Comments By Stevo Reno

Finished up today with recruiter there online.... Well, since that private school was a waste of too much time for nothing. I have bit the bullet (team driving) and signed up with CRST Can't believe the bad reviews out there, will have to go see for myself. I'm out of options, so it is, what it is now lol. I'm gunna just stay at their dorms, makes more sense, since I'm tapped out $$ and car needs tires......

I Start on 9/9/19, which is my mom's 79th birthday, if she were here. So an easy date to remember The private school won't help me out, other than them "trying" to gain more funding ($1,000) from the local WIOA/EDD program (not gonna happen!) Again, proof that private schools ain't all that great in the big picture! (20% pass rate, most need 2-3 tries, because of a crappy truck)

Yes I messed up my 3rd DMV test last week. Surprised me, since the lady examiner let me go thru the whole dang In-Cab spiel. THEN, she tells me she heard 20 psi, when I told her 55-75 psi on low-pressure warning devices !

And here I thought to myself during in-cab, "ok next is parking maneuvers, you got this!" Boy did she burst my bubble! I for the life of me don't get why she even let me continue on with the in-cab portion if in her mind I had failed air brakes???

Well, thru the course of the day sitting at DMV observing others, I noticed she and another female failed EVERY tester they had that day! hmmmmm Interesting lol. Well, to end this I will do my best to go thru the whole time with CRST, keeping in mind there's a rainbow at the end of the tunnel (maybe) Besides, I'm not 1 to just tug my tail and whimper off, and my buddy and his wife here are such Negative Nellies, it's ridicules.....I'm constantly tellin em they need a better attitude with positivity thrown in!

Telling me I should just quit and do something else HA! Not after I invested 6 months of time and effort into this whole enchilada! Hindsight IS 20/20

A common occurance here in So. Calif lines of rigs on the on ramps, exit ramps, rest areas etc Especially along I-40 E/W bound

Well, John I rebuilt a few of them old Cummins 400, @ 750k-1 million milers and they were work-horses for sure! Easy enough to rebuild and last back in the day......GMC Brigadere was probably the model after those Generals (time period). The 2 Pepsi bottling plants I worked at ran a few dozen of em back in mid '80's-'90s....

They had an issue cracking frames, where the clutch pivot ball/rod attached on the frame. LOL I found them cracks prior to their CHP annual inspections, turning hard right in the yard, the truck would go into neutral as frame crack opened in the twist. When I told em they needed fixed shocked them, no one else had found them cracks before......The welding vendor did surface welds just to pass inspection, but of course, they cracked right afterwards in use

Lol so happens our "training" trucks (3) are Volvo's .......total P.O.S.'s I would have invested the $$ spent on them to have the couple of dead Pete's made road worthy again instead.....

And when taking the test, if you run into a question you need to think on, skip it and go forward, it will comeback at the end of test(s) California, throws in 18 questions from the class "C" license (4 tests in all) 50 questions on general knowledge , 25 on air brakes, 25 on combo's, 18 on Class "C" (all I took)

Lol Rick S, yes and the dumb thing of not fixing the equipment,,,,is,the owner has multiple businesses,,,, aside from this "school" An Indian restraunt, a KFC or 2 , a part of Landstar truck outfit, to name a few...... recently he bought 1 of his daughters a 2019 Corvette, which she did not want, so he kept it for himself. She wanted n got a Beamer lol

Yet put in a new windshield ,,which wasn't really wasn't critical, and the clutch is now near top of the pedal engaging (needs adjustment) I've told him numerous times this truck used for DMV just needs a new governor on it... When max air psi "was" 115 last week, now it's 110 He was agreeing, then he says "Oh it's a Volvo, I can't change it" pfft ANY governor is replaceable DUHHHH

Same for mechanics Bobcat Bob, I had to condemn a car or 2 in my day at the Ford dealer.....Customers bring in cars with NO brakes left, after a quote (not that expensive) They'd decline to have repairs made, so the only way their car's left the shop were on a tow truck !! I'll be damned I'd let them "drive" it out,,, and then me being liable if n when they crashed, I don't think so ! lol They weren't too happy but oh well!

Seeing how Prime Inc. began in 1970, and Amazon Prime began in 2005 Kinda easy to see who "should" win this fight.... lol

Pending, whoever has the "patent pending" / TM lol

Congratulations Jamie!

Thanks Jim,..... yeah I have a new DMV appt next Thursday the 22nd.....Soon as I was done, I called the office to tell the girl to set me up again, ASAP.... Thursday was earliest.....True this truck is the ONLY 1 of 2 thats being used, the other has clogged DEF filter, and only does 5 mph, so its being used in the yard....Heard it needs cleaned again lol seems it lasts about 2 weeks before it peters out again....I said, maybe its time to replace it duhhh 600k+ miles (guessing) as test trucks turned over the 500k mark now. Think owners buying used and sure aint keeping up maintenance!

Yard trailer has both inner tires, without tread basicly wires flapping around....Has plenty of parts trucks in different stages of salvage.... Not my problem, I could fix stuff but am not there for free labor/repairs lol

Well, as far as what next? I plan to stick this out, too far into it to give up now! Besides I never give up on anything hahaha.....Maybe the planets weren't lined up just right yet. Tomorrows a new day to move forward....And I always say "Winners never quit, and quitters never win" Wasn't raised to give up, especially over trivial things thrown at us....

My "worst" case scenario, is if I have to, I will just suck it up and go with CRST, stay in their dorms, do my 10 months driving teams at minimum, and go from there..... My CLP is good til mid-December, so that kinda puts me ahead somewhat....

First is get 1 more DMV appt, and THEN I SHOULD, PASS lol Seeing at least while at the DMV thru the days, how each examiner does different things on the pad and each 1 has their own things they do.....

FAIL.... Gauge got me again plus guess I goofed on applied leak test/timer today the Gov maxed out at 110 not 115 psi like Friday hmmmmm Cant argue with em why try lol......

Jim, Went to this local crap shoot school, that the WIOA program got me into, when roadmasters wouldn't budge on their new budget limit of $3,500 no longer $5k Turns out school owner is longtime friends with my worker so he took me as a favor to her but no one else for that 2 others paid the $1500 out of pocket...

It is what it is if I failed, I failed, No one else's fault, but my own ....Even though I have this whole thing down pat in my head lol Proof that some private schools ain't worth the headaches. I shoulda been out driving the past 2 months already have wasted.... Just another test in life lol,,,,,, this too will pass ! (eventually)

Ok this will be my 3rd, time going to Fontana DMV for my CDL grrrrr I passed air brakes last time BUT the girl didnt like the air gauges readings, 99 psi for governor cut in, so was an "equipment failure" not mine! woot hahaha Last week a guy had to fix a trailer brake light that came unplugged, they gave him 15 minutes, good thing he fixed it or He'd be back, but he passed road after, all good for him....

Am so tired of this process there lol luck of the draw on examiner you get. She had me try repeating the process to no avail, the gauges suck 115 psi is max air and 99 to get governor to cut back in. Told school owner maybe replace the dang gov. duhhh

It is what it is, I should be fine. Lord knows I got the parking manuevers down pretty much. Know I will get a straight back and an off-set, 3rd is either the parallel, or alley dock....I'd prefer alley dock over a parallel, but can do either....Now for the clutch to work better LOL

Great Marc knock it out of the park good luck! After tomorrow see when I can get to May's orientation lol DMVs been a cluster **** last week grrrrr just another test in life and patience haha

"On the road again, lalalalala" can here it now for ya

WOW O.S. a beauty indeed congrats, and I'm sure you will use her well haha

Well, here's a lil' update: Today my 2nd 7 a.m. DMV test Well, I passed the air brakes part, BUT the Truck failed! lol My female examiner is newer than the others @ CDL testing,(1 year) so she is strictly by the book !

The Gov. Cut in on this truck is 99 psi= bad test, had me retry it 3 times,saying "maybe the truck needs to warm up" well it just drove 40+ miles so, it was plenty warm. It's just how this truck is (It needs a new governor, plain and simple) It Maxes out at 115 psi, so she marked it as a "postpone" since the air gauges aren't reading correctly....I have to go back a 3rd time next Thursday. I asked her since I passed air brakes test, can't we just move forward? HAHAHA nope! cdl booklet says 100 psi, she can't budge...dayyyum

Yet my classmate failed Tuesday by same examiner who failed me July 25th on his alley dock, being too shallow. Today we watched a guy do his alley dock in front of us. He had the bumper IN the box, but let off the brake, truck rolls, he hits trailer brakes, and bumper left the box, yet he got a pass??? lol

2 others yesterday from our "school" passed lol the guy screwed up on lots of stuff, but the old timer let it pass. Road time 1 trailer brake light is out, he got 15 minutes to fix it, and hit the road..He did, and stalled the truck on the road at the first intersection, and got to continue on LOL.....

So he tells his examiner, there's a girl up next if he can help her out to pass. Examiner says "it's the luck of the draw/random, and I ain't promising nothing".....Well, on her maneuvers I guess she plowed over a pylon, scrubbed a curb etc, yet got a pass/license wow!......I just guess, it's who you get as an examiner, and what time of day, and what their mood is, to pass or fail.....OR It's this schools crappy truck/trailer......The 2nd truck used for the DMV testing, is stuck in limp mode for a plugged DEF filter, once again (about every 2 weeks) Maybe forget cleaning it, and just replace it, ya think? lol...So it's just being used for the yard manuever practicing

It's kinda comical really.........Ok enough mental images ,,,,,,peace outtie

Yeah Craig the parallels were giving me some hard grief....Then I figured it out, with my starting set ups. Went thru 12 good in the box lol (on both sides) Even jumped in the cab, to help a female gets hers figured out that day..... She was having really hard time not jack knifing the trailer lol Was easier helping her in the cab that outside over engine noise Now to do it Friday @ DMV (getting past air brake test 1st !!)

Trucking TRUTH..........<---- that right there, is what grabbed my attention 5 years, ago, and kept it! Can't get any plainer than that lol.....Let me tell ya I have gleaned a LOT of info over the years here..... Never was 1 for having smoke blown up my skirt (NO ! I don't wear or wanna wear a skirt, don't have the legs for it haha) Now I'm starting to even see this site showing up on my news feed on my cell phone at times (topics).....

Who has the Bar-B-Que sauce?

Great to hear you've done so much in 2 years 100 pounds probably had to be the hardest......I'm looking to go with May Trucking also, as soon as I pass my dmv test Aug 9th. Will be calling em to let my recruiter lady know lol

Goodluck and git 'r'dun lol

PackRat lol I have THAT size wrench, might wanna load it too then when I get to that point..... Rare to use a 1 3/8ths but it happens! Biggest I have is a 2 inch wrench lol Do still have a few big sockets, even 1 to remove big trucks rear wheel hub axle nuts

Yeah I used to own a custom made Matco roll away, Burgundy metal flake with gold handles and my name plaque, which I kept, when I sold it back to Matco...............

It weighed 1000 pounds "empty" shipping weight!! When it got delivered Became too much of a pain to move from place to place, needed a forklift etc since it probably weighed a couple tons with it loaded....

Rick lol you posted while I was typing mine out

Yeah them big Snap On wrenches, yikes! And sockets, hell ALL their branded tools lol Think my 1 7/16 wrench was close to $200 by itself back in mid 1990's ! lol didn't buy lot of em, found Proto large wrenches lots cheaper @ swap meets etc....

Tools I have missing from Ariz job when I broke shin bone.....$7,000 tools missing! $500+ Mac air drill, (2) Snap On..1/2 torque wrenches @ $450 each, My Cummins dual indicator injector timing tool set $400 lots of misc 1/2 n 3/8 sockets,, ratchets....List goes on, so much for my boss securing my stuff and locking my boxes....He musta went thru a lot of thieves/tweekers .....When I was finally able to get my stuff home, he had also lost ALL my dang keys!

Eh What'cha gunn'a do, I figure Karma will come around one day lol