So... Who Taught You To Drive?

Myself, learned to drive before doing drivers ed in high school. Learned on a stick, When I joined the US Army. I went in as a truck driver, I was like a duck in water.. Well that's what the Instructors said. I drove everything from willies to M1A1 tanks. I was even a Instructor for My unit to teach others to drive.. Just last month I got My cdl.. Don't know why I didn't do this sooner..

 

Grandpa and Dad....They owned a trucking company along with a few other family members. Grew up in and around trucks, drove my first semi when I was 14 around the yard. From then til I was 21 and got my Class A this August, it was all yard time, no road time. But I learned everything I knew up to that point from them, and what I learned in the yard putting around. The rest I have learned running with the other guys in these transfers that have been doing it a lot longer than I have!

 

Myself. A farmer hired me to drive his freight shaker Silage truck. Threw me the keys and said drive! He rode with me for one load then was gone. When you are workin on a silage crew you got to keep up as it's some fast action. Thankfully I had a B model kitty.

 

i went to a truck school, the rest i learned while working at a lumber yard, asking questions, going out with guys. i taught myself most of what i know. i taught myself how to drive hi/lo range transmissions, taught myself how to float gears, etc.

 

1 good instructor and 1 bad one...

 

I never ever set foot in a truck driving school, actually I never really had any formal training at all. I also grew up in a trucking family, dad owned trucks, my uncles and cousins drove trucks. I often rode in the truck with my dad. My dad would sometimes put me in the big Mack with a flatbed to drive around in the fields and load up hay when I was about 14.

Since I am a farm girl, I grew up driving big farm tractors and farm trucks since I was about 10 years old, driving big equipment was no big deal for me, in fact when I did start driving trucks for a living I was pretty much a natural. I wan't nervous driving a big truck at all.

I started working for a trucking company right out of highschool, they made me their yard jockey since I had farm experience and could back up. I drove around the yard in an old highway truck with no power steering that they turned in the the yard truck.
This was the best experience for me, I learned how to manouver, back up, back up trains, learned how trucks work, learned how to fix problems when I ran into trouble in the yard, as most of the time I was by myself. I taught myself how to drive different transmissions,

A couple years later when I went for my licence and started to drive trucks on the road, I could back up better than any of the guys who came from the driving schools, I pretty much learned everything on my own, from my dad or from talking to the older drivers that I worked with.

 

My dad taught me to drive a car when I was 15, by the time I got permit and started drivers ed I could drive better then most of my peers. I picked up trucking at a couple of differnet companies, where they taught me the basics, to get my CDL I went to MTA truck Driving School here in Denver. Too bad they are gone now, but the guys here in Denver were the best, one old timer was mean as hell, but by god you learned to city drive with him.

 

I am old enough to have had drivers ed in high school.

In school we used a Chevy Malibu and an Impala (both automatics), and at home we had a Toyota Corona Mk II with a 4 speed. So I was kinda lucky to have a little of every size and type to learn on.

But drivers ed for a car is a lot like trucking school for the CDL - it is just enough to get your feet wet, and just enough to make you dangerous to be around.

 

When I first took interest I would ride with a friend who was a truck driver. He ran TN to OH and back. I know it's crazy, but he would put the cruise on going down the highway and we would switch drivers. That's because I didn't know how to shift yet.
Since it was a single bunk I had to sleep on a sleeping bag curled around the shifter.

I was a teamster warehouseman/truck driver back then working on a nuclear plant construction site. The biggest truck I drove was a 2 ton. Then a position come open hauling workers around the site and I took it. The box truck was full of workers and it was a double clutcher. I still didn't know how to shift yet. I jarred workers left and right, lol. That's when I decided to go to truck driving school. Digby had their own school, so I went with them. It was $1700.
They asked me if I had a problem being trained by a woman. I said no. I got a 60 year old woman
She knew her stuff and was a runner. We got along great. She got sick one time and I ran my log and hers both to complete a trip. She really appreciated that. You were suppose to be with a trainer 8 weeks, but she turned me loose after 6 weeks. The day I paid my loan off I quit them.

Edited: Oh this thread is about first first time driving.
My very first experience was at 4 years old. I crawled in my dads VW and knocked it out of gear. Down the driveway I went backwards. It veered off and went through the yard. I got a good spanking for that.
I remember one time my sister let me drive her Corvair. I was only 10. Then at 12 my brother would let me drive around the neighborhood. We drove through many a cornfields too, lol. My grandpa had a tobacco farm in GA. We would help him harvest. That's when I learned how to back a trailer. I was 12 then too when I drove the tractor for the first time. My very first load back to the barn I panicked and ran into the barn. The tractor stalled. Luckily nobody saw me.