Schneider Paid CDL Training - Ohio

First day of week 3 is behind me. I still suck at alley dock and it is frustrating but I'm taking my time and trying to work it out. Did get out on the road for a little bit today. Picked up the down shift quickly, just trying to get used to the clutch position for the up shift during the double clutch. So far so good on keeping the trailer where I want it though so that is a bonus. A little more time to adjust to shifting and I shouldn't have too many problems.

Slow and steady to try and survive this "race".

 

Yeah as our instructors told us, "The state wants you to do it this way. In the real world you'll usually be able to set up for it. And you guys on the Walmart account will probably never have to worry about it." As for the double clutching it's another case of "The state wants you to." Once I get more time in I'll get my groove going.

 

Yeah but I kinda need it to click in the next 2 weeks so I can actually GET my CDL lol. I'm more worried about making it through my tests than anything else. If I don't pass the tests then I don't get my CDL which means I don't get the job, which means I'm stuck between a truck and a hard place

 

Ok, so week three is now in the bag and nobody even died! There are basically 3 trucks we've been using this week, only because one of them was needed elsewhere for a while otherwise it would only be 2 trucks. The first is a Volvo 10 spd. My group has been using this one the most. The second is an orange Schneider spec'd Freightliner 10 spd. While the third is a white Freightliner 9 spd that we used while the other Freightliner was in use elsewhere.

We started the week off taking the Volvo on the road. Double clutching the Volvo up the gears seems to have held the most difficulty for me whilst downshifting was easy peasy. Handling in the Volvo was nice even while riding empty through 25 - 30mph winds. Enter the white Freightliner. Doubled up and down gears with minimal issue. Once in a great while I'd forget where I was and try to grab the wrong gear. Handling seemed a little looser than the Volvo but it also had a much larger steering wheel which could contribute to that.

The orange Freightliner seemed to handle and shift just like the 9 spd, barring the change in pattern of course, but we haven't spent as much time in that particular truck as we normally would.

When we were starting out in the Volvo I had a nasty habit of punching the clutch to the floor while shifting, even while double clutching. I have since gotten out of that while using the Freightliners and I'm hoping it will translate into easier shifting in the Volvo as that is the truck I will be testing in.

This coming week we'll be mixing it up between work on the pad and road time. Alley dock is going to be my primary focus on the pad though I will run through some offsets and parallels to break up the day and ensure I'm doing what I need to do. Next Friday will be test day so wish me luck.