NEW CDL Student Travel Log

Well, it's 3am and I'm up! I hate technology sometimes. My iTunes on my iPad just decided to come on 15 min ago blaring some country song....how is that even possible? I don't have any kind of alarm set up on my iPad. So I figured now is a good a time as any to provide an update.

I'm still in Springmo. My trainer has been out on the road since last August, so he had a "fix it" list a mile long for his rig and they're still working on it. Last I heard, it was over at Freightliner getting the passenger seat fixed. Over at the yard at Prime, they had to completely rebuild the APU. I guess the APU's on the newer rigs are no good. I guess ThermoKing is a great APU and they severed that relationship last year because of some internal issues. So, they've been installing some other name that is not coming to the top of my head at the moment.

So far, my trainer has let me Bobtail it around town between places and that's been great in building my confidence. Tomorrow morning we're going over to the pad to do some backing all morning, then we're doing some shifting over on the range with an empty trailer so I can get used to having a 53' rear end sticking out the back of me...lol.

I feel I'm fortunate on the trainer they matched up with me. He has decent habits, is quite the conversationalist and is a family man. He's a BIG guy though, so moving around that small cab is going to be interesting...hehehe. We only had one disagreement over the past 2 days of conversation and Gatorbaitor cleared that up immediately.

I want to make it clear, these are my comments on my experiences in training. Everyone's outcome is going to be different than mine. Your challenges are not necessarily going to be the same as mine. For me, I will admit there is one thing that I'm having some concerns about.....night driving. I'm not sure what I had thought truck driving was going to be about, but I guess I never imagined that drivers intentionally go out driving all night if they don't have to. But guys...it looks like they do...and they do it all the time from what I've been told. I'm concerned about it for a valid reason. I remember when I was a young whipper snapper, I worked the graveyard shift when I was in the Air Force and couldn't keep my dang eyes open after 3am if my life depended on it! Even after 8 hours full rest, the body just seems to want to naturally shut down after that time. So, it will be interesting to see how I fair once we get out there.

The impression I got from others and even the trainers in class, was that you generally would drive during the day and into the night, but not all night. That generally you tried to plan your routes so that you would shut down between the hours of 2am and 5am. And certainly in the PSD phase, you're not hot bunking it cause you're trainer has to be in the passenger seat awake and alert, but during the TNT portion I figured that was the case. I figured one guy could be doing the bulk of the driving throughout the evening to around 2am, you'd both be shut down at a truck stop for 3 hours while you're doing your business showering or something, then the other picks it up from 5am and drives through to the afternoon. It was explained to me that the most dangerous time to drive was that drowsy time from 2am to 5am when people are generally just not as alert. Experienced drivers, you're welcome to chime in here and provide some details on your experience driving all night. This is important for me. I will admit, this could be the deal breaker for me if it turns out later in the TNT phase I find myself driving the grave yard shift often. I know my own limitation and I'm not going to drive out there and be a hazard to my trainer and a danger to others on the road. That is one thing Prime has pounded into us time and time again.....safety comes first. I might be worrying about nothing, as they say when you get older, it's not the same as when you're younger. We require less sleep and generally fair better at night..so we'll see on that part.

Good luck to Bator and ole Joe. I think they're heading down to Florida tomorrow...sounds like a plan! I would enjoy some warmth right about now...hehehe.

 

Thanks Jamie. I figured at some point someone would mention the whole "caffeine" thing. Unfortunately I'm allergic to caffeine. I can't drink any coffee, soda with caffeine or tea. That means "no no" to those energy drinks. My buddy did tell me to try B Vitamin capsules under the tongue...work just like caffeine supposedly.

 

Had a great day on the pad and on the shifting range. My instructor and I worked on the pad first, working on straight line backups, 90 Deg Ally Dock and the other main one that we will practice quite a bit of. Then we stayed hooked to the trailer and he had me drive out on the shifting range. Wow, what a difference it makes shifting with a 53' trailer on the back, much easier! I am starting to get the hang of downshifting now too. I feel quite at ease in the rig. It will just take time to really feel comfortable with lugging that long butt around...hehehe.

We have our first load out of Springmo. We're off to Ohio tomorrow, then points in between as we make our way west to Arizona. I'm SO looking forward to getting on the road and keeping it between the lines!

 

Ironpony - Thanks, I know it's going to be tough. There is one thing I have going for me. I do find that even a 1 hour nap will recharge me for quite a long time. The other thing about me is I can sleep anywhere, anytime. I can usually lay down and nap anytime I like. So, that hopefully will benefit me when I'm out on the road.