Location:
AZ
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Ex professional driver. Never mastered the twin stick, 5x4 but was on my way. In the market for an old Pete, KW or even Mack with 5x4 for restoration project.
Posted: 11 years, 7 months ago
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Thank you for the High Road, Brett and team.
I really appreciate the High Road program you have developed. I have found it to be the best resource for helping reinforce actually learning and testing your knowledge. I am a little embarrassed to have gotten 3 halts on the same question, but that just taught me to slow down and really understand what the question is asking. I think I only got 75% on doubles and triples, I never read the section in the manual and was trying to get through it to fast. The only downside I can find is some of the factual data does change from state to state. Not much, but Arizona is check your load after the first 50 miles, I think most other states are 25. The stopping distances for AZ are a bit skewed as well. I cant tell you how happy I am to see you and your site (members of the forum) encouraging new people that want a career in trucking with an emphasis on safety and courtesy. The one thing after safety that you emphasize is for a person to actually be sure a career in trucking is what they want. From personal experience I would say take a good look at it before you leap. I grew up around trucks and drove for about a decade. Not OTR. For me OTR was a no go. I Started working in Oregon hauling logs up until 1986, thats when the spotted owl shut the woods down. I loved hauling logs and that is a job I would have done for free. I worked every part of logging until I could legally get into a truck. I loved being in the woods every day. When the woods shut down I ended up in southern AZ hauling anything from heavy equipment to sulfuric acid and Fuel for a company contracted to one of the copper mines down there. That company lost their contract and I moved on to work in another mine, been at this current company for a couple decades, not driving. Why am I here? well, it kinda ****es me off but its the law. Because of my experience in trucks and knowing how to haul heavy equipment, I promised myself I would never pull an unsafe load with a pickup. I couldnt stand the thought of having an accident and killing someone because of my stupidity. Seeing some of the unsafe stuff Joe blow hauls down the road behind his pickup makes me cringe. I ended up with an old ford grade tractor, it weighs about 6K. Figured I be safer with more trailer than I needed and found a nice 3 axle flatbed that fit the bill. Problem, trailer GVW 21K, pickup GVW 9500. Arizona DOT law enforcement has informed me, got to have class A CDL, I am non commercial but it doesn't matter. I could get a lesser trailer and be unsafe but legal (thats the ****er). Guess my situation is why they offer the airbrake restriction. So here I go again back to the books take the test. Drive, get licensed and drive my pickup LOL. I've got two friends that own trucking companies (dirt haulers), in fact one of them had me scheduled to come work for him the day I got hired at my current job. I can brush up in one of their trucks and test with it. Does that make me a truck driver. NO! I wouldnt even attempt it with out least 6 months of local driving. Trucks have really changed (for the better), traffic has really changed (for the worse) and I have really changed ( to be determined later). I extend my best wishes and hope for the safest miles to all those here wishing for a career tucking. Learn from me, if you leave the industry, keep your license, you never know when you might need it. Thanks again for your program. Best Regards
Posted: 11 years, 6 months ago
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Thank you for the High Road, Brett and team.
Sorry to bring this back to the top, I am sure it will slowly fade away. I wanted to thank you again for your program. I passed the written test with absolute confidence and that was directly related to the High Road Training Program. Yesterday I passed my pre-trip, skills and road test. CDL is mine again. All endorsements except hazmat. Now I can legally haul my tractor down the road with no hassle, LOL. I almost want to be pulled over again. In fact I am going to pull that trailer for two weeks wherever I go just because :) . After being out of it for so long I was surprised to see how fast the rust fell off. Again, I wish all here safe and happy careers in the industry.
Safe travels Best Regards,
M