Prime Cuts: Alec's Trucking Adventures

We're out on the pad right now practicing parallel parking and I just got done driving a real big rig for the first time ever. I was the first person in my group to kill the engine by braking without clutching. Can't be dependent on them brakes like in a four wheeler. But the good news is things get a lot less tense once you figure out you don't have to be dependent on them. The clutch is your go to guy. Then the brakes.

 

Did a 90° alley dock and some yard laps bobtailing and with a trailer. Each time I take a turn in that driver's seat and come out of it without having made the big stupid, it gives me a nice confidence boost that makes me feel more comfortable the next time. I'm starting to think I really can do this.

Double clutching turned out not to be quite the big nightmare that my first night in the sim made me think it would be. On upshifting occasionally I blank out and get caught in neutral, but I get it most of the time. My downshifting needs work of course, but I'm feeling like I'll get it with enough practice.

 

Congrats, "bcountry!" Hope I'll be joining you out there soon.

 

I think I've found myself a trainer now. He's a new trainer, so I'll be his first student. But he's been in this business for 15 years, and from what little time I've had with him I've already learned a thing or two. We stayed after class at the training pad and went over the pre trip, which I managed to impress him with. He helped with a couple things, but I nailed the larger majority of it, including the crucial air brake tests. We don't anticipate any problems come test day, although we'll still practice it daily. He's already showed me how to couple onto trailers, which many other guys already on the road probably haven't done yet. I also learned how to get the truck moving from a stop without rolling backwards, and do it smoothly. He said he'd teach me some of the TNT stuff, which is fine by me. I welcome any opportunity to get ahead of the game when I can, when I feel up for it. And he said we can always back off some if I think I've got too much on my plate.

All that is nice, but he's also been a real gentleman. He's shown me plenty of.patience, not yelling at me for grinding gears or messing up something. He's also very hospitable. He basically told me "Mi casa es su casa." He's giving me 2 or 3 cubby holes instead of me having to sleep with all my crap in the top bunk like many other folks have to. The truck, for the next month, is as much my home as it is his, he said.

We're going to start our 4 hours of practice tomorrow, driving around an industrial park. Then, depending on how comfortable I am, we'll get our load and head out tomorrow or the next day. I am still pretty nervous about driving one of these 80,000 lb monsters in traffic and being responsible for safe delivery of potentially millions of dollars of cargo. And I really don't want to hit anybody or have any wrecks or lose my brakes in the mountains or something.