Anyone doing C1/Indy March 4?

While i have been here I learned USA has a terminal in Atlanta. I never knew that.

Also, it seems more USA trucks are visble further north than where I am in Kentucky. That was good to see. And none appeared to be junk piles.

When I left school last night there was a PAM 2013 Frieghtliner pulling out with a load sounding quite nice. And the trailers I saw on the lot were in good shape. It is getting a little exciting with the prospect of riding high in the seat again.

Done with the laundry. Gonna take a walk.

 

OR as Class 1 instructor (Donna) says...... to the Adams Family theme song....... Click Click LOL

 

Monday was good and bad. My group of four had Joe for an instructor - quite knowledgable, courteous and laid back. Come lunch time joe was given anouther group and my group sat around for three hours doing nothing (we did go on our own and practiced pretrips). Keith gave us a road demo that was entertaining and enlightening. Our range training was straight back up, off-side back up, idle shifting and parallel parking. I did well as did everyone in my group

Today Joe took us out on the range and we did all of the exercises on our own. again, we did quite well. After lunch we got Gary for our road instructor. idle shifting, power shifting, down shifting, left and right turns on four lane roads and interstate driving where each of us drove a solid 45 minutes. as a group, we did well. Gary knows his stuff but is kinda like a drill sargeant with humor sprinkled around. My weakness is double clutch low 5th to high 6th..... just try it too slow and have to regroup on recovery.

Monday sucked. Today was what I expected. I heard three instructors are out with heart attacks and serious stuff.

 

It was slow finding my answer too. My only advice in that end of the deal is be completely honest. I have seen many leave for disqualifications due to physicals and background. There is no sense in leaving home and coming here if something is false or hidden. They will discover it.

That said, my telephone interview offered opportunities to lie, exaggerate, etc. I saw two students leave after that.

I am not saying you or anyone else are dishonest....... just that it appears to happen and a lot of time and effort can be saved if people were upfront in this process.

 

Today my group was split into two trucks and we each drove 90 minutes in the city. My group missed the Monday road time and we got caught up. I made immense progress in all areas today! I just needed driving time to get where I thought I should be. I can actually begin seeing the end of the tunnel. Feels good.

As i walked around the halls this morning I was watching the newbies. I wondered if my class looked as naive and confused as they do. Probably did. Progression is obvious. Some are humbled. Some display swagger. Most are proud.

Gonna try Edward's Restaurant across the road from school after working on pretrip preparation on Saturday. I hear it is very good. themoj0 says so..... everyone does. I asked a couple instructors about the b-b-q place on the corner from school. They said they don't eat there. I'll take that as an AVOID statement.

 

Good luck, themoj0,

Keep us up on what fresh meat does on the road. I should be behind you in a couple weeks. Maybe we can catch up somewhere and have dinner er somethin'.

Do it right. Keep the license. And be safe.

ez

 

School, in a perfect world, runs Monday through Friday. But we have class tomorrow 7 to noon. And I plan to stick around afterward and continue working on pretrip stuff. Level 3 students have been leaving and more truck time has become available. I had about an hour or so on the range today and about 80 minutes on the road. Instructors want my group to test out on the State exam on Tuesday. I am getting better but want more confidence flowing when going to testing. I hope I am there on Monday.

I experienced a new instructor today on road work. Brad. An intense Indiana University fan. Good humor and offerring a couple new things to consider.

I picked up a mirror trick on the range today. My various backing skills bumped up a notch with that. I am tickled with that morsel of information.

USA trucks and trailers are showing up in the adjacent PAM terminal. Cascadias and day cabs with 53 ft standard dry vans. Probably around 30 or so in total. That number seems to increase every day. That lot is busy for the size of it. And I am seeing a lot more USA trucks here than at home....... probably 4 or so a day.

Class members appear to be getting more chummy and relaxed together. It will end soon. Most will be heading out next Friday and Saturday and begin getting organized for orientation and a driving job. Cool stuff.