And so my new Stevens adventure begins!

@Nascarchuck.....you are right on both counts. We dropped 3 today that couldn't pass the permit test. I don't want anyone to fail but I do expect everyone to be able to meet the same standards that I had to.

Day 7: 8 Nov 2013

Today we reported to the yard and were instructed to pre-trip our trucks and continue our straight line backing exercises for the day. I make it point to speak only about my experiences and not about other students but I will say today that everyone was backing...the straightline part appeared optional a lot of the time.

We spent the first half of the day just like we were yesterday afternoon using left mirror only. We were then told to switch over and to back the rest of the day using right mirror only. I did not see a significant issue with each but am thankful that my father, former driver, chose to teach me how to back with mirrors when I was 14 in a car and I have been doing it ever since. It was quite helpful today.

The plan for tomorrow is for half the class to go to the yard to continue backing in the morning while the rest go to a class on logbooks and hours of service rules. At lunch we will switch.

Short entry tonight as today was all about repetition.

 

Day 8,9: 9-10 Nov 2013.

Sat, 9 Nov 2013: On Saturday 9 Nov 2013, half the class reported to the yard for more straight line backing while the other half reported to classroom for a logbook and HOS class. I have to be honest and say that the information in the class is a bit dated with the recent changes but it was also not designed to make you expert rather to simply expose you to how the system works. We were shown how to correctly fill out a paper log. Pretty simple really. I am unsure if it is wise to fill out paper copies each day in case the QC craps out or not. I imagine I will put that question to the forum separately to see what the experienced drivers have to say.

Sun 10 Nov 2013: Sunday was our first day off since arriving last Saturday. It was nice to sleep in a couple hours and have an easy morning. A couple of the students who live close were able to leave Saturday night and drive home to see their families. All that I really accomplished on Sun was to go to the laundromat and do my washing and then watch football. Saints won so it ended well.

 

Day 10: 11 Nov 2013

Today was a big day. Upon arriving at the yard those of us that had our permits were broken into two groups. One group was left in the yard to begin practicing offset backing. I was lucky enough to get in the morning wave to head out onto the road. Our class has shrunk in size so there were only two of us heading out together to drive in the morning. The last class had up to 4 students per truck in some trucks so it is nice to get the extra practice miles in.

After we preformed our pre-trip on the trucks the instructor drove out of the yard. It is important to remember that up to this point the only gear we have used is reverse and low and were not allowed to use the accelerator in the yard at all. Needless to say there were a few nerves about shifting and turning on the road for the first time. We drove up the interstate about ten miles away and then back into a rural area full of long, flat, straight gravel roads. Soon after we arrived the instructor pulled off to the side and asked who was first to go. Well there were only two of us and I was ready to get in the seat. We again went over safe starting procedure and were given our shifting instructions. I am aware that in the "real" world drivers drive somewhat differently but this is the standard that is taught in the school.

Take Off: Vehicle in 1st, not low, clutch and brake in. Release clutch to the grab point and let off brake but no accelerator. Once the vehicle begins moving then press the accelerator.

Up Shifting: Once the engine reaches 1500 rpm clutch in, shift to neutral, clutch out, clutch in, shift into gear. I will be honest the first couple of times I did find myself single clutching like a car...it didn't work particularly well...lol.

Down Shifting: Let the rpm drop to 1000 clutch in, shift to neutral, clutch out, tap accelerator to bring rpm's up by 800 for two gear downshift and up 400 for a single gear. This was the biggest challenge of the day because it took some time overcome the "fear" of revving the engine so I found that I was only getting up to around 1500 which dropped off to quickly for me to smoothly downshift. After consciously giving it more rpm's the whole process came together nicely.

So we drove down the gravel roads going up and down from 1st to 6th in various orders. All the while we were being reminded of basic driving skills as well, check mirrors, look for signs, crossing, driveways, etc...

Turns: We went through several right and left turns at various intersection both with and without stop signs. The big message from the instructor was to develop a plan, set up the turn, and execute the plan. It was a challenge a couple times trying to merry up the downshifts with the set up. In the end the actual "turning" part was simpler then I had anticipated. Stay to the high side, watch the trailer, turn off signal when the entire turn is complete.

We each drove through the country for about an hour and half repeating all of the above steps. At that time the instructor said it was time to head back to the yard and told me to take it home. I was not nervous but ready for the next step.

We went through the same drills and eventually made it onto the the interstate. Merging was made easier by that point as I was able to smoothly upshift through 8th gear while still in the merge lane and smoothly enter the relatively light traffic. Once on the interstate the situational awareness lessons continued and the emphasis was on vehicle spacing and remaining centered in the lane. Our trailer was empty but the winds were noticeable but not to bad. I am sure he said check the mirrors every 10-15 seconds but I was doing it more like every 5-10 it felt like. Coming off the interstate was not a big challenge as all of the same skills we just used on the gravel roads directly applied.

All in all I felt pretty good after my first time behind the wheel. I never doubted that I would be able to do it but there is always some reservation until the actual time comes. I know for certain that my background as a Traffic Accident Investigator and Police Officer were a benefit while actually driving with the situational awareness aspect.

Once back in the yard we moved back to the yard trucks and then got a period of instruction on offset backing. The theory was relatively simple and was clearly made easier by all of the reference points on the ground. While I was able to do fairly well I will definitely need more practice before I would feel comfortable. I will not go into excess details about the technique but the basic theory was to pull out of the "box" on the halfway mark on the trailer go full lock left or right (as applicable) drive up on the rail (imaginary straight line) straighten the truck out then about 20' from the end of the course go full lock the other direction until you can see the reference point come into view behind the trailer, then straighten out. It is hard to describe without actually being able to see the course set up.

We will continue to do this same rotation for both Tuesday and Wednesday.

All in all thus far I am pretty satisfied with the training. I feel the curriculum has been well presented in a such a way that each day naturally builds on itself and there is the appropriate emphasis on the foundations. Hard to believe that test day is only 10 days away.

 

Day 11: 12 Nov 2013

Today was very similar to yesterday in the sense that the plan was for half of the day on the road and the other half in the afternoon. One of my fellow students drove out of the yard this time and over to the same rural area we were in yesterday. 3 students in the truck today so the wait to drive was a little bit longer but still not bad at all. I took the third shift to bring us back to the yard. Shifting skills showed great improvement today over yesterday as I was able to come to terms with the flow and keeping the rpm's up when downshifting. I was able to successfully navigate through the gear box and able to react appropriately to some stress situations put on by the trainer using "his" brake on the vehicle. I did have some issues with downshifting that I was able to determine were caused by speed. Although I was in the right rpm range as has been our focus on a couple of occasions I failed to slow the actual truck speed which caused difficulty when trying to downshift into the lower gears. Now that I have discovered what the problem was I should be able to correct it as well.

Once back in the yard it was more offset backing, straight line backing, and pre-trip inspections to again continue to build on the fundamentals.

The plan for tomorrow is to do half days again but hopefully the drive time will be spent in a lot working on turning maneuvers which I need the practice.

Short entry tonight as I have some studying to catch up on.

 

@nascarchuck....that's good to know thanks. I am far from perfect but I am also, without trying to sound ####y, am pretty happy at the progress I have made over the last three days. Still a ways to go though.

Day 12: 13 Nov 2013

Hello ego check! I had been feeling pretty good with all of my backing skills so far and my on the road driving had been well above satisfactory. Today we went the city and found a mall to utilize their parking lots to work on turning skills. I soon found out that while I had been doing well backing and using the depth perception at the back of the trailer I was severly severely underestimating the turning radius of front of the truck. Several times I found myself not going deep enough into the intersection before turning which of course was amplified on the back end as the trailer came very close too.....and over several curbs. Honestly, there were no tragic maneuvers or epic failures but it was not to the standard that I expect from myself. I am confident that I will take what I learned today and make a marked improvement tomorrow (as long we avoid roundabouts!).

The afternoon was another day of practicing offset backing and pre-trip inspections.

Tomorrow we are going back into traffic to work on more real world driving skills and continue sharpening skills.

On a side note, it is time to consider travel from the school to Dallas. If you chose travel free then Stevens will provide you bus ticket leaving early Saturday morning from Denver and arriving in Dallas early Sunday morning. If you chose to fly, like I intend to, you will be re-reimbursed up to $200 from Stevens. I have seen several flights from Frontier Air for $99 and it is only a 2 hour flight. Just something else to consider when setting out your budget for attending school.

 

Flue,

Looks like I am gonna just miss you because I graduate on the 22nd and fly down to Dallas on the 23rd.

Day 13: 14 Nov 2013

Redemption! Today we headed back out on the road first thing and were told were going to spend the morning driving in traffic. I had a good review of my performance yesterday and made some mental notes of things I needed to do to ensure that the same mistakes did not appear again. 1) Ensure speed of vehicle is below 10 mph before moving into 1st gear...2) Focus more on centerline of intersection and ensure I get deep enough before starting turn.

I was second driver of the day. We did a large loop that me into a rural area full on heavy machinery and a couple wide loads. The main purpose of the day was to work on "awareness" so the instructor told me to call out all of the things that I was looking at and observing. Well talking fast and alot is something that I can do so I just hit auctioneer mode and called out everything in my surroundings. We did the rural roads and then onto the highway, off the highway into the city and did a long run through a variety of intersections, stop lights, and various types of turns. I actually think talking out loud the whole time was useful as it let me verbalize my internal plan before acting. I am not a big fan of going 6th to 4th in this truck so I ensured that at all lights and corners I was set up for the 5th to 3rd downshift which worked out far better. A few minor grinds followed by quick recoveries and before I knew it I had completed by time without any incidents or dramas. I finished feeling far better then I did yesterday. I don't mind making mistakes and can take constructive criticism well as long I can correct the problem. I don't like having to be told more then once to fix the same thing.

Back in the yard in the afternoon we did more of the same offset backing. The only difference was that we moved up to a different area and trucks as we left behind out straight lanes for the week 1 students. Tomorrow we will be introduced to alley docking so that should certainly be an interesting experience.