Profile For Scott K.

I thought I'd give a brief summary of my time at The Ohio Business College trucking school and what it took to get through the program.

Briefly, I was a career maintenance and engineering professional. I was very hesitant about giving up a 90K per year job, even though I was completely burned out and tired of the fairly typical corporate day to day hassles. Micromanagement, dishonesty, much younger managers who do not know a craft or how to work with people. I was financially in a position to go to this particular program on the weekends, This meant about three months of going seven days a week and not missing classes. That was especially important because missed work a) has to be made up and b) can screw up your driving schedule as a trainee and prevent you from graduating on time.

All of the instructors were experienced drivers, some younger and some older. All of them are direct and easily understood. They are also good with people for the most part. We got started on time each time and had a very small class. That turned out to be good because it left only four guys by the time range time was available and there was little competition for the range tractors. There was a constant emphasis on this being training for passing the BMV exam. More learning in the trucking industry would follow. How true!

Classroom time was quiet with a lot of study and practice tests. It still has to be done and the practice tests lead up to taking the learner's permit exams and provide the foundational knowledge for the pre-trip and driving portions of the exam. This area could probably be made more interesting but the other side of it is that it is just a necessary part of the requirements. CDL study guides are not any more interesting to read than any other government document. Good information? Yes! But not attention grabbing. You have to suck it up and slug your way through it. I carried my guide and pre-trip checklist in the truck when we road tripped and studied when I was driving or when range activities were limited. It will pay off, so study and then study some more.

Range time was interesting. It's always safe to assume that there will be one or two who believe that the ability to drive manual transmission and back a boat trailer will put you ahead of everyone else. Big trucks have medium speed diesels versus high speed gas engines found in cars. All of the rotating mass plus the lower geared transmissions make shifting a lot different. Trailers are different too, simply because of the length. So the learning curve is still steep.

The old adage practice makes perfect applies only in that a lot of practice is needed. The saying should read, "Perfect practice makes perfect." Consistently failing and failing to correct the problem will not result in success ultimately. I personally struggled with the "big picture" of what was actually taking place when I performed maneuvers. All of the instructors were a bit different in there approach, though three of them taught the same methodology. Some of the differences were irritating at times simply because we were just trying to get one way down, not three or four. In the long run, seeing how one of our trainers could jump into the cab in the alley dock area, start the truck in reverse, and then finish the alley dock standing outside the cab on the running board/step helped us to realize that not every maneuver was the same each time and that there was a million ways to approach the problem. Was he showing off? Yes. But he was making a point. For me , visualizing where I was at and what the truck was doing was the most difficult part of the training. Indeed, I failed the maneuvering portion of the BMV exam of the first time around simply because I could not consistently figure out how to correct the problem even when I got out and looked. Where do I want to be? Where am I at? What do I need to do to correct/improve my position? These are critical to maneuvering. It actually took me another four weekends in training to finally relax and start to figure it out. In that extra time I began to appreciate the different approaches to each maneuver by the different instructors and why they emphasized the points they did. Several of them took particular interest and took extra time with me even though another class was already in progress.

I successfully passed the BMV exam on the second attempt and ultimately hired on a few months later with Garner trucking here in Ohio. I stop back and visit the instructors at the school fairly often and they're always ready to listen and give advice. They were especially helpful in selecting an employer they though I'd be able to stick with for a year. Stay with your first company a year and figure out what you don't know and learn it.

My instructors at the Ohio Business College prepared me well to learn more, stop and think through problems, and keep at the basics. Keeping a bright smile with my driver manager and doing all those little things that are consistently mentioned in the school and on this site. Visually check your 5th wheel locking bar. Do good quality pre-trip and post-trip inspections. Don't refuse loads. Go the extra mile. I can still hear the sound of my trainers knocking on the passenger window and with increasing volume saying, "Tandems. Watch your tandems!" I can highly recommend this school to anyone who is willing to work at learning to drive. You'll be well prepared for the career that follows.