On my way!

Thanks DaReallyst, I think it's awesome that they sent you all as a group for your DOT physical...I'm still not sure how it's going to go for mine, as I know where the place is at and it's nowhere near my school (don't have a car).

 

Well Day 3 went really well, except for the one Recruiter that was supposed to show up, never did (some company I've never heard of and so don't remember the name).

Another lecture in the can, but disappointed to find out we're only allowed to do one per day--Charlie was going to try to get all the ones we don't already have, so we could work on them at our own pace, but the admins said nogo.

This kind of sucks because the lecture for today (# 8 ) was a really short one and we could've knocked out #9 as well.

Got in more pre-trip practice, had a lot of laughs and I think the 4 of us at my table are becoming quite a tight little group. We're definitely the "troublemakers" in the class (all in a joking way--you gotta know Charlie) but for the most part, we're all spot-on with our answers to questions--I'm probably the weakest, especially with parts identification, but I can already feel myself getting stronger on this. Charlie did a new thing today (since we'd already spent about 2 hours (broken up) outside in the heat, and threw some pictures up on the TV/Monitor thing and had us identifying things. This was more difficult for me, since I have a hard enough time out *at* the truck, and with some of the pics, I couldn't tell which way was up! In the one pic though, I was the only one who correctly identified the splash guard off to the left of the pic!

Had a nice lunch with my bro today, and even he regaled the class with some stories from the road (we only have a half hour for lunch, so most people grab something and come back and eat in the classroom) All in all, another great day and nothing yet has diminished my excitement for what I'm doing!

Oh, and the bonus: I found a better way to get there in the morning and discovered that one of the guys in my "group" takes the same last bus to get there. Now, even though this way involves walking the last ten blocks*, I (we) still got there ten minutes earlier than the other route, which drops me off right in front of the school!



*We don't really *have to* walk, but it's nice weather and it beats standing and waiting for yet *another* bus...

 

Well I lost half the school day sitting in the clinic, but I got my DOT Medical card! (and long form, I made sure of that)

I passed with flying colors (BP was only 90/60)!

The doctor was very impressed despite the fact that she bore witness to my dropping trou', turning my head, and coughing!

 

So, I've got one week down and 5 more to go! Unfortunately, I actually worked last night (off at 2300) and then didn't wake up until 0745 today (normally have to leave by 0530) so I'm just taking a "mental health day" today...

 

Well, schooling is still going great, as of tomorrow I'll have two weeks down, 4 to go!

Went and got my CDL permit today and got 96% on GK, and 100% on Comb. and AB!

 

Just did my first "real" online application (I don't count the one from Prime, as it was more of a pre-app) which was for Schneider. I referenced the recruiter that came to our school and so, we'll see what happens. I know I probably should have been doing these all along, but I haven't.

My real problem starts now, since, from day one, I've had pumpkin on the brain, and don't really know who else I'd care to apply to...

In other news, I went for my first "ride along" on Friday--I don't have enough hours in school yet to be allowed to drive, but it was awesome just being in the tractor observing! At one point the instructor told the guy to pull over, gets out of the truck, then comes back and says "Hey, you guys come look at this!"

Found out what happens when (apparently the previous driver) accidentally hit the button for the sliding 5th wheel unlock! We were ridin and slidin! So we got a big cautionary warning about that of course, and that was how I ended my second week of school!


ETA: Ok, just applied for Conway as well...read some reviews/info on them and should have thought of them sooner, as there's some sort of Conway facility about a five minute ride from me!

 

It's a 6 week/240 hour course. I need 80 hours before I can get behind the wheel...That's be this upcoming week.

 

Alright now, y'all can just fasten your seatbelts and pray to whatever god you choose...I just drove a big rig for the first time today!

This was what they call an "orientation" session, with the trainer, as none of us had any experience (I was the only one with manual trans experience, and we all know how that went!)

There was the trainer (George) and three of us students in the truck (Volvo with a studio sleeper) and first thing he says is "who wants to go first?" (He drove us out to the area we'd be practicing at, and we three students each got an hour behind the wheel)

No one moved so I thought: "fears be da**ed, I'll do it!" First thing I did, when I got in the seat, was to put on my seat-belt (I'd been told that's an auto-fail) and then he said "Before you do anything, I want you to push the clutch in" So I did...sort of. I ended up grabbing the bottom of the steering wheel, ##### off the seat (I'm about 140# soaking wet) and then he said "That's what you don't want to have to do" whereupon he showed me how to adjust the seat. He then went over all the gauges, switches and stuff on the panel, and then had me take the shifter and, with him holding the stick underneath, he "walked" me through the entire shifting range (including the splitter) twice, before having me do it twice more on my own.

I guess all my worrying had paid off, at least in that respect, because I've been studying image files of shift patterns, for everything from an 8 speed all the way up to an 18 s[peed, though I mostly concentrated on the E/F 10 speed, since that's what we have. Between that, and one trick someone had told me about, regarding picking "targets" on the dash, for specific gears (especially 2nd and 4th--everything else is cake from there) I really had no problem with that.

I did have a bit of a tendency, initially (and I mean only the first 2-3 start-ups from stop) of wanting to press the accelerator as I let off the clutch, but I acclimated really quickly to that. Not dumping the clutch was another matter though...especially at first and even later, if I'd just had problems getting it in to gear, or got in a hurry or whatever...

I got pretty good at "hearing" the RPMs fairly quickly, especially when he reminded me that I needed to keep an eye on the road as well! (It doesn't hurt that the 4-wheelers that I've had with a stick, invariably never had a tach...)

Besides dumping the clutch, I had probably a normal share of grinding the gears, but as I got more comfortable with double-clutching (hereafter referred to as a "double-tap" as that's how I'm thinking about it, as far as how quick and how "much" I need to do with them)

The one thing I consistently had a problem with was coordinating the double-tap with my shift from 5th to 6th, as that one is a longer move. Still in all, I did manage to do it successfully, about 3-4 times over the course of my hour. What I think is more important, is that he taught me how to recover, if I miss (any) gear--off clutch, rev accel., on clutch and into gear!) so when I would miss it, I still wasn't out of gear for that long.

I think though, that the single best advice he gave me was to apply pressure on the stick, in the direction of the gear I want to go to, prior to any other shifting maneuvers. That helped me keep my mind on what I was doing and I never once got "lost" or didn't know what gear I was in or where I needed to go.

As it turned out, he had enough confidence in my (I'll say "potential") ability, that during my second half hour, he told me to just do (practice) whatever I want! So I was upshifting (area didn't really accommodate going higher than 7th) downshifting (after he counseled me on the RPM ranges for that) and I even did several "U-Turns"!

All in all, I feel it was a pretty successful day, for my first time out!