Third week into school, and having problems.

Hey Strata,

I know how you feel. I think I have ground the transmission in my (training) tractor to a fine powder my first week. Please know it is much easier now and it will for you. YOU are NOT the first to "freak" behind the wheel during your first (or second or third...) week on the road and you will NOT be the last. You cannot get perfect, even "good" in four weeks so give yourself a little breathing room and take Msfern29's advice...

Anyone who chides you on the CB or otherwise, ever, has forgotten his first week behind the wheel...

I've alway's wanted to walk up to someone who gives any newbie a "laugh-at" and simply ask him: "How did you do that?", to which he'd hopefully respond with "do what?", to which you or I would say "get to where you are, #######, without EVER having been a newbie yourself." Of course, I'd have to be a jerk myself to start that kind of confrontation...

Good luck to you out there and if you run across "tut", tell him hello, he'll be in a Crete truck.

 

just take your time. be methodical with how you do things, and just keep plenty of distance between you and the vehicles in front of you. relax, but do not become over confident or ####y.

personally, i think they wasted too much time with the yard portion. 3rd week of the training and they are just now taking you out on the surface roads? i went to my local college and took the CDL course there. the first 2 days was videos and paperwork. the 3rd day of the 6 week program was the students who had their permits were taken on a 10 mile bobtail run in pretty good traffic.

the 4th day they stuck the trailers on them and there was no looking back. those who did not have the permits were stuck to backing and parking practice, then when they did get the permits, there was no bobtail run for them. they got it all at once. tractor and trailer.

personally, i was shaky the first 3 or 4 days of driving. then after being in the tractor with the ones who had no idea what a clutch was, i learned to relax. i figured out that learning would be exponentially harder if i was scared to death.

it will come to you. dont expect to be perfect on everything you do. do what we did......ask the instructors what the point losing areas are on the test. i do not know about your location, but mine, the instructor was state certified to give the actual road test. there were 3 teachers, and i had the one that was the state certified examiner.

we asked him how the grading was done and he told us exactly what will cost you points and what the automatic fails were. the parking test is exactly how it will be on the test, it is just a matter of what you will do......alley dock or parallel. everyone does the straight backing and one offset.

the routes they took us on during school were ten times harder than the road test. we did all our driving downtown in morning and afternoon traffic. great learning tool for traffic, learning your turn setups, judging your timing and shifting across intersections, etc.

dont try to impress anyone, just give it the best you can and that is all anyone will ask you to do.

 

perfect right off the bat is unrealistic. turn off the cb and the jerks imo. those who expect perfection right off the bat, or with only one pull up, are the ones who are giving truckers a bad reputation for being ##*h*** jerks. I know guys who've driven for years who say they don't always get it in one pullup. better to be safe then sorry. those jerks on the cb can and will find fault in anyone for anything, they have nothing better to do.
use your get out and looks, go slow backing, use as many pull ups as you need. those who talk about you don't matter, what matters is practice and getting it right, not hitting anything, and being square/straight in the space when your done. be proud of what you do. having it right when your finished is more important then what others say about you. impress yourself, not them.
who is the more impressive, they guy trying to learn and get it right? or the guy who isnt helping, just poking fun?

 

Have you really looked at some of those people out there??

Holding your breath only works for a couple minutes.. After that you fall unconscious and crash..

 

It will come to you. I try to do better the next day than the one before. I've been doing that for over 20 plus years and it's for my own reasons and no one else. Turn off the CB when you're backing. Backing a truck does not make a professional driver. For example, very few gasoline haulers have to back at all and backing is a skill that you need to keep on top of. So I've seen drivers with 20 years safe driving in the city not be able to back without pullups. But put them in a crowded city and into a gas station with inches of clearance and they'll do it perfect every time.

When you get behind the wheel just make sure you've checked everything and are ready to go. Relax a bit and keep you eyes moving. Check the mirriors and watch way down the road. After awhile you'll start to know the indicators for trouble and you'll have enough time to respond. Whatever you do do not let anyone push you outside of your comfort zone. After a few shifts behind the wheel you'll start to get it. Just don't ever get over confident and think you know all there is to know. I learned something knew all the time and that only makes you a better driver. Good luck.

 

Great advice from all of these guys! One thing to add: Everyone was new driver at some point in time! The ones laughing were the ones that had the hardest time learning how to drive (and probably still do). TAKE YOUR TIME! Don't let any idiots rush you. You will be surprised at how fast you are going to pick it up! After day one when you are on the road with your trainer you will be pro! Good luck to you!

 

Hey thanks for all the great advice guys. Im not too concerned with the backing at this point, so it takes me a couple of trys to get into the box, but im getting it in.. all i need to do is make sure i dont take more then my one free pull-up for the yard skills exam. I've gotten another day of driving down.. my classmates drove though the city, then i drove us back on the freeway.. past some construction, up afew slopes, down the off ramp, and back to the school, passing afew lights i needed to stop at, and a few really nasty, sharp turns.. Funny how i felt more at ease doing 65 mphs on the freeway, then 35 on surface streets..

But then, wouldnt it just be my luck, towards the end of week three, with only one more week to go for the program, i had to check myself into the hospital to find out theres something wrong with my stomach! Im home now, thankfully, but they've got me on meds for the next week and a half, ones that specificly say, no operation of heavy machinery or driving... and from the last two days taking them, i can see the reasoning for that... Well, hopefully when this is kicked out of my system, ill be back in good shape!

 

Let me pass along one other tip in regards to backing. When you're in the real world, forget about that "one pull up" rule. Can't tell you how many new drivers get hooked on that rule and end up frustrated and (I surmise) feel like failures, at least temporarily. You take as many pull ups as needed to back in safely.

Remember your basics as you have been taught in school. Apply them to each situation individually. Over time, you'll pick up on short cuts and tricks to make your life easier. For example, when backing into a dock door that has, say, another vacant door on one side of it or the other, don't sweat about hitting the door on the first try. Just get the trailer "in the neighborhood", then adjust as needed. Too often, new drivers are programmed to think "I gotta hit it on the first try!". Nothing could be further from the truth. I guess this is a very long-winded way of telling you to not make the job any harder than it has to be.

You'll do fine. Keep us posted, and again...good luck!