Finally!! Start Mid Florida Tech today.

Hey everyone! After reading these threads for over a year I finally sold the pool business and started school today. The school is located here in Orlando, since I'm from Sarasota I decided to get a hotel for the three nights instead of commutting back home. Unfortunately while trying to save a buck the super 8 I chose lived up to its reputation, total s*#$hole! Oh well I'll have to fork out a few more bucks next week for some nicer diggs.

School runs from 7 to 5:30, M-Thur and is an 8 week course. Total layout was $2100. Today went smooth with the typical filling out paper work , introductions, pre-trip then worked on HOS and filling out logbooks. My instructors have about 60yrs worth of experience between them and seem to be some nice good ole southern boys. Tomorrow we will start working on the 100 ft alley back. So far the school has a good vibe, will post more tomorrow.

 

Today we spent all day running the 100ft alley dock (straight line backing). First half day was spent bobtailing then after lunch we started hooking up trailers. Have to admit, backing with the trailer is a bit harder than I thought, have all day tomorrow to work on plus practice offset backing.

The equiptment is well kept even though the Frieghtliner classics are a bit old same with the cabover, but they're clean and in good shape. The automatic singleaxle Internationals are all new.

Class size is limitted to 10 per class. Already lost one due to family emergency, so were down to 9 which is ok because some one gets a truck to themselve while the rest just pair off into teams and practice. So far still impressed and will see how it goes tomorrow.

 

Spent most of the day getting my straight line backing and the 45* banana dock down pat. I think I have it down, not perfect but a big improvement from day 2. It was pretty cool that I got the cab over all to myself for the second half of day.

Since we started on Tuesday the class seems to have flown by this week. The days goes by pretty fast and its nice to get a three day break. Well it seems that not to many people are interested in this thread so I will just cut it down to a week by week report, later!

 

Orientation is held every Tuesday at 11:00 in bldg 5 on the driving range.
You must attend this to get the information you will need to start the application process. If you live in the area you can get everything done within a couple of days, just be forwarned the administrative process in my opinion is a bit frustrating due to poor clarity on instructions. With that said, when your dealing with the instructors they will get you signed up with the next available class. They usually start a class once a month.

So far for the price, I don't think you can beat it. I'm even spending an extra $200 a week for hotel and fuel and I still think its worth every penny. You can go to the web site for more info.

http://www.mft.ocps.net/our_programs/transportation/commercial_vehicle_A.html

 

Monday spent the first half of the day practicing our basic maneuvers. After lunch finally got to due the shift track. The track is a 1/4 mile oval track with two lanes. Our instructor takes us two at a time, I dont think I did to bad. The truck were using on the track is an ole 88 Frieghtliner classic. The shift track seems to weed out who is going to make it or not. Lost another student to the B class on Monday and I think by tomorrow we might loose a couple more.

Tuesday morning was spent learning our pre-trip and then the rest of the day I practiced on the east side alley dock. The maneuver is part of the Mid term test and basically teaches the basics for a proper set up and alley dock. So far the course is challenging and I hope to see some major improvements next week. Thats it for now so I'll post more Thursday night.

 

This morning went well. Went out on the shift track and didn't do to bad. Instructor had me from 1st to 4th, then dwn shift to 3rd and ride the turn in 3rd, then up to 5th and back down to 3rd for the next turn. Kept floating the gears( big nono all double clutching)but overall pulled it together. We also did turns too. The track has a split in the middle so its actually a figure eight which allows us to practice left and right turns. So after an hour and a half on the track my partner and I were given the go ahead to practice on the shift track by ourselves. That was a nice boost to the confidence factor. It means were progressing and they're just starting to trust us. Looking forward to tomorrow and getting home for a needed three day weekend.