Starting Training at Millis 5 July 2011

Today was training day 6 as we continue to hone our skills on parallel and alley backing. I have no idea why but alley backing is coming to me quicker than Parallel backing. We also continued working on our Pre-Trip inspections and that knowledge is beginning to sink in. Overall I feel as though I am gradually getting better with all that is involved.

 

Will do thx Gears....Be safe...

 

Well today was training day 8 here at Millis and we continued to work on backing skills. We had 4 stations set up (Alley/Driver side parallel/Blind side Parallel/and Off set backing). I am really feeling comfortable about backing now, took a few days but really feel good about it now. Will be doing the skills test tomorrow so hopefully I will keep it between the cones. We spent one more day backing than we wanted too but Greg our instructor wanted to make sure everyone is confortable with the basic handling before getting on the road. He really knows his job and takes a lot of pride in going the extra yard to assist the students. Very, very pleased with the training that I have gotten from Millis thus far. After testing tomorrow we will be on the road for the first time. Sure am nervous but as long as we listen to Greg I know we will do fine. I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow!

 

MaLsR - Glad you find it informative and glad I can assist!

 

Today was training day 9 here at Millis training in Carterville Ga and I am happy to report that I passed my basic skills (backing) test. Even though nervous as all get out, I was able to stay focused and applied the great training and made it happen. Immediately afterwards we loaded up and headed out on the road for our first real driving experience out on the public streets. Man again I was nervous and it showed at the first couple of red lights with a good bit of gear grinding. Dang I hate it when I grind the gears, very embarrasing!!! Although not as smooth as a start as I would have hoped for, I learned from my mistakes and after a half an hour did start to feel some what more confortable behind the wheel. I must admit, I did think it would be easier shifting out on the road but man was wrong! However, I did not feel quite as bad when I witnessed the other students making the same mistakes. Bottom line is I really enjoyed the opportunity to get out there and give it my best and look forward to continuing to polish the rough edges and mastering the shifting of those gears. We students will be making a run up to Trenton Ohio on Sunday for our 3 day orientation there. So we are all looking very much forward to that opportunity to continue to improve our skills toward our future job of being an OTR truck driver. Be safe everyone and have a great weekend!

 

Gunrunner I sure hope your right about the shifting. Man as much as my class was grinding the gears I was worried if the transmission would hold up untill we got back to the Millis training terminal. It is coming to us but we all just wished our individual skills would progress quicker. Oh well as our instructor Greg says patience is key. Looking forward to meeting you also on Monday. Is your class going to be having orientation starting Monday there at Trenton too? Take care and see ya on Monday! That is, if we don't tear the transmission out of the truck before we get there..LOL...