Starting Swift Academy in Lewiston Oct 10!!

More stories!

Sunday I rode up the hill on the other side of the valley - the old Lewiston Hill Spiral Hwy - and across the rolling farmland to a gravel farm road that went down a different canyon back into the valley. It was clear and cold, the views from the hill were great, and the long paved climb and then long gravel descent down the canyon was fun. There was frost still lingering thick on the grass on the north-facing slopes, and I didn't have my warmer gloves or pants on. By the time I got to the bottom, my toes had passed through numb and pain and back into numb again - I couldn't even tell I had separate toes when I tried to wiggle them! My hands were cold too, but they warmed up as I rode along the Snake river back to Lewiston. I arrived cold, tired, and hungry, and dark was falling fast. I sat in the Albertson's eating pizza and soup and drinking hot tea while my feet thawed and my legs relaxed. I love doing this stuff, but I need to do it more often so a 40-mile ride doesn't wear me out so bad.

I replaced the batteries in my alarm clock last night, and this morning it didn't ring. I woke up at 4:45, and snapped into desperate action. I rushed about throwing on layer after layer of clothes, stuffing snacks in my backpack, then ran down the street to class. I got there 5 minutes late, just under the wire to avoid getting written up. Today was our first day of road driving, so I ran to the truck where the other two Oregon people in my class were doing pre-trip, and off we went driving. After a bit of demonstration, I hopped in and drove for an hour and a half, after which the other two each got an hour and a half of driving. Considering I was low on blood sugar and energy from skipping breakfast (and eating snacks at every moment to make up for it) I felt like I did well. In the afternoon I did my pre-trip evaluation and passed (barely - I missed 10 things) then drove up Lewiston hill, looped around and went back down. It was cool coming down with my feet flat on the floor, using the jakes to keep the speed under control.

I met one of my former classmates in the terminal just now; he passed his CDL, went through orientation last week and met his mentor tonight to head out on his first load. It was cool to catch up, and a real encouragement to see a familiar example of the kind of success I'm hoping to have soon.

Yes, I understand why they teach it and agree with all of that; I'm glad we went through the exercises and have the skills. No system or tool is infallible and the more complex ones (like computers) are usually more prone to problems. I'm not asking about the value of those skills - they're unquestionably valuable.

What I'm asking about is just what is common for drivers to use everyday. Don't most drivers use software (either on a smartphone, GPS device, or laptop) to do most of their route planning? Having the paper map skills is essential, but actually using them every day when there's a much faster and more accurate option doesn't make sense.

Supper time! Then bedtime, and more road driving tomorrow. Driving is a lot to keep track of, but it's a lot of fun, too.

 

Today started pretty rough, but got better and turned out great.

Of us three students, one seems to be taking a little longer to get everything right, and the instructor has a little less patience with him. He started driving first (it was his first night driving and only his third road driving), and after an hour, the interaction between him and the instructor had devolved into tense, nervous mistakes and then frustrated rants and put-downs. The instructor gave little helpful info on setting up corners, guiding shifting, etc, and the student had little confidence or skill. This student is pretty sensitive to such things and tries harder than most to please people, so he was really having a hard time - it was all a downward spiral of negativity on both sides. I wasn't sure if he would be able to talk to the instructor about these things without blowing up, but I'd made up my mind to talk, since I've had more experience than I'd like to remember in dealing with abuse and otherwise difficult situations. Fortunately, we took a break near sunrise and all talked to the instructor, and we soon came to understand each other, apologies were offered all around, and we started again. This time the instructor offered more help, and was more patient, and the student responded by relaxing and doing much better, creating an upward, positive spiral. We each took 2-hour turns driving, and the rest of the morning went well, with all of us feeling good and doing well. By the afternoon driving sessions, we were out in the country on small roads, and mostly chatting away about all kinds of things. Overall the day was good - lots of learning and we all had fun.

I'm finally feeling pretty comfortable in the truck and starting to relax and get used to mundane things like shifting and getting the truck in the right place in the lane, which really helps when doing commentary driving and watching and responding to the changing traffic situation. I'm looking forward to more driving tomorrow, and we'll head down to Ontario on Thursday to test on Friday.

I see you've found your place in the world! It's a lesson I hope that I've learned as well.

 

I graduated the academy!!

This is something different than getting your CDL - I still have to get that, so it's not over yet. But I found out today that, since I repeated a day due to my 2-week license snafu, I have now completed all the hours I need. And I passed the road evaluation today (got 8 points out of about 21 available) so that's all that's necessary as far as the academy goes.

Tomorrow the three of us from Oregon will drive down to Ontario so we can take our CDL tests on Friday. Since I (and another student) don't need any more driving hours, we'll drive our own cars down there and head home from there once we're done with the test. Hopefully that'll be early enough that I can get back to Ashland before it's too late to stay with a friend. I'm not sure what the schedule is tomorrow or the next day, though.

I still need a lot of practice to polish things like shifting, taking corners, staying at the right speed, etc. But I'm feeling fairly comfortable driving, and the instructors say I'm doing a good job, so I think I'm as ready as I need to be. All of us who are about to take the CDL test got another 30 minutes of range time today to make sure our alley dock and offset back is ready.

It's been beautiful driving around this week - fall colors in the river valleys, crisp bright days, brown hills dropping steeply to rippling rivers. I'm looking forward to getting to see more beauty everyday once I'm on the road.

I'm looking forward to the free motel room tomorrow night! I usually shy away from comfort and convenience, but it's nice once in awhile. Wish me luck on the test!

 

PASS!!!


It was an auspicious day. Full moon the night before, 11/11/11 marking the first day of the rest of my life, and a fresh start with my beard, hair, and nails trimmed, a shower and clean clothes, and getting to sleep in. How could anything go wrong?

Between the three of us, we'd decided what order we'd like to go in, but the tester had his own ideas, and I went last. Time seemed to drag on interminably while I sat, slightly nervous, in the Burger King while waiting for the other two students to finish. They both passed, but had spots of difficulty with alley dock, curbs, etc. I was encouraged, but still a bit nervous, despite being confident.

I missed one on the pre-trip - the second set of air lines on the tandems, which our sheet doesn't list. Alley dock and offset back were perfect, with no pullups. I found that downshifting - one of my nemeses on the road - seemed to have sorted itself out since I'd last driven the truck two days ago. I nailed a few tight right-handers, putting the tandems about 6 inches from the curb all the way around. But I also missed a shift, rolled back a few inches on a start, swung wider than I had to on one corner, and whatever else added up to 6 points on the road test. It all went as well as could be hoped for, and I didn't have to ask if I'd passed. The tester even complimented me on my backing and turning skills, but that may just be his standard practice. Overall, I felt good - not just about passing - but about driving as well as I ever have when it counted. Afterwards, I was fairly bubbling with excitement as I got my stuff ready to drive the 9 hours across Oregon to get home.

I had some magic moments on the drive back. As the last tendrils of sunset lingered in the western sky, I wound south along the narrow strip of asphalt between Abert Rim and Abert Lake. The full moon rose over the cliff to the east, bathing the snow-dappled hills in its soft glow. Flecks of deep blue and pale white glinted off the lake. Time slowed as I soaked in the calming ambience.

Thanks! The motel room had lots of other useful amenities that my car/shipping container doesn't: A sink, mirror, toilet, desk, and heat. I made good use of them all! But probably the most important thing was the extra time in the afternoon for a nap and catching up on my internetting. We arrived in Ontario at about 1pm and had supper at 6, and I was glad to have so much extra time to relax and take care of things before the big test.

Orientation is next week, and the sooner I get on a truck with my mentor, the better. It's possible, but highly unlikely, that I'll get my 240 hours before Christmas. But after today, the sky's the limit!