CDL Training Journal - Suncoast Trucking Academy

Day three video:

Day three recap: Wrapped up the navigation exercises this morning and then took the test. After that we learned section B of the pre-trip inspection. Then we had time to practice it while other students were retaking failed tests. Then we went on lunch and after coming back we covered "Hours of Service" and the instructor spent a long time going over it so everyone understood it well. He said when he was a student at this school with a previous instructor it wasn't explained well so he makes sure to go over it in depth since it's so important. Then we watched a video about HOS and took the test and then wrapped the day up with an in depth video about CSA scores etc. There was no test for the CSA video, informational only.

 

Day four video:

Day four recap: Today started out with us meeting the Range Manager. He went over what to expect next week when we get out on the range and the rules and what they expect of us etc. I asked when we get to start practicing backing and to my surprise not only do we start practicing backing on the first day on the range but we actually take the trucks out on the road the first day! They believe in training every thing every day so you do the pre-trip, backing practice, and road driving every single day for the next three weeks until you're ready to test. Pretty cool, pretty exciting!

Then we each got to practice either section A or B of the pre-trip inspection with the instructor providing feedback. Then we watched a video and took a test on "Accident Procedures". We took lunch and there was pizza and the Melton recruiter was supposed to come after lunch. When I got back to the classroom the Melton recruiter wasn't there because something came up so we watched some recruiting videos for a couple of different companies. After that we watched videos for "Backing Maneuvers" and "Trailer Coupling and Uncoupling". Neither of those videos had tests, they were just for our information. Finally we ended the day with a video and test on "Left Turns, Right Turns, and Intersections". Homework is to continue practicing the pre-trip inspection, but I already have both sections we learned not just memorized, but internalized so I'm good to go there.

The training is great and the instructors are extremely helpful, you just have to put the effort in to get it to pay off. Oh, I also took my DOT Physical receipt in to the enrollment director for reimbursement (they reimburse your DOT physical costs) and he wasn't like "Oh my God why are you here you weren't supposed to start yet!" so I'm guessing I'm good to go lol. Still haven't heard anything back from the person from CareerSource either so I'm going to assume no news is good news.

 

I don't know how it got so long, I just started typing and it all came out. I almost didn't even post it since it was so long but I know there are thousands of people over the next few years who (like I usually do) will read through this entire thread and 20 others while researching getting their CDL or are looking at going to SCTA or another similar school.

Thanks for reading, glad everyone's enjoying it. Just wanted to get the info out there that I couldn't find while going through this myself.

 

Day five video:

Day five recap: Class was only 2 people today, me and another guy. One student had a Doctor's appointment and I'm not sure that the other two will be coming to the range with us. I gathered that they may have already been repeating, and still failing the classroom week. So with just me and the other student who was doing decent with the learning we flew through the final day of class. First we both did both sections of the pre-trip inspection with the instructor. Then we learned the coupling section. Then I was called in to the office, luckily it was just my reimbursement check for my DOT physical. I am officially in the clear and know that I am enrolled as a student there LOL.

Next we watched a video about how to drive in inclement weather and then did our hazmat training. It was just a basic intro to hazmat knowledge. We then took our hazmat test and went to lunch. When we came back the instructor reviewed the answers for the hazmat and hours of service tests and we took the final. The final was 50 true/false questions. The true/false actually kind of made it a little more difficult that multiple choice since there were a lot of questions that tried to trip you up on wordplay but it still wasn't difficult if you were paying attention all week. You were allowed to use your notes and the books they issued to you. That completed the classroom training and next week we're on the range.

 

Week One recap video:

Week One recap: So the classroom portion is done. I felt the instructor did an excellent job of preparing us for the tests and coaching us when we needed more info about something. They're really cool about clarifying that everything we're learning is only to pass the testing that some bureaucrats in Tallahassee that have never driven a truck before came up with and then pointing out things we would actually want to look for in the real world to stay out of trouble. I felt the instructor did a great job of keeping the pace moving forward while having students of widely varied learning abilities.

Everyone from the staff to the students in other weeks already over at the range has been extremely helpful and willing to provide any advice they can to help you succeed. I'm super satisfied with the training so far and I'm looking forward to getting in the truck next week. Can't wait to meet my new instructor who will be with me for the next 3 weeks. Until then....

 

Day 6 Video:

Day 6 recap: First day on the range! We are back to a full 5 people in our class again, all original 5 of us. We spent the first half of the day going over the pre-trip inspection. This was the first day we got to learn the trailer portion as well as the in-cab portion. Then we broke for lunch. When we came back we all piled into the truck and rode out to an area they call the "Cow Pasture" which is just a rectangular road that is very lightly traveled. Here is a google maps link of the location: https://goo.gl/maps/pJu1jF8q1rYpad1Y7

We took turns driving doing 3 different exercises and you got to move to the next exercise based on how well you were doing. The first two were "dry shifting" i.e. not using any throttle at all. For the entirety of class and the test we are double clutching, for those who don't know what that means you shift into first, then push the clutch in, go to neutral, let the clutch out, push it back in again, and shift into second gear, and then let the clutch back out again. The first exercise was going from 1st to 5th, stopping the truck, then going back up through the gears again repeatedly. The next exercise was starting in 4th gear and going up to 8th gear, stopping, and then doing it again repeatedly. The final exercise (if you made it) was going from 4th to 8th and then downshifting back to 6th, up to 8th, back to 6th repeatedly.

On each exercise you would drive for the long leg of the rectangle, take the two left turns and then stop the truck. I would say to definitely take your dramamine if you get motion sickness lol. I had a tendency to push the clutch to the floor during the first exercise due to how slow we were shifting. I was able to fix that by the second exercise and I was the class of the field by the final one. I actually got to go up to 9th gear and back down to 6th since I was doing so well and go a full lap lol. I was the only student of five to get a hang of the downshifting so far, I'm sure (I hope) the others will catch on soon. I did have two minor hiccups, I stalled once in the first exercise. In the downshifting exercise I was not gripping the shifter hard enough and I caught the lip of the shifter gate while going down in to seventh and lost my grip of the shifter. I'm glad I'm making these mistakes now so I don't when it's time to test. There were, of course, some grinding gears but they said that's totally normal for it being our first day not to mention the truck you use the first week is a pretty old truck that has had countless students learning on over the years lol.

They did warn us our legs would be sore this week from how heavy the clutch is. I walk several miles every day and usually run around 30+ miles a week as well as some kettlebell work and whatnot a couple days a week. It wasn't a big deal after class, but I can certainly feel some soreness in my left quad now (6 hours later). I'll toughen up.

Tomorrow we'll continue working on the pre-trip. When we go back to the cow pasture we'll be taking right hand turns. I'm excited to learn how much room I'll need for the right hand turns. I think we're also going to start learning some backing maneuvers as well tomorrow. Should be fun. I'm really looking forward to starting the backing maneuvers.

 

Day Seven video:

Day Seven recap: Today started the same as yesterday with the pre-trip inspection except a few students already had an assigned section to study. I volunteered for the coupling since I was already working on it this morning and it wasn't assigned to anyone. Then all of us did the in-cab portion and brake checks since we were now able to put the truck in gear and stop it. Basically, every morning each student does one section of the pre-trip inspection and then we rotate sections each day so that we become proficient in each section. We're observed by an instructor each day and progress or lack-thereof is recorded.

After we covered all sections of the pre-trip inspection we moved on to backing maneuvers. We started with straight backing. Sounds easy enough, but for your first time backing a trailer it might not be lol. The instructor guides you from outside the truck so you can learn how to maneuver into the spot. We backed and pulled forward 2 or 3 times and then it was the next student's turn. We each got 3 rounds of that. and then it was lunch time. The instructor let me try to back without guidance my second and third rounds. I did it perfect the second round, but on the third round I started off with the trailer parked slightly askew from the previous student and I needed some guidance getting it in the stall straight. I overcorrected and stopped myself and then pulled up and backed again, after that I was perfectly fine.

After lunch we went back out to the "Cow Pasture". Today we would be continuing where we left off at yesterday except making right turns instead of left ones. The instructor said if someone does particularly well today and blows his skirt up they might get to drive the class back to the range. So now I had an objective. Half of the route back is on the road test and one of the turns in particular is known to be a high failure spot due to touching the curb. I knew I wanted the extra practice.

This time everyone got to do 2 laps around the "Cow Pasture" and we did two rounds of that. The first time (and second for most students) was starting in 4th and shifting up to 9th then practicing downshifting to 6th and back up to 9th again. For the second round, for a couple of us who were downshifting fine, we just stayed in 9th gear on the straightaways and then downshifted to 6th for the turns. I was paying particular attention to the turns and on my first round I did come close to the grass with my tandem tires on the tightest turn but didn't touch it and then after that I was golden.

We had a quick smoke break and then it was time to head back. The instructor told us to hop in the truck and then pointed at me and said "You: Driver's seat". I hopped in and he gave all of us the serious speech that we were now going to be in real traffic on a real roadway and I needed to do exactly what he says exactly when he says to or we need to immediately stop and switch. Since the first road I'd be getting on is a stop sign and then a right hand turn onto a moderately busy road I asked if I could practice taking off from a pretend stop sign at one of the right hand turns before leaving the "cow pasture" instead of doing it with traffic for my first time. He called me a wimp and then said I could do that if I wanted to lol.

We made it back to the range in one piece. The instructor made it very clear that I needed to QUICKLY get back into my lane and up to 45mph on the busy road. I did almost forget to flip the range selector to high before going into 6th gear since I was so focused on going through the gears quick. I flipped it while in neutral but with my hesitation it messed up my cadence and I almost missed 6th gear. I got in and started hauling ### up to 9th gear. It was made clear to me how quickly problems can stack up when you miss the timing of even just one thing. Everything was fine, but it was just another thing to learn to never miss again.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel nervous on the busy road. Afterwards we turned onto a very narrow two lane road and there was a lot of oncoming traffic. I wasn't overwhelmed but I was a little whelmed as Michael Scott would probably say lol. I nailed the tough turn that a lot of students fail the road test on, well I did well on all of the turns actually. Just need some more experience with traffic being around. The instructor said I did great for my first time ever and I knew what to work on for next time.

Now that my pre-trip inspection is coming together with 2.5 weeks remaining and I am already feeling mostly comfortable with maneuvering the truck I can put 90% of my focus on learning how to maneuver the truck to back the trailer where I want it to go. This makes me feel extremely confident that I will be able to pass all three sections of the test on my first attempt which is good since I really need to with my time crunch situation lol.

Side note: yesterday I mentioned my leg being a little sore as they told us would probably happen. I expected it to be worse today, but to my surprise I woke up and it felt perfectly fine. Everyone else was complaining about their legs being sore today though. I think that may have played into people having a rough first round when back in the truck shifting again. This evening my leg is a little sore again lol. I guess we'll see how it feels tomorrow morning. If you're reading this before going to a CDL school or learning to drive a manual transmission truck I recommend at least getting comfortable doing a lot of body weight squats. I think it's probably more about building endurance in your left quad rather than a lot of strength.

 

Days eight and nine video:

Days eight and nine recap: I fell asleep while eating after getting home from work and didn't get a chance to do a writeup lol. I'm taking Saturday off so I can catch up on some sleep. Yesterday we started with the pre-inspection again, then more straight line backing practice and then we went to lunch. When we came back we were handed off to our permanent instructor who will be with us until we finish training. We went back out to the "Cow Pasture" and he basically started us from square one going over how to shift the truck. Basically everything we were doing was incorrect and any smooth shifts were based more on luck lol. His demonstration of everything as well as his explanation was amazing. He answered a lot of questions I had asked and received ambiguous answers to in his explanation so now I was good to go. I ended up being the first student to drive. There was a lot of new things to look for and do while shifting and downshifting and I certainly had a few more hard shifts, but it was more like a step back to move 5 steps forward. I only got to do one lap because he said I was doing great and then they moved to the other students. We were out there for a little over 3 hours and I only got to drive for about 5 minutes, if that lol. The focus was on getting the other students up to speed. Then we went back to the range and practiced straight line backing a little more and went home.

Today we started with the pre-trip inspection again. This was our first time with our new instructor. He is also one of the examiners for the skills exam. All of my previous complaints about the wording in the packet etc. were thrown out by what happened next. He let us know the packet is made by the office people and that we need to know what we are actually looking for etc. not memorizing it word for word. If we say what is on the packet we will pass, but it isn't always correct since there are some issues on the trucks (like holes in the trailer doors, missing valve stem dust caps etc). He told us it is more important to know: the part we're inspecting, the securement, the damage we're looking for, and anything special to note about it (belt driven, red in color, etc.). So I can say everything in my own words as long as I'm describing it all and what I'm looking for etc. This basically negates my only prior complaints about the school.

Once we finished the pre-trip we moved on to the straight line backing. He went over it in great detail with each of us individually working with us until we got it. First he had me back on my own with the truck started off askew from the previous student. I was able to successfully correct it and place it in the parking spot. He let me know it was nearly perfect (rear of trailer was about 10" from the line and front was about 14", so not perfectly straight). He said whatever I'm doing right now (just looking down the sides of the trailer in the mirrors and going based off of how much of each side I can see) is working, as I'd already pass that portion. He gave me a ton of different reference points to watch as well as explaining what I should be watching for in my mirrors etc. Then he hopped in the cab with me and we backed together with him walking me through what to look for and what to do etc. Then he hopped out and had me back it on my own with the new information. This time I was just about perfect.

Then we went to lunch and again out to the "Cow Pasture". Fun side not for today, at one point a calf actually got through the fence and was moseying around on the side of the road for most of the afternoon lol. I was the first student to drive again. Today was more shifting practice and doing right turns instead of left. I got to do 3 laps as well as a few extra exercises. The main focus for me today was hitting the correct cadence for the double clutching and using the clutch properly to avoid hard shifts. The first lap I had a few hard shifts from releasing the clutch too fast and was still occasionally making the mistake of pushing the clutch in too far or too the floor. By the second lap I think I only had like 1 or 2 not completely smooth shifts (we go from 4th to 9th and then to 6th, back up to 9th and keep repeating) and by the third lap I was shifting like a pro, smooth as butter. So today I got about 20 minutes of driving, the rest of the 3.5 hours or so went to the other students. Some made massive improvements, others did not. I have never seen an instructor for anything explain things as well as he does and if the student doesn't understand he will continue to break it down into a more simple explanation or find a different way for the student to understand. He then confirms their understanding by asking questions, to make sure they know what they're supposed to be doing. Then they go to do the exercise and don't change anything and still do it the same as they were before without improving or fixing their mistakes. I don't understand it but it's crazy lol. All you have to do is listen and do what they're telling you to do. This school gives you everything you need to succeed other than you putting the effort in to actually do it.

On to tomorrow. Hopefully we get into offset backing soon. I really want to start practicing that and the alley dock. Those are the other 2 backing maneuvers we must do for the FL state test.