Question for both Students and Experienced drivers.

Use the pedals before you begin moving. That will give you an idea before you are rolling

 

Yah, would be nice to test out in the truck you became comfortable/confident driving.

Sage had a similar situation. We only had two roadworthy trucks and a couple yard only ones.

We weren’t able to pick and choose which one for yard maneuvers but we could pick which one on test day. We also had a dress rehearsal the day before doing all maneuvers and road trip which we could use the truck of choice.

Maybe ask if you can get a couple hours in the test truck prior to actually testing out..

 

C1 Trucking School (in North Little Rock) had horrible range trucks. The trucks we had to test out on were nothing like the ones we had driven. Some instructors don't realize that this alone could serve as an impediment for a student driver. It presents itself as a double conundrum because that's a learning curve on top of another learning curve. After spending six and a half years driving an International, I felt like a brand new driver when I was put in the Pete... they just don't handle the same. Unfortunately, beggars can't be choosy, yet it doesn't hurt to voice your opinion to the staff to see where it'd get you.

 

It’s understandable but just adds that much more stress on test day that you don’t need.

Put yourself in chill mode and try to make the best of it. Not everyone passes first shot so just concentrate on each step as it comes.

Don’t know what state you’re from but hopefully they do it the same as Florida.

Example; if you pas pre-trip then yard maneuvers and fail road test then you only have to retake the road test.

I think some states make you take the entire thing over again.

 

Cool!
Use all your free time going over the pre-trip. Do it with someone so you’re comfortable saying everything out loud in front of the inspector.

Don’t want to get stage fright

 

We had multiple Freightliners on the lot when I was in school. I got in 2 of the sleep ones, but tested in the day cab. Not any one of those were the exact same, even though they were all Freightliners. The day cab had a much tighter clutch and brakes. This your first test of adaptability on the fly. No 2 trucks will ever be the same. If it's a manual. Hold the break and clutch down and get familiar with the shifting pattern. If it's automatic, get familiar with where all of your controls are. All of this important. Take your time, take off slow and just pay attention to what the truck does. Youll learn it quickly. I say all of this because you'll probably go to a company that doesnt have just 1 brand of trucks. You never know if you'll have to go from Volvo to Freightliner. Even though we have 90 percent Volvos and a handful to Freightliners, none of the 2 Volvos are the same. I could get in a different truck in the fleet and it will feel different. Just flow with it and become one with the truck you're driving.