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

I rode with my Uncle back in the 70's.
Late at night he would let me take over. I was about 14 at the time and had done learned to shift.
It was an early 70's Brockway....Only the old timers remember those trucks.
Man,I thought I was king in that old cabover!

Later got a job driving straight trucks for about a year.
I begged the boss to let me drive his old TranStar....
He tossed me the keys and told me to take him bobtail around the lot.
Instead I hooked an old 45 footer up and said lets ride! He got in thinking I would not get out of the parking lot.

2 weeks later i had my Class A and was running solo!....lol!

No such thing as driving schools as far as I know back then.

First hood I had was a Marmon.....Never see those anymore.

 

When I was in high school back in the 70's, I was seeing a gal and her dad asked what I planned on doing for work after graduating...I replied doing what you do, drive truck.....Well, he tried ever so hard to talk me out of that, but I'd have none of it...So, he says, "you really want to drive huh", I say yup, he says "meet me at the yard on Saturday mornings then"....

So, I show up and figure down the road we'll go right? Nope, he shows me how to hook & unhook and all that and then says pull ahead and back it in...After awhile, I finally get it to the dock, and he has me pull out and back it in again, and again, and again.....Now, the temps are up there, 90's, and no power steering or a/c in this rig, but I kept at it...After numerous Saturday's, I asked him, "when are going out on the road"? He says, "you have no business at all driving forward until you master backing up"....When you master that, then we'll hit the road....

Eventually, we did hit the road and I did get my class 1, on the first try no less.....He got me a job working on the loading dock, and I volunteered to spot all the driver's trailers when they returned.....After a short while, there was an opening for a driver and the rest is history.

I don't recall any "driving schools" back then and most companies wouldn't hire you without experience....It really helped to know somebody.....Anyway, that's my story....

 

my grandfather he had been driving 40 years at the time. he's still driving at the age of 88 years, his choice. ran with him for almost 2 years

 

I went to work on a farm at age 11,learned to drive a farm tractor pulling hay wagons,then moved up to the 5 ton chevy. The farmers son hauled mail and I would ride along every chance I got. We had to switch wagons half way through the route . He taught me how to switch & back-up behind a post office . white superpower gas job , then a white 3000 cabover then a ford f800 Big Job, big truck lol. First full time job started day after high sch hauling chemical waste ,8000 gallon straight bore tank and a 1969 Dodge c1000 , 238 Detroit and I can still here it screamin. Sill at it with my w9 , gonna retire and sell my truck when they mandate e-logs. Its hard to be an outlaw these days. Stay safe ladies and gentlemen. If I had it to do over again? You bet I would !!

 

Started driving tractors on the farm at 5, learned how to back up 2 wheeled wagons by age 9, 4 wheeled wagons by age 12, got my straight truck license when I turned 18, was going to haul grain for one of our neighbors, went and got my chauffers' license at 21 when I went to work for a John Deere dealer, went out 3 times with guys to show me how to run the truck, went and did my driving test to upgrade for the chauffers' license and parallel parked it for the DMV tester, she looked at me and said, "Well, looks like you know what you're doing" and handed me my license. I got real good at backing up when I would have to go out to a farm, back off of the road onto a narrow driveway and back up 1/4 mile or so many times because the farmers' yards weren't big enough to turn around in. Haven't looked back since.

 

You mean you don't have to look back anymore because you've memorized the driveways to all the deliveries???? ####! You're good!

Sorry, couldn't resist that one....

It's good to hear from you and Icepick talking about starting out driving tractors on the farm. That jogged my memory, since I worked summers on my uncle's farm in Deer Park, WA. 600 acres of alfalfa had to be put up every summer for his dairy cows and my first summer I worked there I was 11 and not quite big and strong enough to be bucking bales up onto the flatbed all day, so they showed me how to drive the tractor. I switched off between tossing the bales up, standing on the flatbed and stacking them, or driving the tractor. Wasn't much backing with it, since my uncle had a conveyer belt that extended out so all I had to do was swing around and it could reach out pretty much anywhere I could get it close.

 

My first experiance was when i was 16, It was a wet winter and we still had corn in the field in late nov. early dec. we had two combines running at night when the ground froze. My uncle had an old Peterbilt 359 day cab. He picked me from school bc i worked for him after school for gas money and insurance ect. He handed me the keys to the truck told me to move the truck to the edge of the field so he could unload the 8820 combine. I have watching him earlier in the year hauling to the elevator, so i got in the truck started it up and let the air build up and off i went. I thought at 16 years, i was in heaven. Little did i know that was the elevator was going to open till midnight. we got the 36ft. trailer loaded to the brim and do the old shake down and load another half bin. trap the trailer and he tells me go down this road and come out on the black top and its 6 miles and your at the elevator. I was never so freighted in my life 16 years old and driving his truck. If the dot wanted to do a spot check it would have enough paper to wipe your rear for a month. lol

 

I was working at a livestock auction and became good friends with the owner of one of the bullwagons. I'd loaded his trucks many times and got to talking about my dream of driving. He said " Lets go, I'll teach you ", the rest is history. The first month or so I never got behind the wheel, his philosophy was learn the equipment before you drive. lots of repair and maintenance in the shop all while paid by the hour. This was back when trucks were 12/24 volt, no airride, ac was for sissies, etc.. Can't buy that experience anymore. He was a great man with the patience of a rock and I hope he knew the gratitude I felt. I miss him very much.

 

Says it all right there.

They have jakes in heaven.