Wannabe to Watkins Shepard Driver

Well I have too many toys in my toy chest as it is? I'm a jeep guy, I have a 1946 Willys CJ-2a and a 1964 Willys FC-170 pick up. So the Jeepster is just a project to work on and then sell, but I do love it ........hum.

 

Ok I finally started school today! Not much to report though. Just did paper work, watched a few videos, worked on log books and took two tests. That's about all, oh ya and have to read a couple of chapters tonight.

 

Day two is in the books! Started today with a video on Defensive Driving. Then went over Mandatory and optional equipment. We were introduced to shifting and double clutching (in the class room) their trucks are 9 speeds. Looked at a lot of safety information such as stopping distance, following distance, setting out reflective triangles and RR tracks. Took three test today and finished up the day watching the pre trip video again, yap that's three times in two days!

What I find most interesting are the back grounds of our class members. We have six students and the average age I would guess to be just over 40. Everybody is unemployed and has been for quite awhile. They have all been looking for work for a long time and can't even get an interview (same as my story) Some guys worked in factories, some have collage educations, most have kids. Everybody is excited about starting this new career. Two people in our class have prier driving experience but have been out long enough they have to go back to school.

OK have to read a few chapters in my North Carolina Commercial Driver's Manual tonight.

Oh, almost forgot, welcome Steveo2Drive to TTR! Lost of good information here. Surprisingly enough I'm the only one in our class that has ever checked out this site. They are blindly going into this field without doing the research. Oh well their loss I guess.

 

Day 3. As you start everyday the first thing you do is log your time. This is done in a Drivers Daily Log the same log book you will use when driving. It's great practice, they make you log off for lunch (off duty) and keep track of all your hours "worked" in the past 7 and 8 days.
We started today going over last nights reading assignments Section 5 of NC CDL handbook (so far this is the only "book" that we have) Air Brakes, Section 6 Combination Vehicles and Section 7 Doubles and Triples. For those of you who might want to get a leg up on your class go to your local DMV and get the Commercial Drivers Manual, it's free and guarantied to help you sleep. We took a test on each section. The test's are supposedly just like the DMV test so we should be well prepared. Watched a video on connecting and unconnecting a trailer.

Not real exciting stuff but necessary. This was hopefully our last full day of classroom as we get a break tomorrow to get our DOT physicals and on Friday we get out early so we can go the the DMV and get our permits. You have to have a CDL learners permit before you get in a truck period. You can't even get in one and make motor noises if you so desired.

 

Wow, that would be too sweet if you could land a local job right off the bat. And one that pays well would be even better. Best of luck to ya ODX