Here we go CDL school (Journal)

Day 10: Uncoupled after pretripping. Six hours of driving in circles. Shifting up through the gears one side and turning around then shifting down through the gears. Made good improvement throughout the day. We have 3 different trucks and each has its quirks. I kinda wish I could have done backing for half the day.

We appear to have lost two of our students. Leaving four of the original six. More seat time is nice. But sad for them. No refunds.

 

Day 13: Couple more days of backing. I’ve got it down pretty good. Still have to make a pull up here and there, especially on offset. Hit one cone, right at the end of the day when I was tired. It’s been 80 degrees and humid and sunny. Being outside all day is draining!

We are going on the road today for the first time. Should be interesting. Send prayers that we don’t crash.

 

Day 15: Two days on the road with four students plus teacher in the truck. Each person would do like 15 miles or so then switch it up. Mostly highway driving on 70 West. I was super nervous the first time and missed a bunch of downshifts. But today was more comfortable with the point of view from the cab, judging stopping distance and whatnot. I didn’t miss any gears, but I did take one turn too close and got some dirt on the tires. Getting a feel for matching speeds to gears. Here I am chillin while everyone went to lunch.

 

Day 18: Two days of backing had my legs sore as hell. Road time today. Got in three stints - 26, 30 and 34 miles; mostly rural and highway driving. Did pretty good. Still trying to shift too fast on my downshifts gotta keep telling myself everything’s in slow motion now. Got back to school and did 45 minutes of offsets. I felt like I needed the practice. Did a total of three pull-ups in that span. No cones. Pretty smooth day overall.

 

Yes that’s the community college. Finishing my fourth week and I’ve really enjoyed it. I prepped and read for two weeks before it started or the permit process would have been kinda tight (5 days). Instead I focused on endorsements that first week and got everything locked up.

It’s been well worth the money. We have four students and four instructors, although it’s more like a 2 to 1 ratio in practice.

Day 19: On the road all day. Three of us in the truck. I put in 70 miles give or take. Did more town stuff through the busier commercial areas of new Bern (MLK and Neuse Blvd). Only missed one gear all day - right at the end tried too late to get in 6th and ended up screwing up a right turn and rubbed the curb. Getting smoother on the shifts. More comfortable with the road/mirror watching cycle. Better at timing traffic lights.

Got back and spent 30 min in the classroom after everyone left. Applied to Tidewater, Epes and Cypress.

 

Day 20: Did some Pretrip stuff and swapped a few trailers (put a partially loaded one on the truck) so we were a little late going on the road.

It was a wind advisory today, about 40-50 mph gusts and that was a learning experience on the highway for sure.

We switched from double to single clutch downshifting and i drove pretty well. Got about an hour in, maybe 45 miles. I drove from new Bern to kinston, then through downtown kinston in a big loop back to 70E and some truck stop. Teach had me back in to a spot which was simple since I basically just had to swing around and straight back next to a truck. Thanks to the North American moving truck guy who was patient while I backed in.

In town was nerve wracking for me. First time with cars parked on the right shoulder and narrower lanes. Maybe a foot on either side of my truck. “Slow and Smooth” was the lesson learned - on tight roads, in intersections. Keep trailer tires in view all the way through the turns. Go slow.

I never had a teacher say speed up yet, but we’ve all heard slow down many times. Take from that what you will. He said I could pass the DMV road test at this point.

I told the guy I was changing his name from “Bom Bom Shift” to “Smooth and Slow”.