Coming Soon - Jan. 31 2012 - A New Prime Experience

Hey folks.

Today this report comes from Louisville, KY....where dispatch must either be asleep or there is nothing remotely near us to get us moving again.

So...we're stuck at the time being.

Coming from St. Joseph Missouri back over to Louisville brought us back through St. Louis....during Rush Hour.....and guess who was driving.....

Me.

This time, however, I decided to show that I can succeed, and I made it through without having to switch over and I didn't get nervous about it. I kept myself going and when it got stop and go, the trainer helped me get it shifted down, but other than that...I was the one who drove us through.

Shifting upwards I have gotten pretty well at. I still sort of slam it in sometimes, but I'm starting to shift more gentle now. Downshifting is what is getting me. If anyone has any advice on how to downshift, let me know. My trainer is helping me out - but sometimes it helps me read directions and then go over it in my mind before doing it. Here's my case in point.

My previous post, I told you I was doing pretty dang bad at shifting in general. As a musician, there are two types of practice...your general practice and your mental practice. What I did yesterday while my trainer drove through Kansas City up to Boonville was sit in the passenger seat and go over the rhythm of shifting in my head. Analyzing the way it is done - when I took over, I pulled out of the truck stop on my own with just minimal guidance from my trainer.

He was astounded of the change in just over a night of my change in shifting. He asked me how did I change it so quickly, and my reply was simply the situation above.

We stopped about 70 miles outside of Louisville because, honestly, I was dog tired. My trainer woke up this morning and pulled the load in the rest of the way.

Anyhow...things are looking up now. I'm not nearly as worried as I was the first night after driving. I am starting to now get the feeling that I can be a successful truck driver now.

 

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. It's been very busy on the road. Even with an unlimited wifi device on the truck thanks to my trainer, its still hard to find time to get on the computer and post.

At this point, the shifting is pretty much good now. A little rough here and there, but otherwise I have it just fine. My trainer wants to focus on the backing next, then finally hit the pre-trip inspections toward the end of the Permit portion of training.

This weekend, we're going to Oklahoma so my trainer can spend some time with his family. I'll be in a hotel there, relaxing and waiting.

More to come later on this week.