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not sure if they will do this in your school or not but in mine they went over hazmat. It didnt cost anything extra to take the test, atleast here in NY. I would recommend taking the hazmat. If you pass it will stay on file for a while. That way if you decide to get it later you just pay for the fingerprint and background and you dont have to worry about the test. If you dont pass it then you dont.

I didnt think I would pass the hazmat test but once you go over the material once the answers become common sense. Its only 30 questions.

 

MAC CDL school in Niagara Falls. Its on the blvd right by the airport.

 

Today we went through pretrip inspections and right to driving. I got to go through some country roads that were light to medium traffic, not too many stops and were about 55mph most of the time. We made quite a few turns both left and right. The teacher took me through more city like streets afterwards to drive in. It was a little hetic with lots of traffic and stopping everywhere but I kept my cool and my shifting both up and down was good.

I did make 1 mistake was going through the downshift routine from 9th gear and when I got to six I could have stopped there but I wanted to go down to 5 because I was pretty sure we would be moving by then and I would be in the perfect gear. Im sitting there trying to get it in and Im like WTF Im perfect speed/rpm and I reved the engine good but all it would do was grind. I dumped it back in 6th after 2 tries... then I realized... which Im sure you guessed already... I forgot to throw the switch back down lol.

It was sooo fun to finally get out on some roads with it and see what its like. I got through all the gears quite a bit both up and down. I made all the turns without hitting everything. I felt pretty comfortable driving and was calm/cool/relaxed. All in all I think I did pretty well. Im no driver yet but I think I am progressing well. I look forward to more time to get the turns a little better and shifting a little better. I definately see improvement in not only me but all my class mates. Some better then others but I would say all are improving.

We also went and took our wellness physical tests or whatever they are called. I passed that. Not sure about the other guys but I expect they did too.

For anyone wondering I'll describe the test we took....

First test was a shelf in front of you waiste high. They had a milk crate and first was 25 pounds from shelf to floor 3 times. Then 50 pounds from shelf to floor 3 times. Then 75 pounds from shelf to floor 3 times.

Next test was they put a shelf about chest height. 20 pounds from lower shelf to upper 3 times. Next 35 pounds 3 times and last 50 pounds 3 times.

Next test was the walk test. Had to pick up the crate from waste shelf with 50 pounds in it and walk a simulated 53 feet. It was basically walk to the end of the room and then back then put crate on shelf and repeat it two more times. Then you had to do it 3 more times with 75 pounds.

Next test was the ladder test. Had to keep your hands on the ladder and skip the first step and put your foot on the second step and climb the other foot. Then back down skipping the first step. You had to do that 5 times.

Last test was the push pull test. He had a meter and you pushed it against the post. The guage would read how hard you pushed. You had 3 attempts to get 100 pound pushing forces. Then he turned it around and hooked it to the post and you had 3 attempts to pull it with 100 pounds of pressure. I did them both first shot.

At the beggining he took your BP and strapped a heart rate monitor to you. During the tests he read your heart rate to make sure you didnt go past your target rate. For me my target was 166 bmp. It goes by your age. I will say that during the 75 pound walk I came close during my last trip. But I did it!

Now all I need to do is learn to drive and pass my road test on the 30th woot!

 

I will be taking the CDL road test here in NY. From what I have been told we will get a small preinspection test, a road test, parallel park and straight back. Apparently NY is suppose to be one of the easier states for CDL's. One good thing is I wont have to transfer my license since I live in NY. It could take a week to get it from the DMV after the road test I heard. After that they will bus me to Conley, GA