Started Mid Florida Tech today

This week was long and tough. We started Monday after being off for 16 days. We were turned loose to go out and practice the new manuevers that will be on the cdl skills test. Those consist of the 100 foot alley, the 90 degree dock, parallel parking (either conventional or driver side) and the offset parking (right to left or left to right). We all worked really hard on those and felt pretty comfortable by the end of the day.

Also, in the afternoon, we did a coupling/uncoupling test. Very easy, you just have to do the steps in the exact order that we are told to do them in.

Tuesday, we all got tested on the cdl skills test. Thank God the computer was kind to me. I drew the 100 foot alley, 90 degree dock and offset right. I could not have asked for anything better! Those were my 3 best skills. I am happy to report that all 9 of us passed.

Wednesday, the road tests began. While that was going on, we also practiced real world truck stop parking. We started out parking between barrels and then on Thursday we upgraded to parking between actual trucks. I have to say that I think this was a great exercise. No matter how much you practice the skills, it doesn't prepare you for real world, where there are no barrels, cones or lines drawn on the ground that you can use as reference points.

Thursday the road tests were finished up and again we all passed!!! I can not even begin to describe how much of a relief it was to get to this point. Only someone who has been through this process can relate. To put so much time and effort into something without knowing how it is going to end up is extremely frustrating.

Our instructor said it has been many years since he had everyone in the class pass all the tests. I am happy for all of us!!

We left early on Thursday with our paperwork to take to the DMV to get our licenses. We have to have our license in hand when we go back on Monday because that is when we will start the road trips and we will be driving with no instructors in the trucks. Well, sort of. The way it was explained to me is that we will take 5 trucks out every day. The lead truck will have 2 students, the 2nd truck will have 2 students and an instructor, the 3rd truck will have 2 students, the 4th truck will have 2 students and the 5th truck will have 1 student and 1 instructor. We all have cb radios to stay in contact in case we lose each other in traffic, or someone takes a wrong turn, etc. We will be rotating driving partners and trucks each day so everyone gets a chance in each truck. We have quite a variety of trucks to take out, 9 speeds, 10 speeds and I believe one truck is a 13 speed, although I'm not 100 percent certain on that, but will know after Monday.

We will leave in the mornings and stay out all day. We have one or two trailers that are reefer units and we will be discussing reefers on Monday. We will be running one of them because we were told that everyone can keep their lunch and drinks in the reefer to stay cold. Kinda nice to learn a little about the reefer as well.

I think that's about it....got my license and it is good for 8 years, was a little suprised to see that it's good for that long, but I guess for $67 it should be!!

I will be starting the job application process next week, that's a scary thought.....get all the way through this ordeal and then be unable to find a job due to this sucky economy........going to have to stay positive...about all anyone can do at this point!

 

Just wondering, read some of your other posts and you mention that you are also at MFT, but your id shows you've been a trucker for 10 years....another post says you already have your cdl......what am I getting wrong here?

 

Thanks! I really wish the recruiter for Windy Hill would have shown up. We never did hear back from them. Maybe she will still come before school is over. Good luck with your school in Tenn!!

 

We had school for 3 days this week due to Martin Luther King Holiday. The three days were spent driving all day.

The first day we had a five truck convoy, 2 students in the lead truck, 2 students in the 2nd truck along with the head instructor, 2 students in the third truck, 2 students in the 4th truck and 1 student and 1 instructor in the 5th truck. We went south and west, over towards Lakeland, then north to Lake Passafosokee (not sure on spelling) then back to Orlando. Good experience, lots of little towns to negotiate.

Second day, we had one student drop out, not sure exactly why, but since we only have 8 now, we are down to a 4 truck convoy. This day, we took John Young Parkway south to 192, 192 east to Holopaw, then 441 south to Cypress Quarters, then worked our way back up to Orlando.

Third day, we started out with the recruiter from Windy Hill. Her name is Donna. Seemed like a very nice and honest lady, didn't try to sugarcoat things too much. When asked if they were actually hiring at this time, her response was that they are hiring students from Mid Florida Tech. They will not hire from Roadmaster.

Anyway, this day, our little convoy took John Young Parkway to I4 West to 192 West to 27 North and we got the pleasure of driving through Clermont, probably one of the hilliest areas around central Florida. That was a joy! We stopped at a truckstop in Wildwood, then jumped on 75 north up to the Ocala area, got off 75 there, I believe on 376 N then onto 301 N, ended up in a little town called Waldo. The speed trap capital of the US according to our instructor. Had our lunch there and then headed back to Orlando, scenic route of course. We actually drove through a portion of the Ocala National Forest, crossed a bridge which was unbelievable! There is a skinny little bridge that looks like it goes straight up in the air, you can't see what's on the other side till you top the hill. Took our afternoon break in Barberville, got to cross a drawbridge and finally ended up back at the school.

It was a stressful week, but good training. Each day that you come in, you will be assigned to a truck and a driving partner. That way we all get to practice on the different trucks, different transmissions, etc. One student drives in the morning, then you switch with your partner and they drive the afternoon shift.

Next week, we will only have class 2 days, we will be off Monday for Martin Luther King day, have class Tuesday and Wednesday and that will be it. Wednesday we will be going in at 3 or 4 AM so that we will get some night driving practice. We will have another day the next week of going in early so the other half of the students will get their chance for the night driving as well. Due to the long day Wednesday, we get Thursday off! Works for me!!

 

Just found my old posts and thought I should give an update on what's happened since I last posted. My husband and I both successfully completed the training course, received our cdl's and our certificates. We went to orientation at Conway but we were in a group with drivers who all had experience. They were only looking to keep four people and halfway through the orientation we were let go. They kept the experienced drivers. We took a greyhound bus home and were really devastated. We called every trucking company we could think of that hired student drivers and were told by all of them that they had a hiring freeze and were only hiring experienced drivers. The economy had really done a number on the industry.

With no driving jobs to be found, we had to resort to taking whatever jobs we could find. We both got jobs in retail, which we absolutely hated, but we managed to stick it out for a year. At that point, I stumbled across some information on the internet about expediting. I did a ton of research and found that we could get on driving a straight truck with no experience. Since we hadn't been hired straight out of school, there was no chance anyone would hire us to drive a tractor trailer so we were limited to driving a straight truck.

It turned out to be a blessing because we took the expediting job and now 3 years have passed. We started out driving a truck owned by someone else and after a year we bought our own truck. The truck is now paid for and as owner operators leased onto a company we could not be happier!

I have kept a blog of our adventures if anyone is interested in checking out. I hope it's not against the rules to post it here. If so, I imagine a moderator will delete it. If anyone has any question about Mid Florida Tech or expediting, please feel free to contact me.

My blog is www.ourtruckisourhome.blogspot.com