Comments By Kevin R.

The last three weks have literally been a nightmare. All of us waking up to the fact that we are kind of screwed. Now i want to stop here and admit that lots of people whine and complain about things when they didnt put in the effort or prepare properly and then fail. That is not the case with me or my classmates. I have perfect attendance. I did not miss a roll call in six months. I have a 3.5 gpa. My classmates and i busted our tails in 95-100 degree humid weather at the height of the summer heat here in the Mid-Atlantic. Trainers out on the course are telling us to all get together and go as a group to the director of the program. If we go in numbers they think he will listen. when we go as individuals he thinks that we fall into the two main categories of people who fail at training. Those who do not prepare and then for obvious reasons fall flat on their face when test day comes. Then there are those who put in the work then become basket cases on test day and have some kind of meltdown. The diresctor is being misinformed by the road instructors and bases his iopinions on their input. Here is my evaluation of this school step by step and how they could improve after the description of the training... The program is broken down into several parts. First there is a ten week class room setting. The training is over the top thorough and the instructor is fantastic (Jim Huff). Jim is such a pro you could ask him what flavor he would be if he were an ice cream and he would politely answer and ask if you have any other questions. Then we move to 10 weeks on the range where again the training is over the top thorough and the instructors are top notch. Professional, patient (and trust me they need it with me because i overthink everything and ask a million questions. if i am 90% certain of something i want to be 100% so i ask a question to be sure). Then unfortunately the needle comes off the record with a halting screech. All of us were very confident that the excellent training we received in the classroom and range would continue on the road but it did not. We went form moving around a training range in first and reverse to being handed keys on the shoulder of a road in the very very very busy and dangerous Philadelphia area. Me and my classmates were told by our instructors all the way through the program after each road session what a wonderful job we were doing and how wonderfully we were progressing and how in their expert opinion we were all going to do fine...(now please sign here....here...here..and here). Now they have signed documentation that we are satisfied. After every road trip i was told how wonderful i was doing. It was total bull****. i got to my 11th out of 14 trips and with a different instructor was informed that my foot was off of the clutch before i was in gear and that would be a fail on the state exam. so here i am with three road trips left informed that i have been told all the way through how wonderful i was and that "all you have to do is smooth out the shifting and get your rhythm down and stop shifting as hard". when in reality my shifting technique was completely incorrect. i talked to a guy in the company im supposed to go to work with after i get my cdl who said that the way he found out that he didnt know how to shift was when he took the state exam and the examiner screamed and bellowed at the driver at the top of his lungs "What the **** are you doing?" Pull over immediately you fail. He was pushed along all the way through his road training and passed the road final to complete the training without ever demonstrating that he knew how to double clutch properly. The director of the program trusts and believes his road instructors and they are really in a nut shell destroying the school. when we complain to the director of the program the instructors tell him "they dont listen". I taught myslef how to shift watching Youtube videos. looks like im out of room here.

They did teach us that the operating range is 1300-1500 but when i had trouble shifting in my road final for the last course of the program before the state exam i was told that some vehicles have a different normal operating range and that i should ask the examiner what the normal operating range is of the unit im testing in. i thought id ask if there is another way to figure it out. When i ask questions at my school or if i say i am preparing for the test im told i had six months to prepare for the test and its to bad if i dont know the answer to a question at this point in the process. Not EVERYONE at the school is like that but its a common response i get when i ask questions.

Operating range does vary from truck to truck (according to what motor it has). Usually, you can look at the TACHOMETER and it will show it in green & yellow around the numbers on the tach.

13-1500 is kind of a real narrow operating range - sounds more like the SWEET SPOT than the range.

And your school sounds like it SUCKS from what you've been relating here...

Rick

Ive been doing some googling looking for someplace in my area where i can practice with a shifting simulator. I cant find anything. im willing to drive up to 300 miles to get my hands on a simulator that i can practice on for literally hours if i want to. Im in the Philadelphia area. the simulator at my school was broke when class began and has never been fixed or replaced then they tell us all through the training how useless simulators are. i dont see how sitting at a simulator and just physically practicing the physical procedure of the shifting process is "useless". It would at least get the physical process into our long term memory so we can think about other things than shifting when we were out on the road trips.

They did teach us that the operating range is 1300-1500 but when i had trouble shifting in my road final for the last course of the program before the state exam i was told that some vehicles have a different normal operating range and that i should ask the examiner what the normal operating range is of the unit im testing in. i thought id ask if there is another way to figure it out. When i ask questions at my school or if i say i am preparing for the test im told i had six months to prepare for the test and its to bad if i dont know the answer to a question at this point in the process. Not EVERYONE at the school is like that but its a common response i get when i ask questions.

Weight doesn't change the RPM/Gear "operating range" - it DOES CHANGE the "driving style". You'd want to hold your RPM's HIGHER before the shifts (to maintain momentum), and use a combination of brakes and downshifting (and engine brakes) to slow the rig down.

Obviously a loaded rig is going to take more power to get moving, and more brakes/engine effect to slow down, than an empty one.

Most private schools don't run any weight in their "training trailers" - so you are used to moving empties around. The GAME CHANGES when you have 40,000 lbs in the box behind you. Kinda SHOCKING the first time.

Probably why company schools are better in that respect - as soon as you get out OTR, you are dealing with LOADED BOXES FROM DAY ONE.

Rick

In order to shift knowing the normal operating range is essential. Other than asking the examiner on the attention exam is there a way to determine the normal operating range of a transmission. I know as a rule it is 13-15....does weight change the normal operating range? Yes so how do you determine the normal operating range?

Thank you. I spent the day practicing straight lining a double axle tractor with trailer which is very different from the single axles we were trained on. We got to see double axles a few times while training but were in single axles 98% of the time. Single axles give you time to recover from a slight drift but with double axles my head has to be on a swivel going back and forth from mirror to mirror making sure there is absolutely no drift. With a double axle if you let it go at all its impossible to recover from in a twelve foot wide box. I also spoke to the President of the school today about my test experience. I told him that I have not worked in a corporate environment since the 90's and when I enter the corporate world of 2016 I'm going to have to know the correct way to deal with a situation where I'm interacting with someone who has a thick accent. He said that when someone with a thick accent is speaking they have no idea that you can't understand them. They believe they are speaking clearly so if you say something like, "could you say that again?" or "could you repeat that?" they think you are a jerk who doesn't listen. They just told you what to do and have no idea you can't understand them. He said if that happens you say, "I don't understand you and/or say that more slowly so I can understand you." There are going to be lots of people with accents I'm dealing driving for a living so it's important to have learned what to do next time it happens.

Kevin wrote:

Oh and for the most part we do not deal with the state examiners until we take the cdl state exam on the back course that is only for the state exam. I asked why they don't do yhe course final back there so we have an idea of what we're getting ourselves into and I got everything from they don't want to ruin the paint to that it is illegal to use the state exam course for anything other than state exam testing so I stopped asking.

Kevin, you will probably pass this time simply because you know the course.

I know it might be difficult to look past this,...but once you are solo, most every dock you visit will be for the first time, few are identical even within the same company and many will appear to be difficult. There is a lesson here that you can carry forward. If you look at the thought behind my suggestion and forget about the examiner and the test, the primary idea is real-time relevant once you are driving a CMV. If need be, check the situation out before you approach and set-up for your back. GOAL. Know what you are getting yourself into before you are actually "in it" and facing a problem because the approach was wrong. This is especially important when you are a new driver...lots of situations will look difficult.

Best of luck in passing this time.

Oh and for the most part we do not deal with the state examiners until we take the cdl state exam on the back course that is only for the state exam. I asked why they don't do yhe course final back there so we have an idea of what we're getting ourselves into and I got everything from they don't want to ruin the paint to that it is illegal to use the state exam course for anything other than state exam testing so I stopped asking.

Yes I agree. I've decided to just keep my mouth shut and do it right next time. It's over and I have two more shots at it.

Kevin, I understand your point. However mine, in summary was this:

My suggestion to you: do not focus or dwell on the examiner's accent.

...and everything that fell in behind it.

Yes I agree. I've decided to just keep my mouth shut and do it right next time. It's over and I have two more shots at it.

Kevin, I understand your point. However mine, in summary was this:

My suggestion to you: do not focus or dwell on the examiner's accent.

...and everything that fell in behind it.

Yes the original post was the politically correct response to what happened. I felt like I shouldn't make excuses and out the blame on me. After I thought about it I realized that I may get him again on my next test and then why happens if in out on the road and can't understand his directions. One other poster said the rules are standard. Yes that's true but we test on a different range then we were trained on and all of the tests are kind of piled up on top of one another which does create confusion for many students. So many students get confused back there that they held a special meeting about it a couple weeks ago. So yes I know that alley dock is a 90 degree turn into a box. I got a hundred on alley dock without using a pull up in the alley dock course and a hundred on alley dock in the all skills final without using a pull up. So it isn't that I don't know how to do it. I pulled to close to a dotted line on the right side of the course so that when I swung around to pull into the dock I went out of bounds. I misunderstood what the instructor said. I was going to blame myself because I didn't want to make it sound like I was making excuses and two we live in advert politically correct age where bringing up things like accents can get you in trouble ....ok? ....it said it!!!

Kevin I read your post about the examiners accent and then I also reviewed a post you wrote the other day. I copied and pasted your original post as follows and highlighted key words:

I passed the pretrip and then failed the all skills. I got 100's for all of the skills but one on the range. The exam range is a little different and has a reputation for confusing drivers. All of the tests are kind of close to each other. There are dotted lines here and solid lines there and cones here and everywhere. In the end it's all on me. I was so excited when I finished the pretrip that I was thinking about the road portion of the test and didn't listen clearly to the instructions I guess. I thought the skills would be a breeze and lost focus thinking about the road final.

So,...which is it? The above, or the examiner's accent that contributed to the failure? Not trying to discredit your most recent post, just trying to establish some grounding on the issue you raised, not only for you but everyone reading this.

My suggestion to you: do not focus or dwell on the examiners accent. Based on what you wrote originally (above), his accent doesn't seem to be the root problem. It was (your words); focus, listening, and perhaps some confusion regarding the course layout. I agree with you when you say; "it's on me". Very true. So please take it upon yourself to clearly understand what is expected from you before you get into the truck cab. If the course is that confusing, ask to quickly survey the course before you get into the cab. Or if you are in the cab and moving, anything the examiner instructs you to do (with or without an accent), stop the truck, respectfully ask for clarification. Don't move another inch until you are clear on the examiner's expectations and do not worry if you think it's agitating the instructor. Not your problem...ignore it.

If the accent was that much of an issue then assuming you had the same instructor for that (not sure), it would have caused you a problem during the road final. According to your post, you passed that.

Good luck.

I didn't want to sound like I was making excuses so I said that my failure in the skill segment of my state exam was on me. I had trouble understanding the examiners accent. The problem is that if I get the same examiner for my next test I may not understand his instructions on the road portion of the exam and risk failing again. I want to request a different examiner but I'm not sure how to tactfully make that request without sounding like I'm making excuses. The examiners at my school and the staff including the director of the program are friends so I'm not sure how the director of the program will react. Actually I do know how I think he will react. He will ask how come other test takers can understand him but you can't? I had to keep asking him to repeat himself because I just couldn't understand him. We drove to the range from pretrip and he said, "something something something pull up to that box." So there were the two offset boxes and the straight line test. I pointed at each box and asked ,"Do you want me to go to that box, that box or that box over there?" He became frustrated and pointed to the straight line. Throughout the test i kept asking him to repeat himself and it became very awkward. I finally failed on the last of my three skills because I misunderstood his instructions on what the rules were for the skill. I know this is all on me. I could have asked to look at the written instructions but i didnt. I don't want to risk getting him again on my next test. I have two more free tests before I'd have to start to pay for an extra test. Again how do I tactfully ask for a different examiner without sounding like I'm making excuses?

I called one of the companies listed at that link and they said they don't train. I'll check a few more.

Sounds to me like this company is almost a scam. I noticed a new company here in Charlotte that is offering CDL training for very cheap. I looked into them and they don't seem to give you a certified course. One must research any school we go to. However, hind sight is 20/20. If you fail your road test, you may want to consider Paid CDL Training Programs. I think all of these programs pay you during training. Good luck.