My Trucking Journey - J. Bauer Trucking.

Day 6 - A short weekend at home, but a good one as I was able to see the family and dogs. Also, was able to watch my 10 year old play in his two basketball games prior to heading back up north.

Started the day out hooking up a trailer and hitting the road from about 8:30a to 1:30p. Got a stink eye from a lady as I didn’t get thru an intersection fast enough for her liking. Oh well she doesn’t know me and she will hopefully get over it. Shifting is getting better except for one particular area of the route that I had a monkey on my back. Couldn’t for the life of me correctly shift after coming out of the left hand or right turn onto a slight incline. Not a hill or steep grade, but a stinking slight incline. So embarrassing. Over and over I tried and would screw it up. Mental block for sure. It was only until I started in 4th gear, shifted to 5th prior to making my turn. Bingo. Finally success and kicked the monkey out of the truck. Lol.

Headed back to the yard and worked a couple hours on backing. Straight-Line and Off-Set Left no real issues. 90 degree Alley a few hiccups, but most of the time I can get it corrected with an extra pull-up, which only counts as 1 point. Prefer not to add a point, but if that is what it takes it’s not a huge deal.

I’m feeling real good about the Pre-Trip. Just have to remember my BBC, not bent broken or cracked and my ABC, no abrasions bulges or cuts. Also, just need to remind myself of the slack adjusters and push-rods. For some stupid reason I forget to mention these two items.

Overall a very productive day.

 

Day 7 - Well what a day it turned out to be. CDL in hand with no restrictions. Total nerve racking, but pushed through it while staying focused. Kept the positive can do attitude and I did it.

Pre-Trip nailed it. Even received a complement on my thoroughness and verbiage. 46 points out of 47 on the Pre-Trip. I’ll take it. Straight-Line and Off-Set left also nailed it. Now the 90 degree Alley Dock. Lets just say I passed it. It definitely wasn’t pretty. I’ll just leave it there. Road Test went real well. Shifting was my concern, but I was only marked once for a pretty bad shift. DON’T FORGET TO CHECK YOUR DRIVERS SIDE MIRROR AFTER COMPLETING A RIGHT TURN. As the certifier pointed out, everyone is so concerned about not clipping the trailer on the curb they forget to check their drivers side mirror.

Turned out to be a great day and I really feel I accomplished my initial goal of obtaining my CDL. Now let the real learning begin. Heading out 6a to drop and hook paper at the mill. My trainer will be with me and showing me the process as we go. My plan is to stay focused, stay safe and continue to learn. Thanks to all who provided me encouragement along the journey and I hope I was able to share a bit about J. Bauer Trucking. I am really happy I choose them to start my trucking career.

 

Thanks. I appreciate it.

The remainder of this week I will be with my trainer and most likely doing local stuff. Most likely paper loads. My mentor is finishing up with another driver and will back in town Saturday. He plans on having a load heading back out on Monday, in which I will take the lead on. Depending on how next week goes will determine when I’m issued my own truck.

 

Currently a trainer, who is certified by the state to perform tests, cannot test out their own trainee or student. This is going to change but, as the new regulation hasn’t made it into the books yet here in WI, I had to have an independent certifier give me my test.