Comments By SkyGuy

Months of researching and pondering a career change has lead to now! Looked into both company sponsored training and private CDL school - Wanted the option to have a choice of companies to work for vs. being locked into one in addition to working at current job as long as possible. The school suggested that I go in with out taking the tests, but had time to kill so began studying for CDL permit in late March - passed General Knowledge, Air Brakes & Combination on the 1st try in April - gave my job my two week notice and enrolled in school - passed DOT physical and drug test 1st week of May and started day one in the yard 5/12! Very happy I came into school with my permit and tests passed as feedback from a lot of students who did the classroom portion in school say it was a bit rushed - they all had failed 1 of the 3 needed for permits and glad I was ahead on that front.

1st day - pre trip inspection - instructor hands us all 5 page packet of paper with pre-trip steps and tells us to read it out loud and then do it...I could read just fine but having never been inside the driver seat of a big rig, had to apply myself and figure out where are my air pressure gauges were etc. instructor would yell find it! do it! whats next! made me nervous... I got out of the seat and another student jumped in - read the paper and did the steps... other students with me were goofing off, texting, and telling stories of what they were going to do with their license (after an hour of being in a truck) I payed attention, asked questions and tried to learn from others during their time... Instructor gave us homework to memorize the paper and be able to do the pre trip with out it the next day - so I went home and practiced - sat in my Jeep and practiced the motions of air brake tests, pointed at things for in cab inspections -my goal is to KNOW the materials not memorize it.

Day 2 - Had a student come into the truck who was taking his road test that week to perform his pre -trip for us newbies... This guy could not remember a thing... instructor was not pleased (more yelling)... the folks who spent the 1st day goofing off were put into the chair... looked at the paper and read every step... Instructor points to me and yells "okay now you..." with no paper, I got all air brake tests but missed two things on the in cab inspection (instructor was quick to yell "what about your wipers") got to the end and was told "good job" and instructor smiled (I didn't know he had teeth until that point) Asked me why I could do it with out the paper when the others could not- told him you gave us homework and I did it! Rest of the day was outside pre-trip inspection - tried to think of silly words or pictures to help me remember parts of a truck which helped. End of the day instructor tells us that was it for pre-trip lessons, it was up to us to practice it and learn it - told us that most people fail the pre-trip part of the exam because everyone is so focused on wanting to drive, but the reality was if we couldn't pass the pre-trip there was not going to be any driving...

Day 3 - straight line backing... another instructor - very old, has been in trucking for years with a great teaching style - calm, explained what we were going to do, how we could make it work, and asked if we had questions before we started - admired his patience and willingness to help out vs. yell. My 1st try I had him telling me left / straight / right... easy enough... 2nd time -solo with instructor watching from in front of the truck... thought back to what I remembered from the CDL manual "turn the wheel in the opposite direction of where you want the trailer to go" okay I want to go left so I will turn the wheel to the right... EPIC FAIL... cones everywhere, my straight line was more like Godzilla throwing cones... ate me some humble pie and had a new found respect for the drivers in the truck stops I had been speaking with to get their rig into a parking lot let alone a narrow spot. Instructor tells me follow the trailer!!! walk back to some razzing about traffic cone massacres from the other students and watched the others do it - rather than goof off / zone out, I motioned where I would turn the wheel as the other students were backing -- was helpful -- few more times following the trailer helped (no smushed cones) but was still way short of the box we needed to stop in so tried to get some pointers on that - instructor tells me "you will just know it"... looking forward to that day...

Day 4 - Came in early - did a mock pre-trip on one of the broken trucks on the lot and nailed it - expected to do straight line but instead was broken into groups to practice hooking and unhooking - not part the exam but good to learn. Afternoon was straight line and while waiting for my turn again, went to the broken truck with a few other students to help them (and me) practice and learn pre-trip... my last straight line of the day, I finally made it into the box!

Some observations - even when it isn't my turn, I still learn a lot from WATCHING and LISTENING - lots of students who talk what a great driver they are, then mess everything up... see them goofing off etc. I ask them how long they have been at school and they say 3 months, 7 months... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It is a 4 week course and my goal is to do it in 4 weeks and PASS. Will only get out of this school what you put into it and having the right attitude... looking forward to week 2 adventures!

Nothing beats free...but how does truck stop parking work for company drivers? See a few open chain truck stop lots in my travels to chat with other drivers but others with gates -- Does the driver have to pay for parking? Is it something that the company covers? Is parking tied to a chain's loyalty program? OR Is it just some random gate for security? Any insight is appreciated!

Welcome SkyGuy!

I used to be in the TV business as well (live/satellite truck & master control). Now I'm a boat mechanic in the Adirondacks (Upstate NY). I'm going to be starting CDL training at the end of this boating season. You've certainly come to the most positive trucking website on the internet! My head is still swimming in all the information. But as someone said in another thread, you have to approach it like "How do you eat an elephant? ....one bite at a time!"

Best of luck! And keep us up to date on your progress!

Tarren

Mmmmmmm elephant... Thanks Tarren! Way too many cramped hours in a Sat truck producing...hopefully giving me the skills to rock a LW truck (yes even a Pinkle one Daniel B..) - you may have saved me in a live shot and not even known it! Best of luck on your journey!

Welcome to TT!

Are you saying that you've been stalking my posts?

Alas Daniel I have - (in the friendliest way possible...) Pre-hire letter from Prime as well as a few others and your journey has been a huge help!

Long time reader, 1st time posting...

Wanted to give a huge thanks to Brett and the TT members for this site as it has been incredibly refreshing to see such positivity on the net where every other site is so quick to go to the dark side. Some background, I have been in the TV industry for 15 years and decided it was time for a change and a new challenge and this site has been instrumental in keeping my outlook positive on the long road ahead in this new path. After researching, soul searching and stalking TT members posts about the industry and what to expect, I made the plunge, became an 'official' TT member and not an anonymous stalker, passed my permit test and start private school CDL training on Monday.

Appreciate the industry insight and look forward to adding my experience in the days and weeks to come!

Keep up the great work on the site Brett and thanks to all members for encouraging me with out knowing it :)