Road Test and Road Atlas

Congrats on heading to orientation! I'm headed to Marshfield Sunday with a few others here on this forum. I have not purchased my atlas yet but intend to. I have confidence that you will do fine in orientation! I have read a lot of your posts and you are focused!

I've used maps all my life and it's not that hard. I hope to use some GPS after I get through school and figure out how the others do things at the company. I've heard a lot of others use the google earth to get a good look at their destination too and that makes sense.

Good luck, keep focused, and have fun!

 

id tell any new driver, you want a basic understanding of the trucker atlas, especially low bridges and weight restrictions. then you want to buy a good truck friendly gps, and only need to use atlas to VERIFY that the gps isnt sending you somewhere you shouldnt be (like under a low bridge). using the atlas as your primary means of routing is completely unnecessary these days, the gps does it faster and better in most cases. just NEVER get to the point where you will slough off on double checking the routing with the atlas...do this EVERY SINGLE TIME.

as far as road tests, ive never been on a road test with a company that i didnt view as "half-donkey-ed". they wanna make sure you can shift, follow directions, and not hit anything (curbs included). and usually wanna make sure you can back into an EASY dock. i wouldnt worry about a road test too much...if you dont pass, either you just cant shift, or you werent paying enough attention. even the post that you refer to, im sure the person posting it would admit they either were way too freaked out, or didnt pay enough attention. sure, everyone hits a curb now and then...but a tester will think if you cant control the truck enough to not hit curbs WHILE HE IS IN THE TRUCK WITH YOU, then how bad will you be when left to your own devices? take the road test seriously, but dont let yourself be overwhelmed by nervousness...if you can manage that, everything should go smoothly.

 

Every driver should learn how to use an atlas for the above mentioned reasons and to understand how to get from point a to b WITHOUT a GPS.
Those GPS units are great, but they fail, they lose connectivity and they can be wrong.
30% of weekend calls are from drivers with failed GPS devices that can't find their shirt sleeve.
I had a driver this past sunday that had spent 4 hours trying to find I-10 in west Texas. He was less than 15 miles from it, but he couldn't read a map and his GPS wasn't working.
Learn to use a map!
Tonight we have a driver stuck in front of a low bridge because he payed attention to his truckers GPS and ignored all the signs. Fortunately, he stopped short of the bridge.
But now he waits for a tow truck.

As for drive tests? As long as you can hit half the gears, not run over grandma on the sidewalk and not run a stop sign, you should pass. They don't expect Mario Andretti. They expect a very inexperienced driver whom they need to train.
You will spend a couple nights up on the hill practicing skills like backing, turning and more. If you need extra time or help, they simply will schedule you for it.

 

Yea, they will work with Mario Andretti and give you 2nd and 3rd chances but like Pharrari said about that Female student that came out of School and put the Tandems on the curb? they will pass on Danica Patrick lol....

 

Enjoy the ride and always remember, the destination is never as interesting as the journey that takes you there.

 

If I remember right you will fail the driving test if you hit the curb with your tires. In the even that happens they will work with you on the problem (or any other) that caused you to fail and they will get you to where you will pass the test.

I failed the backing test. While I was practicing the next day the instructor watched me and saw that I got the hang of it and passed me with out actually doing the test. I guess that you could say that I was tested without knowing it.


Again, if I remember right you will need to know how to read the map as there is the "Super Trip" exercise that you will do.

Stevens will (or used to) give you an atlas. Its good but will fall apart after some use. I would suggest buying a spiral bound, laminated atlas from Loves or another truck stop. I think that mine was $19 after a $10 mail in rebate. Mine has been abused and still holding up just fine.