL in wk 6).

Side note: there's also night class. It advertises 180 hours vs the 320 we supposedly get in 8 wks. The last night class had 3 students, the class now has 2 students. My 8 wk class has 24. There's 2 advantages I see to my 8 wk class vs night class: Exposure to up to 6 instructors & possibly slightly more time in a truck. Night class may not get skid pad & range (incl evasive). My 8 wk class is what the school heavily pushes, touting 2x the training, skid pad & learning trannies above 9 sp. With 2 or 3 students per night class & accelerated lecture/less video, I think they get as much or even more driving time each. By definition, they have more night driving, without skipping a day of class. I assume that once the night class is licensed, they get time in big trucks & more trannies.

 

Squeaked by on yard test, reverse serpentine least understood. Better on parallel parking than expected.

Thanks for kind words!

 

Thanks for reassuring words. Defensive driving with 4-wheelers around hopefully will be easier than for some. Been running bus route in Mpls metro for 6 yrs. I plan to continue taking pride in my performance.

 

Graduation...

Well, finished up the last wk. On Wed AM, nearly the whole class finished final 2 tests: yard & written. By late AM, over half had gone home. My tests were finished by Wed noon. As other members stated, instructors will see to it that you pass tests. I had to grudgingly accept that I would not become 100% competent in every area in 8 wks. FYI, I, like most of class, got 95%+ overall.

As a result of a sudden drop in enrollment (plus no longer needing to worry about yard-once yard test passed) I suddenly had access to big trucks. So Wed PM, all day Thurs & Fri AM I drove KW & Volvo 2-axle tractors with loaded trailers. Got 13 sp experience on a KW, including 53' (102" wide) fully loaded trailer. This was an awesome way to end the course. Feel comfortable on 13 sp now. Fully loaded trailer was a good experience as well. As 1 instructor said early on, "Lo is for L-O-A-D". Would much prefer 13 sp with load vs 9 sp. Going through hills, curves & small towns along the Mississippi River near LaCrosse, appreciated splitting 5th & 6th. This was in a KW circa 1990 with a Cat. Perhaps newer/more powerful rigs can pull 75K with a 9 sp more readily. Assume the ~10 yr old single-axle Freightshakers- what I drove mostly at school- (9 sp, small Cat) would have a problem.

Next...

Taking a week off. My premature thoughts on life beyond school is in my new home, the general newbie category. See http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...ers/91193-out-of-school-wwyd.html#post1051873

This will be the end of my posts (except to comment on replies) to this thread, as it's in the "school" category.

Thanks to all that have been an encouragement while in school. Doubt I would have made it without your kind words.