Western Truck School question

Yes I have heard that Swift basically shows you a couple of times on how to do a skill and then leaves you on your own with your classmates to figure it out and that there is an overall consensus that there is not enough seat time to dial it in. I don't think they care, they have a steep learning curve because it cost money to train and with so many people applying, they take the ones who can pick it up quickly.
I brought up my classmates because they did not have experience backing a trailer and to me they should have passed with proper training AND they paid a lot of money. I passed only because I own a boat and used that experience along with You Tube to figure it out.
I voiced my opinion but it didn't help.
As long as you practice in the same equipment you will use at the DMV, you will be fine.

 

Ouch!

Can't really come up with anything better to say...

 

Jrivas23, were you at the same school?

 

Yep. We have two trucks, one international prostar day cab, and a freightliner cascadia sleeper berth. I've practiced the backing skills mostly in the day cab. But I've driven the sleeper berth far more often and the COLA brake test is easier in the sleeper berth. It's really just luck of the draw when it comes to what truck you'll get to take when you test. If somebody is scheduled on the same day as you but at an earlier time then they get to pick what truck they use and you have to take the other. I got into it with my instructor one day and I flat out told him that I paid $4500 for this class and I'm going to #### well choose which truck I take. After that they rescheduled me a day earlier (without telling me) just so I could have first pick. I realize it's up to the DMV to schedule test appointmenst but this wouldn't be an issue if they just had more trucks.

On top of this they've had us driving a broken truck. The tractor ABS light has been coming on and staying on in the sleeper berth for a few weeks now. When I first noticed this I informed the instructor and he told me not to worry about it. He literally said, "If I'm not worried about it, you shouldn't be worried about it." The DMV has noticed this and they've finally told them that if they bring that truck back and the problem isn't fixed that they are going to automatically fail the student. They continued to allow students to drive this truck on city roads because they were too cheap to get it fixed.

[EDIT] If I remember correctly the ABS fault code was 136. If anyone knows what that means.

 

Keep it up, you will pass! Good luck

 

Good news is that they rented a new truck and they're finally fixing the ABS light on the sleeper berth. They've also been kind enough to allow me to roll over to the next class for free if I so desire. I'd really hate to have to go through another month but it was kind of them to offer. It seems they've realized the issue and they're working to fix it so hopefully future students won't have to go through what our class did.

Bad news is that the stupid DMV screwed up my test date and now I have to wait another week to test. It's not a huge deal, but I've already been stressing out about this test for a while now. They already screwed me once when I had to take the air brakes test twice because they didn't enter my first grade properly. I just hope that when I show up to test next Monday that they didn't screw up again. I've only been to the DMV 4 times in my life and I already hate them lol.

 

Good luck. And thanks for the update.