Help a trucker wannabe out!

So here's today's update. As usual I try to be as accurate as possible.

We started with yard skills today. We were shown a new skill which is sight-side parallel parking which is exactly the same as blind-side paralell parking except you can see better and all of the turns are in reverse. Well I didn't even attempt to do a sight-side or alley dock today because i was trying to master the blind-side.

I've probably tried a blind-side about 12 times now and while I've been able to do it a few times, much of that has been luck or guidance from an instructor. The "how-to" is still not clicking in my head.

Right now these skills are presenting the biggest challenge for me. Each time we do the pre-trip I show more mastery of the various parts on the truck and what I need to check for, and my driving skills improve each time on the road. These yard skills are really the area I'm struggling the most on.

Today I went 39 miles on the road. There is a lot of positives to report here. My shifting has improved even more compared to yesterday. I did not miss a single gear I didn't want to be in. There were a couple of times when the instructor asked me to go from third to fifth gear and I kept instictively going to fourth, but aside from that I didn't really have a probelm with shifting whatsoever.

This was also the most challenging drive I've had so far easily. We drove through Windgap, PA which begins to go through the Pocono Mountains. Considering it was raining today and this was my first day driving through the rain, it made for more challenging conditions. I was introduced to my Jake Brake today and had a few occassions to use it. Since the truck wasn't loaded I could have gotten away without using it, but it made things a lot easier on some of the steeper grades.

I need to note that it wasn't extremely wet so using the Jake Brake was appropriate, and gave more control over the truck. It came in particularly handy when I went over an 8 percent grade with a 50 MPH speed limit but a 35 MPH speed limit for trucks. It was a steep, winding downgrade and considering this was only my 4th time driving a truck, I thought I handled it pretty well.

So my shifting was excellent today. I handled a lot of in-town driving without an issue, and I kept good control over the truck around some sharp curves. I also did well with controlling the trailer of the truck around some pretty tight turns.

A pretty darn good day, right? Well yeah but.......this is only my fourth time on the road and I made a mistake that could have proved disasterous if I hadn't of taken my instructor's advice from the beginning and always watched the tracking of my trailer. On my last tight turn of the day I think I got a bit careless and my trailer tracked right into the left lane of a two-lane road and headed straight towards a mini-van. Since I was looking through my left mirror after I made the turn I caught it and began to brake right around the time my instructor yelled, "Stop the truck!" Thank God I caught it myself because if I didn't, I might of hit wiped out the front of the Mini-Van before I reacted to my instructor. As it stood I had a good 6 feet before I would of taken him out, but it was a lot of humble pie for me to swallow and it sure didn't make the guy in the mini-van happy. He proceeded to back this van up about 40 feet and I can't blame the guy, LOL.

What's really funny is I was very very careful with my turns and had only one more *really* tight turn left. I made this turn beautifully and my trailer did not hit the curb on the right or even come close to trailing to the other side of the road. What made it comical was the truck in the left lane backed up very quickly. So gosh darn it, when I mess up they don't react until its too late, but when I ace the turn they back up like their life counted on it. He must of read the training school sign pretty quickly and decided he wasn't going to take his chances.

So I had a very good day of driving today, but I am indeed very green behind the ears, and duly humbled by my experience today. At least something positive will come out of this. I'm *never* going to go too sharp around a turn again. If I have generous shoulder, I'm going to use it and ensure the safety of those on the opposite side of the road.

 

I owe you all some updates as two days in class have passed.

Yesterday I drove for 47 miles for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. I did a lot of highway driving and we got to experience paying a toll for the first time. What they really wanted to emphasize by having us pay a toll was to avoid hitting the right mirror on a protective bar to the right of the toll both as we came through. It was very easy to avoid, but it was a good experience to have, and I can see why they do it.

I shifted very well yesterday, and really missed no gears. I grinded some gears, but frankly even the instructors will do that just as often. In other words, I've been a quick study on shifting and I've come a long way. I'm very pleased by this. I thought shifting would be more challenging for me (which I could say the same for yard skills).

Today was even more interesting. The Pocono Mountains present some very interesting driving terrain to say the least. Today I drove what is termed "The Endless Mountains" by truckers through drive through this part of PA, and it's certainly a good name for it.

I drove only 39 miles today, but there was a good reason why. I drove through twisting, winding roads with steep declines. There were warning sides for 8% to 10% grades going down hill, and grades that seemed even steeper going uphill. I went over 3 hills where the regular speed limit was 45 MPH, but had a regular speed limit of only 20 MPH for trucks.

Also, I almost forgot....today was my first day using a loaded trailer. They brought us a loaded trailer the end of yesterday and it was loaded with 18,000 lbs of furniture that apparently wasn't sellable by A-Tech Furniture (never heard of them). Given the fact that this was my first time driving a loaded truck, and given the fact that I was driving through the "The Endless Mountains", a very important piece of advice from my instructor came in handy today. He taught us from the very beginning that when braking doing down a mountain and using the snub brake technique, we should use the ball of our foot on the top of the brake. After getting the hang of it early this week, it makes braking extremely smooth and also guards against jolting stops that could potentially cause a jack knife or roll over. Just to give you one last example of how steep the driving was today, we passed 5 different emergency ramps.

Driving with a load made for a better driving experience even if I was sometimes going down extremely steep hills fighting my insticts to brake instantly and stop the truck. When hitting bumps the trailer and tractor weren't bumping up and down much. In fact the ride was sort of plush. I was told this was because the tight springs on the trailer and tractor were now able to act as they were designed to and soak up the bumps. In other words, driving a tractor and trailer without a load is a lot like driving a sports car. Sure it looks good to drive in, but your hind end doesn't want to to it for more than an hour. Also, being able to slow down going up a hill or on a level ground can make shifting more convenient. Overall, I far better prefer to drive with a loaded trailer than an empty one, not just because it means I'm making $$$, but because it makes for a nice ride.

While I'm making quick progress in driving, the Gods have decided to have a good laugh by cursing me with any skills that involve going 3 MPH. I'm making slow progress in my ability to Alley Dock, Blind-side, and Sight-side park. I *am* improving by my brain doesn't have a complete picture of the moves needed to make it happen. So after each manuver to get into the spot I want, I need to stop and really think about it. You'd think I was trying to solve some complicated geometry problem but I'm just trying to do a decent job of parking a gosh darn truck. This stuff aint as easy as it's made to look. I've probably done about 13 attempts at blind-sides so far in my 2 weeks in the yard, and managed to really get the truck in the box about 3 times. Those aint good odds. I have a little over 2 weeks to get this downpat.

I feel that if I can improve my yard skills I'll be ready to pass all of my CDL tests. I really feel that my driving skills are already good enough to pass and get my CDL (and that is supposed to be the challenging part), yet I am concerned that I might not be able to get my yard skills to where I pass everything one and done. I don't want to report to you all that I've taken 2 more weeks to pass the course because I couldn't park a freakin truck after a month of practice.

Only time will tell if I'm really prepared to pass this course in the first round. Practice makes perfect, and maybe I'll slip the Gods Benjamin and see if that helps as well.

 

Every single time I have been on the road my instructors have talked about following distance at least a dozen times. Believe me, I know about following distance. In fact they talk about more then just following distance, they talk about managing my space. For instance, if I have some idiot tailing me, I need to back off even further on the vehicle in front of me. If I come up to an intersection I need to come off the gas to see what plays out with the Dog & Pony show in front of me. If I come to a light I should also lay off the gas, even on a green light. Once I'm committed to the light, I need to go through even if it turns yellow.

It's all about following distance and managing space. If I'm driving down a 4-lane highway I don't want to stay next to the vehicle to the left of me. I either want to speed up or slow down depending on the situation. If I manage my space, and always keep space for myself, I greatly reduce my chances of getting into an accident. That is some outstanding advice, and not just because it's a part of the state test. It just so happens to be true as well.

 

I had a fantastic day today in every way. On the road I really had some fantastic downshifts off exits from highways, but the day was really made with my yard skills.

Today we were shown the dreaded serpentine manuevuer on the yard. I thought learning that move would further mess up my ability to learn the blind and sight side moves, not to mention the alley dock. Just the opposite, I really learned a lot.

One of the things the instructures said at the beginning was it was all about getting your correct angle and everything else was pretty much about straight backing. It just so happens that finding the angle and straight backing were my strengths, turning in the right direction for follow through and steering with one hand were my weaknesses. Today I was able to get both of those and everything came through nicely.

I was able to do a serpentine on my first try without direction from the instructor. My second serpentine was really cool because I actually messed it up but did something really smart. You see pulling forward with a serpetine deducts 1 point out of 20. I decided if I needed to do a pull up I might as well make it a good one. I got to the other side of the last cone where I needed to be and I literally pulled the truck forward to the beginning of the course with my tractor and trailer straight. That means that I was now on the other side of the cone which was the goal of the whole manuveur, but now my tractor and trailer was straight and all I had to do was a straight back. Needless to say I did it easily.

The other area where I really began to grasp things was on my blind side. I would do my best to get an angle from the beginning but I would realize I could do better and pull forward (deducting a point but allowing me to get a really good angle) and then I would be able to get the truck in without the need of another pull up. That would have given me a 19/20 or a 95 percent (you need 80 percent to pass).

I feel like I should be able to do both the serpentine and the blind side with 1 to 2 pull ups and no other issues allowing me to pass both skills. My sight side still needs more work.

Alley docking needs more work as well, but I really wrapped my head around making neccessary corrections that made a passable albeit not very pretty alley dock.

Our instructor also gave us a big confidence boost. We were talking about how we wished we could practice with real trailers. On the end of the yard are two old trailers that are spaced a little over 12 feet apart. Sure enough our instructor had us do two back ups between the two trailers, and I was able to do it easily both time. After all, all I was doing was a straight back.

Then the instructor gave us quite a straightback test. We needed to go completely to the end of the yard (about .35 miles away) and straight back against one of the trailers like it was a dock. I was able to do it on the first try. Needless to day I didn't try a second time because it took me like 15 minutes to back it up that far on the first try, LOL.

So today I began to get to the point where I could reasonably pass most of my yard skills. More importantly, my mind really began to understand how to correct issues proactively which will make it far more likely I can successfully pass the state exams.