Starting my career at Millis

ahah.. chicken lights .. hehe too funny. And L.E.D. accessories as well! The brighter the better!!

 

Well, it's been a good bit since my last post; I'm up in the middle of the night - for what reason I'm still not sure because I was resting just fine (at home in a proper bed) so I guess it's as good a time as any to update my blog

(seems that it's been taken over here recently anyway -- lol, no worries though everyone cause I get a laugh from all the sidebar as well as a few good tips)

I've been out for almost two weeks at a time - 12 actual days for three rounds with my first trainer. Kinda caught me a bit off guard, being that you have to make a full seven days prior to Wends. of each week to see it on a pay period following the next week.. so I should have guessed; didn't really have much control over when we were going out and coming back since the trainer calls the shots.

I've been out there with the best intentions, working that 14hr clock to the max at times. I study the traffic patterns, look for hazards, and for the most part have had a good mind on the speed of the truck. I've been pestering my trainer for more driving time from almost week two - and still haven't been doing all the driving up to this point mostly because of the demand from dispatch with late loads being dropped in our lap or so close to their deadline that there's no way to deliver it on time with out my trainer logging some of the drive line. I have had only a few times where it's been crucial for my trainer to back the truck for lack of knowledge in tight spaces or when the receiver had no specific amount of patience for me to 'train' and once for I had attempted it so many times that the others trucks and 'yard dogs' became a bit annoyed in the docks around me (the first week out actually). I have had a receiver come out and tell me that I was not square in the dock (off angle and two inches to far to one side) and although it only took me not even five minuets to fix it they did unload the truck that arrived after we did - adding almost two hours delay to my log and me going back to the yard for a good nights rest (and yes my trainer did actually tell me I was off and said that they would most likely skip us if they had to come out and make me move again).

I can't say that I've exactly been most happy with the first trainer though. Sure he wasn't yelling at me for much of anything - I know from my prior experiences that yelling doesn't accomplish much, epically if the learning environment is already tense. I know for a fact that I've asked to do walk around while I gave a 'by the book' approach to the pre/post inspection - the most we ever did was in fact just short of that with all the proper things looked at but never the two of us at the same time. As for backing - I'd get instructions sometimes, tips others, and mostly never been out of the truck for 'goal' with the trainer always looking and directing from outside the truck - even then it's never been a good idea because sometimes it's harder to follow the signals and keep tabs on objects or the line you're attempting to follow in other mirrors at the same time; and you can hardly hear half the stuff from either perspective - so I know, I know... GOAL yourself. I really don't care how much it's going to piss off the new trainer, or even if it causes us delay with unloading and that starts to affect the way dispatch wants things to run (on a side note - we've been so busy that I'm almost always pre-loaded before I even get near the receiver); I'm going to start running this part the way I want to. For starters, it's been the most difficult task in the past few months and from just about everyone that I've talked to, the more I get out and look from another angle or pause to examine the setup/approach/execution, the better my skills with practice will become. As for the shifting, I'm still lunging the truck (left to right), maybe some of you might call it rocking, especially on launch through the lower range. Sometimes it smooth and other times it's like I'm stressing the torsion bar. It seems to be worse/more consistent with lighter loads. Yes, I still clash the gears - but less each week; still mainly when downshifting or when I've come to a light that just about to stop me and then changes back to green and my road speed is slow enough for what I think should be fourth of fifth but I have no indication from the engine and transmission for listening to about how much is need to wind up the gear for 'sync' - and holding the gear to the box is only resulted in upsetting the trainer with grinds or even worse just outright stopping and waiting for the clutch brake to engage for a re-launch. I am starting to figure it out - like a giant 1,000 piece puzzle. Just a few weeks ago I couldn't from any gear to a lower gear without a noise of some type almost 90% of the time. Now, I can shift on hills up/down with about 20% failure rate. I'm not lunging the truck as much as I was at the yard in class, 'feathering' the clutch at gear speed a bit better. I'd say about the only other thing (at this moment and in this hour) I know I need more info on is sliding tandems to balance the loads. I know the general idea, I know the general four to five inch hole and five to six inch hole rules, and I know you can always weigh the loads in question of being close to 40k or more and use the scale ticket to adjust accordingly or go with the 'painted hole' or shift it for where the bulk sits to 'eyeball' the balance better on the drives. I'm sure there's more to learn, and I'm all ears there.

As for the remark about the banjo playing - does it count if your trainer comes equipped with one?