NEW CDL Student Travel Log

The medical licenses that are displayed in the clinic Are expired.

 

On downshifting or shifting in general, think of each thing as a step and none of them occur at the same time.

Downshifting: Gef your speed down to a good rpm level to downshift, Clutch in, gear out, off clutch, appropriate gas pedal for desired RPMs, off gas pedal, clutch in, down shift gear, clutch out, ease on gas to either a good "cruising" RPM for that particular gear or decelerate and repeat for next lower gear.

How much RPM do you need to gas between shifts? Well that depends on what speed/RPM you decided to downshift.

example, if you shift at 9k, it's gonna take less gas pedal to get in that lower gear than if you downshifted at 10k

 

Couple points,

Don't let any truck driver know you are from Cali (or Jersey for that matter)

Yes your class of 39 was small as it is usually around 100 or so every week with lines down the hall from med office to cafeteria entrance with people waiting for med exam/piss tests/interview etc
Or so I was#told, as that is at least what it was like for my mid January orientation, and there were leftovers from the last week and newcomers by end of week filling up again.
Of course, if you look closely, by PSD testing day about 50-70% of original class most likely won't have made it through for one reason or another. (Heard someone tried to pass urine test with cat piss??? Unbelievable affront to intelligence of tester and a mark on record ensuring you probably won't be getting a cdl while we are in the 20 year prefix.)

Eat campus inn cheesecake every day cause it is the last good thing you will eat for months

Eat millennium grill fish for same reason

Pilot/flying j pizza, subway, & iron skillet/country pride buffets are about the closest thing to food happiness I have found so far at much higher prices then millennium grille/campus cafe

If you are parking next to a non-reefer truck (ESPECIALLY at night), and it won't increase difficulty of either you or truck to each side of you getting out - do a 69 park...that is put your nose to his trailer/visa versa so he doesn't have a ###### reefer on top of an apu kicking on and off right next to his face.

Both my trainers are ex-military, have been trucking for years...both advise to be as nice as can be to anyone who can make your trucking life hell---->READ: EVERYONE
no matter how they treat you,
this is the difference between getting a door in 10mins...or 10 hours
this is the difference between getting as many miles as you can run...or barely enough to buy food
this is the difference between getting maintenance done in hours....or days

You can be pissy in your truck as much as you want, just be calm, nice, and professional to their faces - unless they are being illegal (which will happen when they want you to pull an over gross or badly loaded trailer just because other truckers take the chance/bypass scales and you get stuck with ticket if you don't calmly refuse until its legal)

Think of it as a relationship with a woman, as Ralphie May says: "You can be right, or you can be happy."

Put your ego and pride in storage if you want to be happy.

Yes I'm from Cali and yes all those points are true and no orientation is not difficult, more like a vacation compared to when you are running 6k+ mile weeks with tnt trainer

You are not entering an industry that particularly "appreciates" or even "respects" truck drivers as a whole, you are a worker ant moving material from one place to another no matter how big and shiny your paycheck or $400k house on wheels.

Most shippers/receivers/truck drivers/FM's are downright friendly and helpful IF you
#1 ARE ON TIME
#1 ^^
#1 ^^
#2 don't have an attitude
#3 don't make yourself seem like a special needs case

 

.. I rarely ate there.. I either walked to steak and shake lunch cost me like six bucks there and was edibale. LOL

 

Ok I would like to interject. I got to meet global and no he is NOT a whiner. I Got to give him a tour of the millennium bldg. I even got the privilege of letting him grind my gears on the pad. He is being harder on himself then he should be. we sent 4 bobtails to the pad they all returned to the yard without incident other then than some shiny polished gears so it was successful

I'd like to interject something about the Friday range activities. It is meant to introduce a person who has never been in a tractor to said tractor. to show them that it is nothing like a 4 wheeler and introduce them to the theory of the double clutch. these trucks were meant to haul freight not drive around BT.

Global you are going to do fine. and please lets not hijack this thread if you have comments or questions about my post that would require a response from me post it in a thread that i started so global can diary his progress. ya all keep it between the ditches.

 

oh and late on friday night I got to take global to the pad to back and well he nailed the offset first time with only 4 points very respectable for a first attempt. and if the communication relay man hadn't turned my signal around he would have got the 90 degree on the first attmept. so please look on your first day in a truck as a success. It took me 8 hours to even get even close to the 90. and another 6 to actually get it. pawpawbigtruck has a pair of melted shoes and likely skin cancer to prove it.

 

I think we are going to call ole joe saw horse as he can sure saw a log. look forward to helping you more in the future.

 

I'm remembering why I always tried to be training instead of instructing July and August right now!