Road test in doubles? New driver.

Rock steady !

 

I wouldn't worry about the road test too much. The TM hired you knowing that you are a new driver with no experience and was willing to take you on...which normally NEVER happens at UPSF. I think it'll be more of an evaluation of your current skill level rather than if you're qualified for the position.

A normal road test for someone with experience can take anywhere from 2-4 hours. Just your basic normal road test that involves a daycab singlescrew and a 48' trailer...to see how well you do your pre and post trip and how well you back up sight and blindside. Once you pass that, then they test you on the doubles portion...but this is for applicants with experience. Since the TM mentioned that he was willing to give you plenty of time with a trainer to learn how to drive, the road test won't be as strict for you as it would be for someone with experience. Again...it'll probably be more of an evaluation of your current skill level. And besides, P&D drivers don't pull doubles anyway, so you don't have to worry about that portion until later on when you eventually decide to switch to Linehaul in the future OR if you wind up on Extraboard, where they'll train you on how to pull doubles. But one thing about UPSF is that learning how to drive "the UPS way" is WAAAY less micromanaged compared to Parcel. Good luck.

 

You won't be hooking a set during your road test. They will have you hooking sets during training.
They just want to see if you know how to drive.
As pointed out they know it's your first time and don't expect you to be a pro at pulliing a set
Check your mirrors frequently. Do not shift on railroad tracks or while turning in an intesection. Don't go tailgating people and braking late coming up on traffic.
Be very safe conscience.
You should drive like that even by yourself

Good luck

 

wait, wut????

My longest road test (doubles, first time, tester showed me how to hook them up, i was up front I had never done it before). took an hour. We drove to a truck stop, got coffee, came back. Most have been like that. pre trip, hook up, pre trip trailer, drive to get fuel or something, come back, back in, unhook. Usually takes an hour. If you can do that you're good. it's a new truck to you so controls may be unfamiliar to you, it's not unreasonable to ask where stuff is.

Most of my "road tests" have been on the first day "here's the keys, we need you to take truck X and trailer Y to here"

 

Yeah...were talking about a road test for UPS Freight....lol. MUCH more detailed....probably because you have to abide by UPS's policy. Not as strict as Parcel though...hell...the guy who tested me was smoking a cigarette the whole time and was on OT, so he was in no rush...lol.

I'm sure each barn does things differently and times may vary, but they'll test you on how well you do on a van or pup first...or maybe both...to see how well you do. If you pass that, then they test you on the doubles portion. From the time that you arrive at the barn to the time that you're done, it can be well over 2-3 hours. All depends on how strict and thorough the tester will be.

 

Since your gonna be working on the docks, let me run down how dock work goes. I posted this on another thread and copied and pasted this....

Here's what's involved if you're a dockworker. When you come in, you go to forklift area and you choose a forklift. Pretrip is required, meaning you have to check the oil level and propane tank level. After your pretrip, you scan your badge to login to the computer. You then go to the Dock office and pickup your paperwork on what trailers need to be offloaded. Keep in mind that their are safety rules that you must abide to at all times, like honking the horn whenever you offload a trailer and forklift tips has to be down to the ground and tilted to the floor whenever parked. But throw all that safety rules out the window during the afternoon when the P&D drivers all come back, because it's an absolute madhouse on the docks, trying to unload all the P&D trailers to the Linehaul. You then check your paperwork on which dock to offload, and line up the freight in the staging area, which is in the middle of the docks in front of the door your offloading. You then check the Pro Numbers on the freight with your paperwork and then move each freight to various different dock doors to reload onto the Linehaul trailers. The paperwork will tell you how to seperate your freight and which doors it needs to be loaded onto. When you offload a freight, the forklift has a scale that's built into the forks, and you weigh each pallet that's offloaded. Each forklift has attachments that you can add to the forks, such as carpet pole attachments, hooks and chains, and clamps for drums and such. After you load your freight, you then sign your name on the sheet that's by the door you loaded into to confirm that YOU loaded it onto the trailer, so this way if any mistakes were made, they will know it was you. After you finish with your move, you then scan the Pro Number on the sheet and hit the on-screen button on the forklift to confirm that move was done and then move onto your next move. At the end of the day, you hook up your forklifts computer line (sorta like when you use a USB on a laptop) to transfer all your information to dispatches office, park it in the staging area, clock out and do it all over again. Nothing really too difficult or strenuous about dockwork, just have to deal with subdegree weather during the winter time.