Comments By PPGER

Phox, I live in Phoenix. I think the hotel rate is 52 a night

Thanks for your post. I will take it to heart. I hope you have a full and speedy recovery.

< big hug>

I hesitate to respond since I only have about 1500 miles under my belt, but it all depends on if you're loaded or not. If you're empty or light or top heavy, it'll make a big difference as compared to carrying a heavy low centered load. Our last load was 43,600 and we had winds of around 30 mph and they not bad. But earlier we had a load of only about 22000 and lighter winds pushed me around a lot more.

Sorry for the absence.

I met my trainer Tuesday afternoon. We had a load of batteries from Auto Zone in Phoenix to El Paso. My trainer drove from Phoenix to Lordington(?) NM. Then the next day, Wednesday, I drove the load to El Paso. After dropping the load, we went to Saint Theresa, NM and picked up a load of cardboard going to Salt Lake City. I drove about 8 hours total that day and then he drove the rest of the way to Albuquerque where we stopped for the night. On Thursday I drove around 7.5 hours and then he drove the rest of the way to Salt Lake City. The load was scheduled to be delivered Friday morning so we parked at the receiver when we got there Thursday night. As it turned out, they accepted the load that night, so after unloading we went to Knight's terminal and spent the night.

On Friday we got a late dispatch to pick up a large 44k pound load of hay going to Tipton CA. I drove around 8.5 hours and then my trainer drove. We stopped at Primm, NV for the night. Then this morning I drove the rest of the way to Tulare where we dropped the load at the yard. I've gotten a little exposure to some 5 and 6 percent grades and learned to love the engine brake on an International! The automatic transmission on it needs some tweaking though! It over revs going up the hills and wants to hang around 1800 rpm before it finally shifts. I try to catch it and go to manual mode and hold it in 8th. And I also don't like how it lets the truck roll when you start out in drive. At least with a manual I knew how to work the clutch and bake so I didn't roll back when stopped on an incline. And if you are making a slow turn and let your foot up from the accelerator, when you want to give it has again, it likes to go to neutral and nothing is happening for what seems like forever while it decides what to do. Meanwhile my trainer is saying,"give it some gas!" And I say I am! And going up one of the inclines today, he's telling me to accelerate and I have it floored!

I was glad that the load of hay was so heavy because we had some really strong crosswinds going south on I-15. We got buffeted some but it wasn't too bad.

I think we have put on around 2000 miles so far. During this first week, their goal is for me to drive 8-9 hours a day. On Thursday our DM called and wanted us to deliver our load in SLC early and then do a team driving delivery. He told them that, one, there was no way we could get the load to SLC by then, and second, we were NOT a team truck. he told them that I only had less than three days under my belt. Anyway, I think that ticked off the load planner since we do not appear to have any more loads right now. My trainer told me that we might be running as a team in a couple weeks which does not really make me happy since that is why I didn't go with Swift--i didn't want any team driving while in training.

So far, I'm getting along okay with my trainer. We hadn't yelled at me yet even though I know he gets frustrated with me sometimes. He's been driving over twenty years so he does know his stuff. He said that you can be a trainer after only six months! I'm sure happy I didn't get a newbie like that for my trainer! He REALLY impressed me our first night out. He backed the rig into a spot at the truck stop that I didn't think it was possible to get into!

At the SLC terminal he worked with me on backing like you would in a row of spaces like you have at a truck stop. There may be hope for me yet.

It looks like I'll be out until the Friday after Thanksgiving. I think we'll get in sometime on Friday and then go back out on Monday.

I haven't gotten notice of a load yet, but I did just get a message on my phone giving me directions to the Target DC in Shatter CA so that may be our next run.

Well...... I HAVE MY CDL!!! Woo hoo!

I was the third guy to test today. Of course, everything ran late. Anyway, I missed three out of 90 on the pre-test. DOH. Things I knew, but it is still passing, so on to the skills test. I had a score of 2 on that -- cut the wrong triangle on the parallel. But made it through that. On to the road test. As it turned out, that went easier than the skills test which is the opposite of what I anticipated. I think I only missed one shift and only ground a couple of gears. I think I got dinged for cutting one left turn back in too quick, turning off my signal too soon once on a lane change, missing a gear, a couple of ground gears, one traffic check, and missing what one road sign read. On my LAST turn to the road to the terminal, I was a little fast, braked a little harder than I wanted, and then had a terrible shift trying to go to third with the selecter still up for the high range, but finally recovered and got it in there... LOL -- I think I got 2 or 3 of my points on that one turn. But the instructor was really laid back about it. As we pulled into the terminal, he said, "well, you passed." I replied, "Wow, you mean even after I almost put you through the windshield (actually it wasn't that bad...). He laughed, I laughed. It was all good. Anyway, after we got back to the terminal and while he was doing the paperwork I asked him what I needed to work on. He said, nothing really. He said that I was cutting my turns properly -- only cut a couple left ones back in too soon. I asked about whether I was slowing down too soon or too late for red lights/stop signs or signally too far in advance or not soon enough for turns and he said that was all okay. So, over all, I was really happy with my road test -- more so than with my brain farts when it came to my pre-trip inspection and parking.

After all that, I drove down to the DMZ and got my CDL!!!

I am supposed to meet my trainer tomorow morning at 6 a.m. I think we'll be out until Thanksgiving since the DM said that my trainer planned to be home for Thanksgiving.

I can't believe how quickly CDL school went. It was certainly an emotional roller coaster! One day I did well. The next day I sucked. Next day okay. Next day great. Anyway, that part is over and now on to the real training! Thanks to all the great encouragement and advice on here.

I'll keep ya posted.

Knight just gave us a class a few days ago on chaining up, so I guess they require them.

About the CB though, if you were driving and wanted to hear a warning go out about weather or crash ahead, what channel should you be monitoring?

Day 10

Well, today was just okay. My parking was okay and my road trip was okay -- not as good as yesterday, but okay. I missed a couple shifts out on the road. That normally would not be too bad, but by the time I drove the instructor was well out of patience. The first guy to drive in our group of three students was the same guy who was almost crying last week. He finally got off the shouder onto the road a couple days ago but he is not doing a whole lot better. He still waits for the instrutor to tell him everything to do. "Shift, signal, downshift, slow down, speed up, etc." And his shifting is terrible -- missing or grinding most every gear and jerking the tractor with every clutch release. He likes to talk loudly to himself (I guess to coach himself). "Okay, I'm shifting to third," "Come on now, get in there!" etc. The instructor told him numerous time to be quiet. He would be quiet for a few minutes but would start talking loudly to himself again within a few minutes. (If reminded me of that line from Shrek "You have the right to remain silent, what you lack is the ability.") Then he jumped a curb. Continued to grind gears and jerk us around (literally) in the tractor. Normally, the instructor we were with is pretty laid back and patient, but after that, he was exasperated and didn't have any patience left by the time I drove. I didn't do anything that would fail me so I did alright I guess. Except for the few missed shifts, I think it went well.

Anyway, after we finally got back to the terminal and were leaving for the day, he asked me and the other guy who was out with him how he did -- if he was better than last time. I told him that, well, you hit a curb, so that is an automatic fail. He said, yeah, okay, but how was my shifting? Was it better than last time? Then the other guy said that it wasn't, that we were being jerked around every time he shifted. He told him that he need to not pop the clutch and be smoother. Then he got mad that he was told that. Then the other guy said, well, if you didn't want to know you shouldn't have asked. He is doing much better at offset and parallel, but I don't see how he can pass his road test. He is scheduled to test Tuesday around 8:30 a.m. so we shall see what happens -- unless they decide he's not ready and reschedule him.

It's hard to believe that it's been two weeks already and that I'm testing Monday. Wow!

Thanks for keeping us all informed, sounds like your doing great. The one thing that no matter how well you perform your off-sets or anything to do with backing I think that G-O-A-L is a very good habit to get into even though you are lined up perfectly. If the others ask you why are you getting out to look, you could respond, well how do I know if you or somebody else is lying down in the path of my trailer. Pretty sure your trainer would agree. Anyways sounds like your doing very well.

I agree. The only reason I did the offset without a GOAL is because I know the area is free of obstructions and people since its the training backing pad. But yes, in the real world, I absolutely must GOAL every time.

Day 9

A good day. This sure is an emotionally up and down experience. Before lunch our class had the pad to ourselves to work on offset and parallel. Hopefully, yesterday was a fluke, because I was back in the groove for both of them. Did offset with no get outs and one pull up. Did parallel with a couple get out and looks, but didn't need any pull ups.

After lunch two others and I went for a long road trip. I did MUCH better than yesterday. I think I only missed two shifts the whole time. Now if I can just keep my foot off the clutch between shifts! The only other thing I got dinged on was not being able to tell him how a particular sign read after I drove past it. When we were on the interstate, he told me to get off at a certain exit. Then he asked me how far it was to that particular exit. DOH. I wasn't really paying attention to the exit mileage so I didn't know. I said 3/4 of a mile... of course, it was 1.5 miles out. I guess that's my big thing to watch for tomorrow.

We also got our CDL test days assigned. Originally, I was assigned for 6 a.m. next Tuesday morning. But one of the guys originally scheduled for around 11 a.m. on Monday got his testing time changed because his son is having surgery next Wednesday so if he tested on Monday, he would still not be able to go out with a trainer until Thursday. Plus, they said that they already have a trainer lined up for me but need to find him a trainer who also smokes like he does. Anyway, they switched our testing times so now I am testing on Monday around 11 a.m. and he's testing at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. It doesn't really make any difference I supposed because I wouldn't really get in any more practice time if I tested at 6 a.m. on Tuesday as compared to 11 a.m. Monday. I am in no hurry. I told him that I would mind if they pushed it out to Wednesday so I have more training under my belt. But if my testing on Monday can go like today, I should have nothing to worry about.