Follow me through Central Refrigerated training

It is not hard at all. We have one girl in our class that got into the truck today to drive. She looked at the instructor and told him that she had never driven a stick shift in her life. So he had her forget about the cones and just pull up about 4-5 feet and stop then back up 4-5 feet and stop, just so she could get used to letting a clutch in and out and operating the other pedals with her right foot. In 3-4 min she had it down no problem. As far as the double clutching out on the road you may have an advantage of sorts I don't know. I have seen lots who are used to driving a manual in thier own car but shifting a car is different then shifting a truck. So they have to forget about bad habits they picked up in a car and learn how to shift a truck. You just have to learn how to shift. Don't worry about it at all you should be able to pick it up quickly.

 

Wakalae you are welcome. I saw some good things on here about CRS and liked what I had read but I didn't see alot about there training. So that was the whole reason I started this thread so others could have an idea so I am glad that it is helping.


Day 8

Today those who didn’t pass the Pre-trip and Air brakes test yesterday retook them today. Glad to say that everyone in the class passed and is moving on. For the rest of us the morning was driving the skills course over and over until lunch. We had two trucks running the course at the same time. Started with straight line backing moved over to Alley Dock then on to Parallel Parking. Then the next one got in the truck and did the same. What I liked about it was once they showed you how to set up and do it the next time you went around the instructors didn’t say anything to you just let you do it. If you ran over a cone or couldn’t get in the box then they would stop you and ask you what you did wrong. Made you stop and think about what you did if you didn’t know then they told you. Then the next time around if you started to make the same mistake again they stopped you and made you think about doing it. Soon everyone was going around the course with very few mistakes at all.

After lunch we went out on the road to learn double clutching and shifting. It is not really as hard as some people think it is. In the truck I was in I went first. I was used to driving a straight truck but they were old trucks with very stiff clutches. So when I went to push the clutch in and out it would jerk for the first few times because until I got used to the clutches. The clutches were very easy to use and you only need to push them in about an inch to get them to engage. Also I was used to floating gears so the first few times I had to remember to actually use the clutch. We drove around an industrial area for a little while then pulled over and time for the next student.

The next guy that was in our truck had a hard time moving his hand and foot at the same time. If you don’t move them at the same time then your RPMs drop and you can’t get it into gear without some grinding or revving the engine back up some. So the instructor had him pull over to the side of a wider street, then he started out in 2nd gear and without using any of the throttle just had him shift and double clutch up to 5th gear then stop put it in 2nd and do it all again. He was getting better at it by the end but was still struggling some. But the instructor was patient with him.

The last one in our truck was the woman who just learned how to use a clutch yesterday. Her biggest problem was remembering where the gears were. So she would go from 2nd to fourth or 4th to 6th. She was doing verily well on the double clutching so the instructor put is hand on the side of the stick then as she would start double clutching he would call out the gears and help her shift to the right one. We went once around the block with him doing this then on her second time around he was in the same position acting like he was guiding her but he wasn’t actually hold the stick. She was doing it on her own and when she came to the second stop she was surprised that she was doing it. So for all of you that have never driven a manual before don’t worry about it. They can teach you how in a truck just as easy as then can in a car.

Overall it was a very productive day I think for everyone. We will be doing the same thing tomorrow and for those of us who have a good grasp on shifting we will be in the same truck and doing longer drive through the city traffic to get used to that. We are supposed to take our driving skills test on Wednesday I think.

 

Glad that it is helping you out. I am planning on trying to post as much as I can from the 5 week training period just not sure if I will be able to do it every day. But I do have a notebook that I am bringing along to write down thoughts at the end of each day and then post them when I can on the road.

Day 9

Today was like yesterday, started out with doing the skills course then after lunch went to the road. However today when we were doing the skills course the instructors didn't offer you much advice while you were doing it. What I mean by that is they didn't say okay turn your wheel to the right or stop you went too far or anything like that. They watched you do it on your own. So for instance if you were doing the alley dock and you set up wrong and were off you had to figure out how to correct the problem so that you still got the trailer in so you would pass. If you couldn't figure it out or where taking too long (the other truck was waiting on you to finish) then they would tell you what you did wrong and help you out. By lunch time we all were breezing through the course and not many mistakes were made.

After lunch we went back out on the road again. When you go out on the road each instructor grades you on a scale from 1-5 on how you are driving. So today the 3 people with the highest score from yesterday were all in one truck and then the next highest and so on. The truck I was in was the 3 with the highest score the other two guys in the truck already have their CDL just no experience. So today we drove through city traffic and went out on the interstate for about 40 miles. Was a nice day and really helped me out a lot. The instructor basically acted more like a GPS just giving direction on where to go. He would give you pointers here and there if you messed something up but for the most part let us drive and see how we handled things. He would sit there in the passengers seat and get you involved in a conversation about why you wanted to drive truck, about the company, about whatever as you drove. Then all of a sudden in the middle of this conversation he would say what did that sign say we just passed. Just to see if you were paying attention and also because when we do the road test the examiner will ask us at some point too. Not sure what the other two trucks did today because we never saw them while we were out. Not sure if I mentioned this before but all the trucks for training our 8-speeds so are easy to deal with while learning.

Now one more side note before I sign off for the day. We lost one guy out of the class today. We lost him because he lied about something in his background. It has been said thousands of times in this forum and all of the recruiters say every time they talk to you on the forum and the first day of training they say it again, DON'T LIE TO US ABOUT YOUR PAST. This goes for any company out there you chose to work or train with they will find out eventually. I have my own past and when I talked to the recruiter I told him everything (even told him about the time I stole my little brothers toy truck when I was six ) ok maybe not that but you get the picture. I still got hired on with a past, as long as you are truthful with them and your past fits into their hiring guidelines you are good to go. But if you lie you our out very simple. I only wanted to mention this just so you would understand they are trusting you with expensive equipment and expensive loads so you need to show them you are trustworthy from the start.

 

I think that they departed from Swift in 2005-2006 but I am not sure about that. The trucks don't look bad from the ones that I have seen in the yard in CA. From all the drivers I have talked to they seem to like the company too. I have liked what I've seen so far and am hoping that I will be with them for several years to grow my career.

 

Day 10

Today was skills testing day in the morning. Everyone passed had two that failed in the morning and after lunch they retested and passed. I missed 1 had a pull up on the alley dock because I knew I was going to be off. After lunch we went out on the road. This time we hit the interstate for a bit and they took us on off ramps that went downhill with a curve so we got used to slowing down fast enough to take the curve but not to fast that we were going 20mph on the interstate. We also went to areas that had lots of hills and they had us upshift going up and down shift going down.

I took my road test today also. They asked me if I would as they were short on instructors but I didn't have to I could wait untill Saturday. I said yes and passed with 1 point on the road test. So I now have my CDL but still have to wait until after the July 4th weekend to go to orientation and then hook up with a trainer.

Overall I am happy with the instruction and the course they have provided. It is fast paced and they get you out on the road quickly. If you can learn quickly or already have some experience I would recomend this company to anyone. If it takes you a while to pick things up then you may need to go elsewhere to learn. I will be going back tommorrow to help them out with the newbie class coming in then be off from Saturday until Tuesday. Tuesday is orientation a 2 day deal and then you hook up with your trainer. Will try to keep posting about training as long as I can but don't know what the road holds for me or if I will have internet.