Officially accepted to Athens Tech Commercial Truck Driving Course

Hope to get on with Superior Carriers. Got my TSA check back and am good to go take the HazMat/Tanker test. Will be doing that hopefully before the end of the week.

 

Thanks. Someone here on TTR turned me on to SC. I checked into them and they seem pretty good to me. If that does not work out I will probably try Auto Zone.

 

Well it has been a few days since updating but not really a whole lot to update. Just spent the past few days polishing and honing our range and road skills and going over the PTI over and over....and over again.

I take my actual state cdl test in the morning at 10am. I am not really nervous. We have been over everything so much that it is almost becoming second nature. Looking forward to some real challenges when I finally get to hit the road with a company. It will all change then. No more cones...it will be the real deal!

Hitting the sack early tonight to get proper rest. I will report back tomorrow afternoon with what should be good news.

 

Thank you.

 

Alright. I said I would be back to report and here I am. Wow. I tried my best not to let my nerves get the best of me but there comes a point when reality sets in and you just aren't human if you don't get nervous at some point on the cdl test. Mine came when I actually had the tester in the truck next to me with his pen and clipboard with my form on it.

Pre-trip inspection....nailed it. Range/backing skills....nailed it. Road test...oh sheet! If there was any day to have a bad day shifting gears, today was not the day for it to happen. If it can happen to me it will. And it did. I honestly thought that was the death of me by the time we got back. I had a couple times where I totally missed the gears on the downshift coming up to stop signs. One I managed to recover from but after the truck coasted more than the length of the truck. The other I completely missed. The harder I tried to find a gear the worse it got and the more I panicked to the point where I just said screw it and coasted to a stop. Keep in mind I had already slowed down approaching these stop signs so the truck was not moving at a high speed approaching and then trying to downshift at the last second. But I know you are still not supposed to coast and I was consciously aware of that. I just could not get a gear to save my life. It happens.

I hope I do not get people coming on here thinking I am a moron and can't drive because of what I just posted. I don't feel I drove the truck in an unsafe manner at any time. As a matter of fact I know I did not. At no time did I ever feel I was a danger to the public when I was out on the road test. Apparently the state examiner felt the same as well because I did pass the road test. Not my most stellar moment driving but I managed to get it done.

I am my own worst enemy so I am probably being harder on myself than I should be but I take all of this very seriously. I know we are going to have bad days out there. That is to be expected. I am just glad I have this behind me now and can move on. Looking forward to getting out on the road and learning more and more every day.

I go to take my hazmat/tanker endorsement test this coming Tuesday. Looking forward to getting those on my license so I can start applying for jobs. I will update after I take the endorsement tests and let everyone know how it went.

Drive safe everyone.