Running With Watkins & Shepard

Ummm...that wouldn't have been a little white Honda....would it?? ...

Went to Bennits the other night. DARN that was great food, great people and I ate more in one night than I did in the two weeks before!! I figure I'm good until at least Monday now.

 

Hey everyone.

Well day four was a BLAST! We went over grading all those tests quickly this morning and the log scenario #1 and then it was out to the trucks. So after about 10 minutes of bobtailing RL comes out and hands me a slip a paper with a trailer number on it. He says "Chris, go run around, find this trailer, hook it up and bring it around to here.

So of course, with a BIG ear to ear grin .... I rode up and down the rear 3 rows of trailers, the side row and then I came to it on the front row. I hooked it up and as soon as I started pulling it I could feel that puppy had some weight. I get around to where RL is and I said "hey buddy, it's nice to pull something more than air"... LOL ... How much we got in here? He says not much, just 44k of concrete is all. I'm like... "COOL!! Are we gonna do some backing work now"? He says "Nope, we're gonna see if you can get out of the yard with it" ...LOL

So, out we go and I'm FINALLY, after all that school, after all the applications, after all we've been doing here in orientation...Pulling a REAL load for the first time out there!!

I gotta tell ya folks, I feel like a kid in a candy store with a BIG Tonka truck just loading it up!! All of a sudden, all the stress of this whole process just seemed to fade away and I'm actually DOING what I set out to.

So RL starts telling me where to go. Highways, byways, and some rather tight (I'd almost call them back roads) with lots of tight turns and hills. Yeah I scraped a gear here and there and yep, even missed two but recovered them quickly enough to get a "atta boy" out of RL.

With the exception of about 6 or 7 shifts, I didn't jerk the truck at all and on the ones I did, it wasn't bad. Just a bit of a rock (not even enough to "tilt" the tractor sideways on it's suspension from the torque. I got a funny little look from RL and then we laughed...LOL

The shifting they teach here really works well and although I've only had maybe 45 minutes of practice with it bobtail in the yard, I'm beginning to "feel" the process now and when you hit it just right, it's really SWEET. You don't even feel a change in the truck. Just the RPM's change.

I honestly can't believe how much I have to un-learn from the school I went to. For instance, one of our school instructors (and trust me folks, the guy is a great old school trucker and I have the utmost respect for him) would always harp on us to NOT use the breaks. Use the gears to slow the truck. Well I listened so well that I pretty much do that all the time. BUT! (and this is for any newbies like me that may have been told the same thing) DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE THEM!! Here's why...

Now I've never pulled a load this heavy. The tops in school was a 48 foot with 20k in it. So I was afraid to hit the breaks not knowing how a 44k load would react. Well, We're cruising at 50 mph, a nice 3 lane highway with a fair amount of traffic. I'm looking far ahead and I see a light turn green about 3/8 of a mile away. So I'm watching it, being careful, keeping my following distance in check and it looks like I'll make the light no problem. Well it was a pretty quick light and it goes yellow. In the school truck I wouldn't have thought twice about stopping for it. But this load was much heavier so having "don't hit the breaks" drilled in my head for so long, I look at the intersection and see there's no cross traffic waiting. I see the distance to the light and figured, OK, I'm committed to the intersection now so I keep going. Sure enough as soon as the front of the truck is about 15 feet from the light, she goes RED and I sail right on through it.

RL says, "that was a funny shade of green" and I swear every drop of blood in my body rushed right to my head and the sweat just started rolling off my forehead. I'm thinking, "Oh man! I probably just got fired" RL says "I know it was close Chris and honestly, a coin toss call but why didn't you stop"? I said, "at that speed and distance, I thought I'd have to hit the breaks pretty hard to stop". He says, "yeah...and"? So I told him about what I was taught in school. He told me that I should throw that out because the breaks would have stopped us no problem. SO, lesson learned. Use the breaks when you need to. Even if you gotta hit them rather hard to stop (always keep road conditions in mind though). My school had me so worried about "using them too much and not having them when really needed" that I was actually "afraid" to.

So anyway, we did a couple hours out there between the 3 of us in truck. Then we went to the yard to do some backing. So tomorrow we go back out on the road as the terminal is very busy on Fridays and I'm sure they don't need a bunch of green horns getting in the way of folks actually working for a living. Makes sense and is perfectly fine with me. I'd rather get seat time out here anyway. That, and my backing really is the strongest part of it foe me. I've been backing all kinds of trailers all my life. So although these are bigger and there generally isn't a whole lot of room to work with, the "concept" of backing is the same. I need being out there learning to deal with traffic, tight corners (oh, by the way I didn't shank a single one) and hills.

I have a bunch more homework to do tonight. Another log scenario, more Qualcomm study and yep, still working on memorizing the shifting points (Speed, RPM, Gear) So, I think I've typed enough and covered all we did.

WHEW!!!

 

Cpape, Thanks so much for stopping by and the very kind words sir!

I truly hope it helps at least a few folks out there to understand some of the "nitty gritty" of the process involved in entering into this industry as a driver. I also hope it will demonstrate the type of attitude one should have no matter what they pursue in life. That just staying focused and committed to your goals no matter what others might think or say is the only way to learn and progress.

I agree, I'm very fortunate to have such a wonderful group of folks who don't just show respect for this thread, but add to it's overall quality everyday. Kind of like you.

I'm really glad business is picking up for you such that you're still in need of quality drivers. They're out there and you deserve them buddy!

I will definitely stay in touch cpape and ya never know, I might just be able to pull a load or two for you down the road when I'm worthy. That would be fun. At the very least, I hope we get a chance to meet up out there. We should exchange contact info and maybe when I'm in your neck of the woods, we can have lunch.

 

Hi Blue Screen. Yeah, they are VERY serious but very nice about it. This is certainly a company that takes safety as it's top priority and they give the respect a driver deserves. So it's not a cake walk by anymeans but then, it shouldn't be.

Well, the Frieghtlinners have Detroit 60 and Eaton 10 speeds. I "think" they have some with Cummings and the same trans. Not sure what the Volvos have. I haven't been near one of them yet.

 

Well, I sure hope you pursue your goals. I believe you won't regret making a move with W/S. If nothing else, you'll get some really sound instruction and advise from some really great people who care.

Even if I don't "make the cut", what I've learned here so far (and trust me, there's a LOT more to come in just a few days left), the experience will add a lot to my overall knowlege of what it takes to do this job right.

Best wishes to you and I truly hope that the emergency was small, and the wedding HUGE!