Comments By Perkdaddy

I was a heavy cigar smoker for 17 years....the BIG cigars, not the little cigarillo things you find at most convenience stores. I would smoke about 5-10 of those a day, more when I was doing delivery work in my cargo van. I switched over to vaping about a year and a half ago, and my cardiologist jumped for joy. I make my own juice, almost completely VG, and am down to zero nicotine. Now my vehicle occasional smells of cookies. And most of the studies you find posted online are funded and propagated by Big Tobacco companies, so read them, then make your own decisions about your individual preferences.

Took me 10 weeks, and 2 tries, but I passed my test yesterday and have my license. I leave to go to orientation for Averitt Express Sunday. Super psyched for this new adventure. :)

Damn. I'm gonna be in the Cincinnati area tomorrow but not sure of my entire schedule. If I have the time, I'd gladly let you get in some practice time in my truck. The only down side is that it's not the truck you'll be testing in but the fundamentals are the same.

Robert - your the first driver on here that I've seen who has been willing to help a Rookie out like that. Kudos to you.

Thank you Scott. I had guys when I was younger as well as am instructor who went above and beyond in regards to his students. It doesn't bother me to pay it forward when I can and in this case, I had some time available and in the right place to offer up the help. Plus, the boss wouldn't mind so long as it was in a relatively controlled environment.

Again, Thanks Robert for the offer. I had to do a lot of things for my Uncle today or I would have definitely accepted your generous offer. This world needs more kind people like you. :)

Damn. I'm gonna be in the Cincinnati area tomorrow but not sure of my entire schedule. If I have the time, I'd gladly let you get in some practice time in my truck. The only down side is that it's not the truck you'll be testing in but the fundamentals are the same.

Thanks so much for the kind offer, but I won't be around today. I hope you have a great run today. And the truck I use at school is a Freightliner Century.

If all you need is practice parallel parking why are they sending you out on the road? Camp out in the yard and sit in a truck that is backing.

Or, pick a corporate school to go to.

Or, find a relative that lives in a state that does NOT require parallel parking and get your license from there.

They are not sending me out on the road. The instructors take you out on the road as part of your training to get your CDL. The test route is in the town the school is in. And there is no chance to camp out in one of the 2 trucks they have, so that is out of the question. Only living relative I have is my Uncle who lives with me, so that option is gone. I guess my main thing I am trying to say is, that with this private school, it seems like a true CDL mill....get you in and out as fast as possible. I understand they are in business to make money, but they also tell you that if you need to take longer than 4 weeks, that is fine. They just failed to mention that after the 4 weeks don't expect much in the way of help from the instructors anymore, because they are completely focused on the newer students. I was kinda hoping someone in my area could recommend a way for me to rent someones truck or something so I can practice.

Give Cindi or Don a call and see what they might be willing to do for you. They have earned their excellent reputation by training successful drivers for over 10 years.

I am also attending a special private cdl session of weekend only classes with Lake Cumberland CDL sponsored by my current employer. We had 4 canceled classes (2 weeks worth for us) due to Labor Day weekend and Cindi's mom's death. We also have a glut of students from the 1st class who aren't ready to test who are in our way and need to move on. I don't blame the school for that one... I have some very challenged coworkers who just might not be truck driver material and took forever to pass their permit tests and still couldn't find a waterpump or compressor under the hood if you slapped them with it. I'm NOT saying this about you. I'm just saying you might have had something similar come up with your classes.

Were any classes canceled by them? Did you attend each and every class and did you stay the full day? How many students, instructors, and trucks did they have for your class? Do you feel like you got all of the time that you paid for? See where I'm going with this?

All you can do is ask. Which instructor taught you offset backing and parallel parking? Some of their instructors are much better than others.

I had to miss a couple of days do to Illness, but was there for most everything. Now I am in my 8th week, and I have asked for more practice time, but they tell me that the new classes have priority now that I missed my 4 week window. Like one of the other guys said on here, it seems like the ones that don't need it as much get the practice time. Last week there were 14 of us and 2 instructors. 2 days of that week I got no truck time at all after driving 130 miles round trip. I just seem to be at the end of what they are willing to do for me now. Oh well, 4000 dollar lesson learned.

Worst case, you have your permit so you could apply to a company sponsored school to get that additional instruction on your parallel and offset. Some companies will even pay you while you are in their school. I know you just attended school, but you're needing a bit more skills practice without more $ out of your pocket. What school did you attend? If you go the company school route, obviously you'd have a commitment to work for them for about a year.

I am attending Lake Cumberland school in Mt. Sterling KY. Just too many students to the amount of instructors and equipment.

Thanks for the replies fellas. I will definitely go look for the toy truck. But still, if I am not gonna get time in the truck, it is almost impossible for me to get better. I am miles ahead of where I started, but 1/2 an hour a couple times a week not gonna cut it. So I feel like it is pointless for me to retest, until I can get some solid hands on in. Oh, and I have read just about every backing thread on here, and watched tons of the youtube content. Has helped, but still not there yet

Hey folks. First of all, let me say that I absolutely LOVE this forum. Very informative and entertaining. Now, a little background on what is going on with me. I started CDL school back around the middle of September. Typical format, 4 weeks/160 hours training. First week was preparing you for permit test, which I passed with a 95%. Second week started the skills and pre-trip. Pre-trip came easy for me, and I was helping my classmates with theirs a lot of the time. Now, the bane of my existence..SKILLS!!! I had never backed any kind of trailer before. I was an IC in my own cargo van for about 10 years, and also drove 28 foot box trucks fairly often and never had any trouble backing those, but this concept for the big rig is not coming easy to me.

So, long story short, i got my test dates moved back several times, and yesterday took the CDL test for the first time. Got a 95% on the pre-trip. Straight line back was really good, offset (blindside) was a little rough, but I got it with a couple extra pull-ups. Parallel parking screwed me and I pointed out. I can drive forward very well, took right to the double clutching, both up and down, and the instructors say I will have no problem passing that part.

Now, since I have went past my 4 week session, the school I am going to has kind of de-prioritized my training due to new classes coming through. The old problem of not enough instructors, not enough trucks or space. So, most days I drive 130 miles round trip, set for 8-10 hours, and most days I am lucky to get a 1/2 hour to an hour to practice, some days none. I definitely need more than this.

So, I am flat broke, need more truck time, and have no clue how to go about getting it. I live in a little town called Augusta, KY, which is about 40 miles from Cincinnati. Does anybody here on the forum have any ideas on what I could do to practice more without costing me money that I definitely don't have? Not saying that I couldn't spend some money for fuel for a truck, but definitely can't spend another 4000.

I already have pre-hires for 4 different companies, need to get this damn thing ASAP. Thanks in advance for any advice.

How are you liking Lake Cumberland school? I live in Berea and am thinking about their school in Mt. Sterling or Dr. Bodens in Winchester. I am 52 and am making a career change to plan for those "later" years. Good luck and you finish up school and headed off down the road in your new career.

I am liking it really well. The only problem I see, and probably the bane of a lot of the schools, is sometimes there are too many students, not enough trucks. Instructors are very good and helpful. Good luck on choosing a school.