I would like advice on the best way to approach school..

Study, pay attention, and ask questions.

 

Listen. The guys that think they already know what the instructor says are the one that wash out. It's NOT the same as driving anything else.
But it IS fun!
Good luck.
Mary

 

if your school is like mine was, you will learn everything from hands on experience. a teacher will work with you and show you every part on that truck, explaining air brakes components as well as pre trip, trailer hookup and drop, and then they will take you to a large lot where you can get a feel for the truck ( learning to back the trailer , parallel park the trailer, etc) . once you get that down, then they will tell you about double clutching, shifting up, down , and what rpms to do this . then you get to drive that truck down the road and they see how you are with road control, helping you work on your bad points. i enjoyed it. was very nervous at times but i did fine and so will you. just be very careful, you will more or less be operating a "guided missile" after all. i have very little experience driving but i have seen what a truck can do to a traffic jam. but just be safe and your teachers will prove to be very helpful when you have questions.

 

Pretty much what the others posted; pay attention to detail and ask questions. While you're in school, get all the endorsements so you'll have more job opportunities. There are many good trucking companies that will hire you from Roadmasters and many of them you won't hear about in school or see recruiters come to the school. Use that good CDL school for the good paying jobs, not the low paying $30K jobs.

 

Great thread, and great answers/advice! I was wondering the same. One thing I thought about, however, was asking your instructor(s) if it is possible to come in early/stay a little bit later to get some extra practice in the truck, as well as for the pre-trip inspection.

 

Read the CDL manual as much as you can before class. In my state you can go to the DMV and take each test for free, there is only a fee when you apply for the new license with you endorsements on it. The only endorsement that I don’t have is for passenger bus and I don’t expect to ever need it. The more you have passed before class the less stress there will be in class.


http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/internetforms/Forms/DL-7C.pdf


Take the practice online tests, there are several of them for free and will give you confidence when taking the tests.


http://www.thetruckersreport.com/cdl-practice-tests/

 

Greg make sure that your advisor gives you the login information for our study guide portal. The more you can learn before starting school, the quicker you can get your learner's permit. You will also have a head start on what will be taught in class so it will be more of a review. Pay very close attention during the Pre Trip Inspection training as that will be a big part of getting your license. Let us know if we can help. I am actually going to send an email to our school directors to see if they can provide me with their best tips for new students. I will put all of their tips on our blog in the next few days. Good Luck!

 

I am speaking from a Missouri/Kansas experience so Texas may be a bit different. I mean Texans are a bit different after all.

Your question shows that you will be a success in this industry. However, you are most likely wrong on what the school will show you. You will not be ready to hop in a truck and drive off into the sunset after schooling. All schooling will do is get you your CDL.

So how to get the most out of school. The CDL testing process is two parts, the pretrip inspection and the driving portion. The driving portion has two parts, over the road and maneuvers on a pad. Most schools also teach you logging and trip planning. While important they are not required for the CDL.

The pretrip has over 100 points of inspection. You do not have to name them, you can simply touch the parts you are looking at. It helps to know what they all do. Pay attention to the wheels and brakes, lots of parts there. If you do not SEE the brake pads and such, make sure you have your instructor point them out. Have him remove a hub seal so you can check the hub oil. Lots of trailers have water in the hub oil and drivers rarely check.
The engine compartment also has many places to check but it is large and most instructors do a great job of pointing those parts out. Take notes during the air brake checks. You want to do it the same way every time. Make a check list as we have to do in airplanes.

The driving part. First thing you have to do is get into the seat and put the seat in a good position for your body. Make sure your heal of your foot is anchored to the bottom of the foot pedal. That way your entire foot has contact with the pedal. You need to be able to control the rpm's with small movements. To shift you will only need to increase the RPM's by about 200. Some like to take it up higher and they will say 400 to 500 rpm's. Depending on your engine, you will have to decide that. To shift smoothly and in most schools that means double clutching, you do this. If you are accelerating, you slowly bring the throttle up from 1200 to 1400-1700 (I am a 1400 person). As the throttle approaches but has not yet reached your shifting point, push the clutch in enough to disengage the gear handle. Pull it to neutral and release the clutch. Push the clutch back in. Never push the clutch all the way to the floor unless you are stopped. Only push the clutch one to three inches. Pushing it all the way engages the clutch brake, which stops the drive shaft from spinning. (I think that is what it does). You are slowly letting the rpms drop as it approaches 1200 move your gear handle to the next highest gear. The handle will drop nicely into the next gear as the rpm's reaches 1200. This is only accomplished with gentle control of your right foot. Practice on smoothly doing so and then learn to do it quickly.

Turns are the next thing. The truck is long. The trailer is long. When turning left or right, you will be going way past where it seems like you should be turning. Your trailers centerline has to reach the center of the lane you want to turn into before you can turn.

Backing is the next thing. First thing to remember is that your trailer will always go the same way. It will either drift to the right or left. It will not drift right once and left the next time. Learn your trailer. Make sure your mirrors give you a good view of the end of your trailer and the tandems. Look into your mirror and with your hand at the top of the steering wheel, point at the mirror where your trailer appears like a naughty child. If it is drifting to the left, move your hand to the left. Put the correction in and then take it out. Small movements. Don't over steer. Once you have straight line backing down, everything else falls into place. You just put your tires inside the yellow lines and follow the lines back. If your back tandems are 2 inches from the yellow lines and your front tires are 2 inches from the lines, you are straight. That's all there is to it. Backing into a dock is nothing harder then driving backwards. You must remember you are in control of the trailer. It will obey your commands. Don't just pray that it will magically get there. Make it.

Welcome to trucking. It is a fun job. Lots of nice people.

 

One thing. Heel on floor when on the gas pedal.
Pick up your foot to put in on the brake. Makes a difference.
Have fun.
Mary