Orientation this Wed, few quick questions

The duck walk is only an issue if you are really out of shape. You cannot touch the floor and that is what fails most. that said, most people pass easy.

the road test is super easy, just don't hit a curb or do anything illegal. Do not know if they do backing at Shippensburg. If they do it will be simple.

 

And pleeeeease don't take out the guardrails at the end of the road. I done lost track of how many times they've been replaced this year. Like NoCo said the duck walk isn't that bad and if they know your going out with a trainer they may not have you do the backing part of the road test.

 

I had issues with it with another company because i have two bum knees from old football injuries. Ours was just squat without knee hitting floor or touching it for a min. I passed but was almost in tears from it it was bad.

 

Most of the people on here who ask about the duck walk are the ones going to Shippensburg. Something I've noticed the past several months. They seem to be too strict about it.

We did our orientation at the Markham, IL terminal. They didn't have us do the duck walk. We just had to get under a 4 foot high table & touch the wall. Very very simple. Shipensburg seems to do the duck walk like you described. We have a few guys on here who did it at that terminal. JakeBrakeRem is one of them. He can tell you more about it. You'll be fine.

They more than likely will make you dock. I've never been to that terminal but if its anything like Markham then you have plenty of room between trailers. I wasn't good either when it came to docking when I started. On my road test, I GOALed several times. Remember to do that. I've heard of guys who have gotten out over 20 times to check. There is no shame in that. Whatever it takes to get it in there & not hit anything.

Go into the road test knowing you passed. The drivers who test you are fellow drivers & don't want to see you fail. Take your time & don't hit anything. They road test people 2 at a time and it will last about 10 minutes.

 

f,y,i, on backing up a trailer in to a dock or parking spot, always put your tamdems at the spot to back into ,then turn out wards to get the trailer going towards the hole you are going into, when you can see the driverside of your trailer stop then start backing should have you real close to where you need to be, with a little practice you will find this so easy to do..[was never shown how to do this in driving school] so I tought myself how to do this, im not a rookie any more I been driving over 21 years with about 3 million safe driving miles ,,,just rembember to get out and look if not sure if it takes you 10 min, to get into a dock without hitting any thing is better then hitting something just take your time don't worry about what people say or them watching you, with in time you will be doing this like a pro, hope this helps you

 

Landser, that's how I was taught to do a 45 degree dock. I would say 85% of the time you'll be doing a 45, 10% of the time a straight back, 5% a 90.

Get out each time. If you messed up your set up then start over. My biggest advice I tell my wife is to pull forward as much as she needs. It's better to have extra room when you start to back then to have a little room and have to turn your steering wheel more. Hope that make sense.

US Xpress knows your a new driver. They just need to know your a safe driver that is open to learning.

 

Do you plan on teaming or solo ?

Make sure you share your experience on here. The more we US Xpress drivers share with each other the more success we will have at this company.