Failed road test. Only have one more try. Demoralized right now

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by davidtrucker88, Oct 18, 2018.

  1. davidtrucker88

    davidtrucker88 Bobtail Member

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    I'm attending swift academy and I have one last chance to get my cdl. I've been in this hotel for over a month learning everything I can. My big day was today. I passed the pretrip and maneuvers portions of the test, but all that was left was the road test. The CDL DMV instructor was a woman who went by the name Big Patty. I'm assuming she got that name because she looks rather intimidating. A buzz cut, muscular and a mean look. She told me she's been driving trucks for 35 years and has literally seen it all. After some back and forth chatter, she then said "lets get this over with so you can head on to greener pastures", so we hopped in, I put it in gear and off we went.

    Everything was going great. Was grinding some gears while downshifting, but other than that all was well. There were more cars on the road than usual for some reason and there were even more when I got off an exit ramp preparing to cross an intersection to make a left turn and this is where everything went wrong.....

    The green arrow showed and as I was pulled out and beginning to make my turn, there was an elderly guy in the car in the middle of the intersection that was blocking me from going any further. The instructor said "what the #### is this dumb ### doing?" She then said "we don't have time for this bull ####, blow the horn at him". I then blew the horn on the steering wheel. She said yelled and said "not that wimpy ### thing, BLOW THE ####ING AIR HORN!" As I was about to blow it, she took off her seat belt while mumbling something and quickly reached over and started continuously blowing it while yelling at the old man telling him to "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD YOU ####ING IDIOT!" I then saw the old man lean over towards his window and gave her the middle finger as he finally got out from blocking my path. She then said, get this ####ing thing moving. Me being so shocked at what I just saw, I took my foot off the clutch too fast and stalled out. She then said "What the hell are you doing???? Get this #### thing out of the middle of the #### road!" So I started it up and again, I stalled out. My nerves got to me.

    After the second stall, she threw her clipboard down and I saw her staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I finally got it out of the intersection during the 3rd try. As soon as I got out of the intersection, she told me to pull over and put on my flashers and pull the brakes. She then told me "get out and get in the passenger seat, I'm driving now". She drove back to the terminal and failed me on the spot when we got back.

    Next week is my last try. If I don't pass, all of my training that I've done will be for nothing. I'm just disappointed with myself right now.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 18, 2018
    Reason for edit: Skirting
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  3. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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    Did you report the incident to her superiors? Does the truck have driver facing cameras with sound? There's your proof!
    Don't let her get away with her bizarre behavior.
    Do you want one of us on this forum to email your account of what happened to Swift?
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2018
  4. Puppage

    Puppage Road Train Member

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  5. Omega7777

    Omega7777 Medium Load Member

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    stall issue can be fix very easy. try to release your cluth slowly ! no need to rush it, until it is released then you can push the gas
     
  6. davidtrucker88

    davidtrucker88 Bobtail Member

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    I've already told who is in charge of the swift academy. He said he was going to look into it.

    The have cameras in the training trucks, but in the truck I took the dmv test in, there was no camera. Instead of going to the dmv, there is a separate area at the academy specifically for students to test out. The dmv instructors drive to the academy.
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2018
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  7. davidtrucker88

    davidtrucker88 Bobtail Member

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    I know. My nerves just got the best of me. I rushed myself and let my foot off way too quickly. I was doing good with easing off the clutch up until that point.
     
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  8. blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

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    Big Patti is an unprofessional muppet.

    These situations occur, but this is not how you react to them.

    I’d have a word with a superior.
     
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  9. Omega7777

    Omega7777 Medium Load Member

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    I would challege the failure of the test due to the chaos from her lack of professionalism. Make them void it before the next test
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2018
    Reason for edit: Language.
  10. dog-c

    dog-c Road Train Member

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    Hey davidtrucker88

    Please don’t be discouraged buddy.

    Swift is known to have the lowest category character people work for them. I was in the same academy you are ! ask to have a sit down meeting with the manager. Don’t be discouraged- the real training is when you’re out with your mentor in the next 6 weeks or so.

    Again, lost her composure and you did the right thing by not losing your cool. She lost her composure not you.

    Stay focused my man and talk to the Terminal manager. Swift is always losing drivers so they won’t want to lose you
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 18, 2018
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  11. davidtrucker88

    davidtrucker88 Bobtail Member

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    That would be great if I would be granted my cdl because of that. I have no doubt in my mind I would have passed if it wasn't for that incident. I have a feeling she wouldn't have acted the way she did if there had been a camera in there. Maybe there is and I just didn't see it? But from what I've seen, the cameras in the training trucks are on the dash.
     
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