Watkins Shepard, Here I Come

So you like, do "driving practice" while in orientation, right?

 

Define driving practice....can drive all you want around the yard. Only road stuff is your drive test, the hill, and maybe a local run for dispatch.

 

Ah, gotcha. I bet that hill is pretty fun. It'd be my first time using a jake brake.

 

It was a blast and you don't use the jake brake...They teach you that you can downshift going downhill, contrary to popular belief, and you just don't have to hold on and hope for the best after making a mistake...Some will swear you don't shift going downhill and advocate just hanging on hoping for the best, that's just plain stupid...Compounding one error with another isn't using all the tools available to you...You'llbe taught how to use all the tools available to you...

 

My road training trucks at my school didn't have jakes in them so I guess that's of some benefit. You get to drive on Black Mountain or something near Conover, right?

 

Yup, we took a truck with 40K+ in the back and drove up and down the hill shifting a lot in both directions...It was a great confidence booster...Since then I've traveled that hill at almost gross on a number of occasions, as well as other huge hills, and always remember what I was taught there...

 

That sounds pretty cool to me. Can't wait to give it a try.

 

So how was the hill, bet you never thought it would be that easy...

 

who didnt let you use the jake?



American Trucker

 

And the main Missoula terminal doesn't have Wifi any more? What's the world coming to....

Glad to hear you're doing good, Trilleth. Hope you feel better soon