old school only ..how did you learn how to drive ?

my uncle says go deliver this gravel over to such and such an address
but unc i cant drive that autocar with the 4x4
he says you will by the end of the day
next week my grandfather calls says come down the boat
so i go down get a crate of lobsters
gramps and i walk into DMV with a crate of lobsters dripping seawater
guy behind the desk rushes over says Bill dang nab it get them lobsters out of the office
so gramps (Bill) sat around I took the crate out back put it in the guys trunk
lil while later gramps comes out hands me a chauffeurs license with my name on it
circa 1971

 

Worked for a septic company running toilets got my permit and my co worker curbhopper taught me took company truck to test and passed.

 

What learning? I've been doubg this stuff for close to 17 years, and STILL ain't got a clue whut tha heck I'm doin'!!

 

Bought and drove my first big truck. 1984 Pete 359 cat. power 13 speed. when I was 61 yrs. old. Had sat in barn for 12 yrs. and was 200 miles away. Always like trucks and remember riding in my uncles Autocar back in the early 60's pulling a gravel train. Have had a few play toys in my day but the old Pete (now restored as new) makes my day pulling a 32 ft. car hauling trailer. Too be honest makes me nervous but I like the challenge.

 

Started out at a young age moving boats. Had a single axle open air day cab. Had my sites set on a tandem with a sleeper . Week after this picture was taken I had a bad wreck pulling my dads Jon Boat out the driveway and down a hill .

Consequently i lost my driving privileges and got one Hell of a Spanking..

48 years later I am just looking at getting back on the Horse.

It was a Spanking you never forget.

 

My uncle taught me in his KW, only part of truck I can remember is the twin stick, motor, rearend, year, can't remember , he started showing me when I was 16, when coming of age, I test drove in that same truck, this was in 87', thought I was going to fail, because, for me, I took both hands to shift

 

Uncle Sam gave me a 8 week course in learning how to drive on roads, dirt roads, mud, water, and sand. Then he invited me to a base in Europe where I was first given a Kaiser M35A1 and then a brand new M818 with a big 250 comeapart in it.

After a year they gave me a 1964 Ford F800 tractor to haul a clothing sales trailer around. That job gave me my first experience at jack knifing on a cobblestone snow covered road. I somehow managed to go around the offramp circle in an L configuration and wound up going straight on the road I was taking. Not saying I didn't go sideways a few more times on the cobblestones, but that one stood out from the rest. That was where I learned to use the throttle with the tip of my big toe.

Then I got to be a big strapper in an Emeryville and pulled cans to military bases.

Used a C750 Ford with a big ole 40 footer behind it to take the driving test for my Class 1.

 

Well, I dunno if I qualify as 'old skool', but here goes....

My dad and most of my uncles owned and drove trucks. Dad never owned his own truck, so riding with him wasn't an option. But I have an uncle who took me along in the summer hauling used farm machinery. He had a K100 Kenworth, which I rode in the sleeper. Man, I loved that truck. Then one day, while hauling a combine, which we had to flatten the tires, we get to the farm and had to air the tires up. Using air from the truck, we started. The compressor on the truck couldn't keep up, so he tells me to sit in there and rev the engine up a little. Man, I was king of the world in my 8 year old mind. I was hooked..but I didn't know it then.

Fast forward 10 years...

Working for a John Deere dealer now, withone truck and a part time driver. He comes in and announces he's retiring. Uh oh... Now they have no one to drive that truck. So, after some thought, I volunteer to get my CDL and drive. I went to DMV, got a book, read it, took my permit test and passed.

Rick took me along to show me the ropes in that ugly blue Ford CL900 cab over with a backwards 10 speed (high gear against the dash for those unfamiliar). That truck was the devil, was ready for the scrap pile years ago....

Thankfully, the owners knew this and bought another truck, but not a good one... It was a 95 L8000 ford single axle with an 8.3 liter Cummins on spring ride, no a/c. But I thought it was the greatest thing ever...it was the vehicle that got me a shiny piece of plastic saying I could legally drive truck at the ripe old age of 18. ( Later on it would earn me lots of citations as well, but we won't get into that)

Well after the owners realized that truck was too small, the bought a 95 Mack CH613, 350 HP 9 speed tranny. A new challenge to me, as I hadn't driven a 9 speed that worked properly yet. I learned to shift that truck on my first trip, and what a trip it was ...

That truck took me to my first encounter with the DOT. Hauling an oversize load at the age of 19, but looking like I was maybe 15. The load was 12 feet wide, I had no permits, and I, in my know it all mind, decided since I was running illegal, why bother with those oversize load signs, they'd just attract attention. I get down the road to a roadside inspection set up. Cop walks up to the truck madder than hell. Yelling some nonsense about signs and flags and permits.

He looks at me and gets real quiet, asks me if my parents knew where I was.. I ask him if he's serious, and he replies 'you can't possibly be old enough to drive this thing'. I showed him my license, and he laughs, says 'OK, I'm sorry' and proceeds to write me 2500 in tickets for no permit, and various other violations. Talk about an eye opening experience.......

After running for them for six more years, I decided I needed a change, so I applied to a local tanker company that ran the Northeast and anywhere east of the Mississippi river. They hired me on the spot, put me with a trainer to learn how to unload, and sent us to Brooklyn for the first run. We were in separate trucks, an I, having never been to the city, was sick with fear of the city, based on what I'd heard. Well, I made it in and outta there with no issues, aside from throwing up on the approach to the GW bridge. They released me from training a few days later, and the rest is history they say....

I've since gotten married and began raising a family, also got a local gig where I'm home daily. Life is good, but I miss the days of driving that old Mack hauling farm machinery.

But it all goes back to those trips in the Cab over with my uncle. Without him, I wouldn't be doing this for a living.

 

Grew up on a farm. Learned to plow a ~perfectly straight line for ~1/2 mile at ~2.5 mph, 90° back of a loaded hay wagon (including up the slight ramp into the barn) age 8.

My road skills I got from Mom, who got them from her father who died before I was born. She was granted a "hardship license" at 14 when he died.

No one in my family was allowed to test for their license until they could meet his standards, which included shifting and stopping ~undetectably, and knowing traffic code inside-out and backward.

 

Similar story to many here. Grew up on a dairy farm and farmed myself for 22 years. Learned backing the manure spreader under the barn cleaner at age 5 probably. Drove tractor and baler pulling a wagon with my Dad on it stacking hay at age 6 probably. By age 10 I had mastered the old chevy pickup with a 4 speed. It was then time for the C65 GMC grain truck. Sold my cows, never been anywhere really. Went to town visited with a guy who had a 15 truck trucking company and asked him if he needed a driver. He said he did and I could start Monday. Calls me Sunday night and says I should be in Kansas City for Tuesday morning and that he had forgotten to have me sign the "drivers test" paperwork. I (being new to the world of trucking) had no idea that he was supposed to administer a driving test to me. Said he would leave the paperwork on my truck seat and that I should sign it and leave it in his mailbox. I did that. That was the first time in my life I had ever pulled a semi trailer or driven a true semi truck. Nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!

This all happened about 8 years ago. No school, no training, nothing. I did get my CDL back in 1985 and always kept it. Got that in a pickup and a cattle trailer at that time. Air brakes was just a written test then.