Company road test tomorrow

Are you going to be dropping said trailer? If so, dolly down FIRST. Everytime. It is the most costly thing to forget.

 

First test drive for me was with a company that delivered roofing supplies. I hit a bridge with the side of the trailer. I got the job.

Second test drive was with Fed Ex. I pulled a set of doubles on a six mile loop. No problem. The tester hooked up the doubles so all I had to was drive straight. I did not get the job because my criminal back ground caused problems. By the time that got straighten out I was working elsewhere.

Third job asked me where I drove last. I said Fed Ex as I had taken my test drive there the day before. They said, "Well, if you have driven for Fed Ex, you don't even need a test drive here."

Next test drive with a company was Design Transport out of Dallas. I told them I was very tired from the bus drive down and didn't want to take the test drive until I had slept. They said no, we will do it not. I pull out and struck the truck next to me with my trailer doors. Next day I past it.

My point is, if I can pass a company test drive anyone can.

 

My first company test was a honeymoon. Hahn out of newmarket. Drive a stone trailer with a mack down I70 a dozen miles, flip back on interchange and return. The following months I had a 379 pete, a female trainer and working the cement silos everywhere. THAT was a education. My first problem was that stop sign in Tuscorora where it's a steep grade point of rocks below harpers ferry on the 15 bridge crossing (The 5 span one that takes you to Manassas) I would stall loaded on that stop sign with that tiny grade. Back then it was not tiny.

My class A road test was in Glen Burnie Maryland on that Route Two I think it was. There was nothing but construction wherever I went and a ton of stop lights. It was disgusting being lathered in sweat trying not to scrape those ####### man high walls all around a few inches away. Even today I think how in the world i got away with that. Fast forward decades later and Im following the left lane over the east river with 100 plus feet of nothing at all except death off the left lane eastbound in the GWB 95 crossing during construction in the night.

But that was not my problem. It was finally discovered when I joined with a rather rough company called Port East running containers. Weights? Forget it you have a permit for 99K, some of those boxes approached 140K. And the equipment back then? No sleepers, and half the stuff is either broken or not working. You don't need all of that. You are not coming back for 30 hours some days with the commute home still to come. Ive gotten pulled over by the state police for sleeping on the wheel of my personal car a dozen miles from home at 3 in the morning after what was a day and half bumming around the shipyard in Norfolk VA.

#### that.

Finally my first over the road was with a family man, he owned a few trucks in a rather rough operation with a little bit of everything. The bare essentials. Here I am going into Hunts Point each night with a 5 am appt to unload by hand deep into NYC back in the days of men and boys this side of street and girls and females over there on that side of the street. Ugh. A year or so in the north east taught me it's a den of thieves, stabatours, bums and what have you. Nothing was nice about it until decades later in my trucking when I was to load oranges out of Florida and try to deliver the #### 53 foot trailer at night down a culdesac with 30 spotters (Children rounded up to lump it) trying to aim me blind sided towards a freaking single family garage. UGH...) but they were nice. They finally lumped to cars and then cars to garage. (Fund raising relying on oranges etc)

And other stories. I get going sometimes but man you learn this Nation, the good bad and the ugly. Stick with the good and hope you leave off the rest of it.

 

Class B I did not touch until I was fired for winning a case against a employer for shorted miles. I discovered DAC was blacklisting me for a few years for otr work. so forget that. A friend put me into a dump with beaver trailer to go pave driveways for people with stone, blacktop and haul dirt away on jobs big and small. No matter how hot it get and 10 dollars worth of gatorade daily. I did that for a few years, some of the best Class B there was.

Back then local class B's ignored my class A and told me I was overqualified. At that point I knew Maryland can go #### itself and I find Arkansas Class B to be much more of a home later in life. I had to forget some of the things I learned in Class A but begin to learn how to work heavy equiptment such as a 4 wheeled front loader feeding rock and sand into a ready mix. That turned out to be my perfect .. work.. uh play time.

It's not often when a person gets into doing something like I did with heavy equiptment and discover the joy. The rest of it's for the birds.

 

So youre gonna do a road test with never hooking to a trailer? Hmmm Well most road test before sending you with a trainer are easy. Shift halfway decent and dont hit anything. Usually dont have you try and back in a door though or hook to trailer.

 

Agreed. First test before you get ass8gned a trainer? Theyre just looking for the bare minimum.

Seatbelt.
Being able to shift.
Able to remember that you have a trailer.
Able to read signs.

When I signed on with my current company, did a road test with a safety man. Turn left. Turn right. Turn left. That bridge that we went under a mile back,do you remember the clearance height?

 

Seems like 4-6 weeks of riding with a trainer is missing between "get CDL" and "take road test".

 

They will do a quick road test BEFORE orientation. Real simple to pass. Just shift, read the road sign and dont hit any curbs and you pass.

 

I think everyone has covered everything pretty well. Just my input coming from experience..... make sure your air bags are inflated before backing up so you don't jump the king pin. That really sucks, I did it once and it really comes down to rushing. Never rush, always think things through take your time and double check.
I hook double and tripple sets and always do a tug test after I hook each trailer as well as check the locking jaws with a flash light. I also check my Pintle connections with the dollys. It would really suck to drop a trailer in the yard but even that's better than losing a trailer or set going down the freeway.

Also when I did my Class A drive test at the DMV I aced my pre trip but was so nervous when I pulled out of the dmv parking lot I hit the curb and failed immediately and pulled right back in. I came back later that afternoon and passed but just goes to show that you need to just relax, not over think anything and never rush yourself. Things will get easy the more you do it.