Join me in my journey, International Schools Austin, and beyond!!

Hello everyone, I thought I'd post my experiences while training with International Schools. I haven't seen any in depth posts about this school so maybe my info can help others in their journey. I will be going through the program through Austin Community College, the course is 4 weeks long covering 200 hours of training. Class starts June 4th, and #### I'm excited!

A little about me, I'm 39, married with kids, and have a very stable and comfortable life. I've been in the IT/telecom field for the last 14 years, and well, I'm tired of it. I've got no passion for what I do, I have no room for advancement in my current job, and frankly I'm just bored to tears.

So why trucking you may ask? I wish I had a solid answer, my Dad, step Dad, and one of my Granddads all drove trucks. I like challenges, learning new things, and driving. I love driving actually, and other than a race car driver, what's better than driving a big truck?

I will try to update this daily while I'm in school and beyond as well. My goal is to get started with an oil company (haven't heard that before have you?). I have a cousin that is a supervisor for a coil tubing outfit and we're working on getting me in there. If not, I'll be applying everywhere I can while in school. I won't be putting my eggs in one basket.

 

Thanks Rick, if I can't get on with him immediately I'm going to do everything I can to get on with a quality company (taking suggestions!).

So the day I started this thread is the day I registered for school. It was all very straightforward really, International and Austin CC have a nice system in place. I was able to stop off at a Med Center and get my DoT physical and drug screen done on the way to ACC. This kept me from having to back track from registration and then going BACK to ACC. I had no problems with my physical (didn't think I would) and was given a 2 year DoT card. As a bonus, the Dr. that did my physical was a woman!

I'm down to having 3 days left at my current job. I'm very excited about the direction I'm taking, but at the same time a bit scared at not having a job already lined up. I know there is work out there, and I know I won't have any issues getting a job, but it's still jarring.

That's it for now, I'll post more when I get started with school!

 

Day 3 of classroom training starts today. Nothing exciting to report, other than my lead instructor is an 80 year old Australian who has been driving for about 60 years. I will have all of my written tests done this week and have my permit. No complaints yet.

 

Well, after a few issues, I have passed my written exams and now hold my CDL permit. Very excited to start driving on the range tomorrow!

 

Ha, he's got us on the right side. He's been in the states as long if not longer than he was in Australia.

My issue was with a ticket in Colorado from 1999. Somehow their system had me as never paying to reinstate my license (which was never revoked or suspended, and was NEVER a Colorado license). The clerk told me I wouldn't even be able to renew my current license until this was taken care of (um, I've renewed my license at least twice in the last 12 years). So I got on the phone with Colorado DMV, printed out the forms I needed, then overnighted them and payment. They received them on Friday but I was told it would be 5-10 business days to clear, this had me extremely worried and frustrated beyond belief. Anyway, I called yesterday morning and got it all cleared up. Went in to DMV here to test and got my Texas requirements done. As I get my permit and try to take the 4 remaining tests, they tell me the system for CDL's is down. This was at about 4:00 and you can't start testing after 4:30. Well the clerk tries one more time at 4:30 and it's up! She gets my tests setup and away I go, oh yeah, she tells me they will have to cut me off at 5:00. Now understand, I've been to DMV twice in a few days, been at this one since 2:00 and have zero desire to come back. I get two tests done and the clock hits 5:00, and I feel defeated. I ask the clerk if I have to stop, I about screamed in delight when she told me that as long as it keeps giving me questions I can keep going!! Passed all 5 exams, left there at 5:30 (3.5 hours at DMV) with permit and the biggest #### eating grin I've ever had.

So, like a said, a few small issues.

Now, onto driving day 1. First thing I did this morning was go over pre trip, do an air brakes test and then spent the morning driving straight line and backing. Took a few times to get the feel of the brakes, but was solid by the end of it. After lunch was spent actually driving and shifting. I was under the impression that this driving would be done on the abandoned part of the airfield, turns out that is not the case. We did our driving in a business center with a long circular street, oh and a huge fire station in the middle of the circle. Today we drove around clockwise, yesterday the drove counter. There is one stop sign and a right turn then a straight into another right (sorry it's more of a D shaped road). I didn't start off as well as I hoped I would, ground way more gears than I expected. Downshifting and keeping my rpm's up was my main issue, add in a touch of too much clutch engagement. I probably drove about 45 minutes and I definitely got better by the time I finished. The good news is I always checked my mirrors and wasn't the guy that almost took out that stop sign!

 

There are a max of 3 students in a truck. We are still having people take written tests so the last couple of mornings have seen as few as 1 per truck. The equipment is older but safe, all 8 speeds. A few Pete's and KW's and I think one International. So far I've only been in a Pete.