NC Truck Driver Training School

You will find that not everyone shares the same ideas of safety and that may include your trainer or higher-ups. I have already seen some things that made my teeth itch.

You may have to take a stand on some issues, having to wave a red flag when someone else is saying "it's okay...you can make it to the next stop" or "that's okay, they all do that" or "just deal with it until you can get a PM done." So far I've been able to get things fixed and haven't been pressured into NOT taking the time to do a good PTI, but I've been around drivers who seem to not want to do them regularly.

My trainer didn't seem to put a lot of time into it (I never saw her do a full PTI) but she didn't get too perturbed when I'd do more than a cursory walkaround, so I'm not complaining. If I didn't see her do a PTI, I just did it at my next available stop whether it was my shift to drive or not. Sometimes it's just easier to quietly get something done than turn it into drama.

The first week I wondered if I was overdoing things by going right by the book and doing a full PTI every day in addition to the walkarounds at stops, but after finding some flat tires and loose lug nuts that week, it certainly cemented things to do it by book. It only takes a few minutes and the way our Qualcomm system is set up, it already dings you for a 15 minute vehicle inspection (VI) each day so the time is built in to do it.

I also found it was actually a nice break from some other duties to just flop open that hood and take the time to give the truck and trailer a good look-see. Made me feel a lot better when we were hauling butt later on.

 

Spacebat how it been going, have you got your 300 hrs yet.

 

Just hit my break at 150+ hrs so I'm home this week. YAAAAAAAYYYY!!! Took me 3 weeks + 2 days, but those two days were breakdown days where we sat on our butts so it's doable to get your 150 hours in 3 weeks without too much worry assuming all goes well with your trainer and the truck.

It was pretty easy to hit 8-10 hours a day even with all the stops on the Dollar General account--I took the wheel when we were on the long legs going back and forth to the Distribution Center (DC)--and once my curfew got lifted (you can't drive past midnight for your first two weeks) I just took the "night shift" and drove a lot. I was actually in the seat longer, but you log a bit differently when you hit the DC--so a few hours are cut here and there. It's legal, just different from what I anticipated. The days were also excruciatingly long...18-20 hours. More on that in a different post. Some days I felt I had been in the seat forever and yet showed only 6 hours. I thought I would just rack up hours, but the logs show otherwise. The first week was excruciating in terms of the hours adding up slowly, especially with that curfew.

I think I'll be on 48 when I go back...won't know until I get there, though. I'm hoping that's the case. The DG account is GREAT for learning and I think it's a great introduction to all sorts of things you might not otherwise pick up on 48, but I'd like to try something different. The good news is that I lost 1 1/2 pants sizes unloading all that stuff!

 

PS: at some point I'll post a comparison-so-far of what JCC/NCTDT teaches and what I've encountered, just for grins.

Hope all is well with current students!

 

Spacebat, I'd be interested to read that comparison. I've just discovered this board and have found tons of helpful stuff. And, I just attended the orientation for Johnston Community Truck Driver Training Tuesday morning. I got my commercial drivers permit last week, got my physical signed off and I start classes on Oct. 26. That means I should wrap it up just a few days before Christmas!

And I also did quite a lot of research before choosing NCTDT. It's about 40 miles from my house, but well worth the drive every day for this school. Although I have to admit that 8 weeks of class sounded a bit excessive (comparatively speaking). The equipment looks diverse, the instructors seem personable and the administrator Della? Oooops, sorry. I mean administrative assistant Della..... well Della is a true gem. I liked her the first 5 minutes I talked to her. But I have a feeling she's right, it's not going to be a picnic. ** more like a weenie roast **

Now all I have to do is figure out which companies I need to begin talking to in order to get some experience OTR. Easy, right? hehehehe Wish me luck!

 

Let me start with a brief introduction. My name is Jon and I live in Raleigh, NC. I've been working in the I.T. field doing help desk work for a while now but I'm sick and tired of life in a cube farm. I've been thinking about getting a commercial drivers license for about 5-6 years now and I'm finally getting the nerve to do it this year. I signed up to attend training this month, just attended orientation last week and am getting very excited about everything I'm about to learn. This past week I've made a few friends here on the truckers report forum (some local and some not so local) but I'd also like to find a few of my future classmates.

I know there's got to be a few North Carolina folks looking through these threads that are about to attend the October 26th - December 22nd class at the NC Trucker Driver Training School - NCTDT taught at Johnston Community College in Smithfield, NC. I can't be the only one who has been trying to learn more about what to expect from our instructors when we get into class, what will be expected of us and more importantly, where to look for a job. Heck, I've even started looking up diagrams for different speed transmissions so I could study them a little. I guess you could say I'm somewhat excited about learning to drive a big rig.

And I've read quite a few great tips from experienced truckers on here so far, things like good items to pack before leaving home, how to handle some ice build-up problems, scams that people will try to pull on you when you're out there, places to stop to sleep AND places you never want to stop, even decent recipes for eating on the road (from what I've heard, food can get darned expensive). Maybe I'll just load up on canned tuna, chef-boy-ar-dee, dried fruit and bottled water.

I've been reading over these boards for about a week now and am trying my best to begin 'doing my homework'. The more I read, the more I realize that I don't think my expectations are set too high. I'm not expecting to make tons of money in my first year or two, and I fully expect to put in my time to learn the ropes under a decent trainer (if I'm lucky to get a decent one). I usually have a really good attitude towards people and can budget my time fairly well. When it come to getting a job, I think I've read enough to know just about every company mentioned on this site has bad and good comments (well, except for maybe C.R. England..... but I'm still hoping to see something good written about them sometime soon). hehehehe

It'd be terrific if I could find a few of y'all (that will be in my class) that are doing the same thing. If so, give me a shout. I'd like to hear from you and maybe keep in touch as our class (and careers) progress.

Oh, one more thing. You'll find advice everywhere within these boards. Not sure which pieces of advice I'll take with me, which parts I'll reject and which parts I'll just plain ol' forget. But when it comes to advice, I always remember the following:

"Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."

- S.S.

 

Hmmmm..... anybody? JCC people??

 

I drove from the west side of Raleigh every day...about 45 - 50 minutes. It was worth it. Every day I'm thankful I made the decision to go there.

I was going to write down all the stuff I learned that was particularly useful, but in review...it turns out everything has been useful. There's no fat in the curriculum. Even the hours spent suffering through the darned Green Book have been useful. You'll need to really understand regs and particularly HOS, even if you're working for a company that's paperless.

I'm on my second half of training, and this time I'm on a TCU account (temperature controlled unit...aka reefer) with top-notch equipment. The International ProStar I'm on is a joy to drive--whether we're in downtown Atlanta or the TN mountains. The difference is that we're bumping docks instead of unloading behind a Dollar General store (fingerprinting), and my schedule is different--instead of having half a Saturday and all day Sunday off to match my trainer's hometime, I just run continuously until I hit my reset and keep going--no hometime to speak of on this account since that's what my trainer has. Right now I'm on a layover (booooooorrrrring) at a T/A and can't wait to get back on the road. I've averaged welll over 8 hours a day driving, and have hit my HOS limits on several occasions. While it sounds like it's easy to max out on line 3, when you're making stops and waiting for an unload or trailer, you can lose a lot of time. That's the one thing I think was a surprise for me after school---I had a preconceived notion of what my hours would be like. I thought I'd just drive and drive, but there's a lot of other stuff to do. (LOL) So let's take a look at that.

Paperwork: pay attention to the shipping paper section of the class. You will really need to understand this stuff. It's simple, but you can't screw this up when you're doing it. I use qualcomm, so I'm constantly entering load info, and if you aren't really sure about these things you'll feel like a dummy.

Backing: I am doing fine and believe me, I was no star in school. The 53's are pretty easy to work with. So far the thing the instructors kept hammering with me that has been the most useful (YMMV of course) was to get off the brake and let it roll. As for the backwards zig-zag...yes, you'll need to be able to do that in real life in terms of snaking around stuff, even if it doesn't look exactly like that. You will need to GOAL...get out and look...out here in truckworld. I found that it was pretty helpful, actually...it gave me a better look at my line in addition to making sure I didn't hit something.

Intersections: Your time spent at the 70/301 intersection is priceless. Between that and the forward exercise, if you're acing that, you will be a standout when you get to your training at your new company. I have consistently surprised my trainers, to the point my current one deliberately threw me into a situation he couldn't handle when he demo'd it...and challenged his students to do...and I eased through it on the first try without slowing or blinking. I think one of my strong suits is being able to snake a 53 around pretty well.

Safety stuff: stay in your mirrors, use your turn signals, and treat your PTI as a good thing, not drudgery. You'll be the one in charge of safety when you get out here. Go by the book. Also, if anyone wants an easy way of remembering all that stuff, let me know.

Shifting: Right now you've got a sheet with rev/drop/operating range. But you won't have that out here and your trainer may not even understand that--my first one didn't seem to be able to double clutch and had no idea what I was telling her about how we were taught, so you may be on your own when you get your first truck and trainer. Pay attention to theory, and what they showed you in the shop with that cut-away transmission, because you'll be jumping in a truck you've never driven before and have to figure things out FAST. My first day was in Atlanta traffic during afternoon rush hour...then the mountains later that night. Yes, you'll learn to float, but you've got to shift well somehow until then. FWIW, I use a bit of a mix of floating and double-clutching, but mostly double clutching right now. Once I get my own truck...welll...I'll let you know when I get there.

Housekeeping: Yep, you'll probably fall back into the habit of sweeping out the truck and keeping it neat. Or maybe not. But I found that a nasty truck isn't any fun. You'll also learn really quick what it''s like to have to live 24/7 with someone you've never met (and may not like) in a space about the size of a jail cell. The packing thread in the forum here is great help, and I've sharpened my system by quite a bit. I think overall the sense of discipline that Sherman and the others tried to instill in us has been invaluable. You'll see what I mean later.

You will need to be organized in terms of being able to pay your bills while on the road, and you will need to have open lines of communication with famiily/loved ones because you are going to find out really quick about what no hometime means. Your first gigs may not be the ones with lots of hometime. You'll need to think about what this means. I knew my first year would be tough, and have committed to getting through it somehow. But I have to tell you--it's hard. Keep a good positive attitude. You will hear a lot of griping on the road. Try to avoid falling into that trap, even if you ARE in a situation that merits griping. You do not need negativity heaped on top of the hardship you are experiencing, especially at 3am on a lonely road and you are missing your sweetie. Set goals. Focus on the good stuff. Even though this is tough, I have seen some amazing things that have made it an incredible experience, and frankly, I get a kick out of driving this big beast.

Sorry to ramble so much...just though I'd give the recent TDT grad experience...

 

I just posted a bunch of stuff in the other NCTDT thread...I'll toss some stuff in here after a bit.

BTW, congrats on making the choice...you'll have a great time...even on days when it doesn't seem like things are going so great.

As for the advice quote...well...if it wasn't for some of the advice my trainers gave me, I'd probably be in a ditch calling the safety office with a sob story about how I thought I was a supertrucker and was wrong. There is a lot of good advice on this forum...along with some that makes me say "huh?"...but I am finding out that there are some good members here who are passing along wisdom because they want to help.

I can only add advice based on where I am at as a newbie TDT grad...I'll never pretend to know anything more about this industry or the art/science of driving a truck than my scant experience will back up.

 

Thanks Spacebat. I agree with you, there are quite a few folks on here that seem very genuine and want to help. I think that's terrific. I seriously appreciate any and all advice. And I'm very comfortable with my choice of going to JCC for my training. From what I've heard, most companies around here (that actually hire students fresh out of school) hire people from NCTDT.