I failed...

Don't give up!! One step at a time!! YOU CAN DO IT!!

 

This. Driving does worry me to much even though I am teaching myself everything. Pre-trip concerns me a little but Im pretty mechanically inclined so I know what to look for.....just need to learn what they want to hear.

Good luck though. Youll get it.

 

they fail you for scrubbing a curb???

 

Yup and when you solo out you'll scrub a curb once in a while anyway,situations come up when you're out there trying to find places you've never been before.
Tight corners happen,you'll fail to set up properly in traffic while juggling all the other aspects of driving.
Heck just don't hit a pole when you get out there,I've come close a couple times lol.
Get the nerves under control and relax,take your time on your test and when you get out in the world alone.
Your trainer isn't going to teach you to be a truck driver,only time behind the wheel will do that.
He'll just get you started and the rest will be up to you when you get out there so relax you have lots of time.
I've been at it a year now and I still get sweaty palms in heavy city traffic when trying to find the right access to a delivery and not getting hung up on a curb or pole or getting hopelessly stuck and having to back up.

I do retail deliveries(Dollar Tree) so it can be a real pain negotiating parking lots and narrow alleyways with a 53' van and a sleeper cab truck.
You've just given yourself a little more practice time is all,not a bad thing at all.

 

Yes,instant fail.

 

When I took my WA CDL test a year ago that was the one mistake I made,the instructor asked me what should I do if I am more than 10 mpg under the speed limit.
The answer was to turn on my 4 way flashers.
So at least in WA it is illegal not to have them on.

 

some places are more demanding than others. where i went to school, we got failed on a ride if we scrubbed a curb. if we scraped a gear even in the least. anything that wasn't a perfect ride was failed. it was frustrating and excruciating but it made better drivers of us all......worst of all was when I made my 2nd qualifying run and the instructor failed me for scraping 4th coming back onto the yard after a perfect ride and turned to me and said "you're good, and you can drive, but i'm going to make you better".....i wanted to slap him at the time but the old-timer was right....it did make me better.

i wouldn't have gone to another school for anything and the hardass approach the old-timers took has paid off out here on the road in the real world.

 

As a noob, when it comes to turning, take as much road as you think you need and can SAFELY acquire, sometimes it requires patience and waiting(i.e. waiting for a turn lane to be clear for example), sometimes it requires setting it up by taking space before you even make the turn(i.e. moving into next lane a little or a lot, and always, only when can safely be done)....As experience grows you'll learn exactly how much you need and whether the turn requires more space before or during the turn...

Turning too wide is rarely a problem, turning too tight is always one!

 

on my CDL exam, i took the turns that were tight TOO wide, just to make sure i wouldn't hit the curb. the way i looked at it was, i'd rather take a point on too wide of a turn than to fail because i hit the curb. of course after the test was done my instructor chewed my ### for a few minutes. but, it was cool cause i passed!! i know what i was doing, i just dont think he realized what i was doing...

 

Sounds like you were to be ###### if you did and ###### if you didn't...Better to be ###### for didding than hitting!