Profile For Errol V.

Ryan starts out:

i had my 1A license since Apr. 2016, the driving school i went thru at that time wasn’t reliable i mean, they offer cheap course, basically they just taught me how to pass the test, so by the time i graduated i wasn’t confident to drive for an employer, fast forward to 2020 now 2021, ...

There the rub. It seems you didn't get a job driving for five years after you got your CDL. Even a six month gap between your CDL date and starting to look for a job is a problem.

I understand you felt "not ready" to drive. But if you found out that companies would get you that real On Job Training you could have been driving right after you got that license.

Suppose you went to a medical doctor for a pain in your knee. You get to the office and find out your physician got his M. D. five years ago but then mowed lawns for a while before seeing patients.

I trained & drove a stick shift. Swift switched me to auto shift. I don't care to go back. Give me automatic!

Learn to use the Jakes in the new system. You'll be spoiled.

This is from the CMV CDL manual:

Caution. When your drive wheels have poor traction, the retarder may cause them to skid. Therefore, you should turn the retarder off whenever the road is wet, icy, or snow covered

2.3.4- Retarders

Trying to control your downhill speed using the drive axles only, leaves a traction imbalance between the steers, drives and tandems since the steers & tandems are more or less coasting while the drives try to slow things down. This is jackknife territory.

Tammy, congratulations! You want everything that OTR truck companies want!

Maturity, respect for your truck (safety in maneuvering), and no regrets for being far from home & family for long periods.

With a CDL (and medical card) you might never be unemployed again. The demand for drivers is so great that many companies will finance your CDL training, often at no interest.

Here's a good way to get started:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Brett is the owner/operator of Trucking Truth. His book covers most of the life & situations a truck driver may encounter.

The High Road program is your key to study and pass the first step - your CDL permit.

Check out the Training Diaries section of the forum. Read other topics here and feel free to ask questions.

GRS is upset:

The manual mode "switch" was put there by the manufacturer for a reason. By not having it available, it discourages the use of the Jake Brake because whenever you do use it, the truck wants to immediately downshift by 2 gears and there you are over RPMing. In manual mode, you simply put it in the gear you want and you work the Jakes all the way down the mountain and you maintain a steady speed and RPM. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like out in Wyoming going over Elk Mountain next winter.

The manual mode switch was put there, and the buyer (Prime, Inc.) ordered it and set it that way. That's the real reason. Why? Manual shift is better on MPG and maintenance. You do like the MPG bonus, don't you?

The engine retarders and the transmission work together and are linked in the computer system. "Over RPMing"? Maybe you should have set the Jakes sooner. The answer to the over-revving is to use the foot brakes to get to the slower speed. Then just as you like to, let the engine do the slowing.

"over Elk Mountain next winter" Do you use Jake brakes going down a grade covered in ice and snow? We'll see your action on Bonehead!

Don't be such a stranger! (3 posts in 5 years)

At one time a few years ago I was using CDL permit test videos on YouTube so old that the truck drivers in the videos had huge steering wheels to spin around to make turns, and muscles to match (no power steering). The questions where exactly the same as my current study materials.

It's good to update the High Road, but without looking at official tests it's hard to know what you can drop.

Last week one of my students took the Tennessee permit test. Afterwards she asked me what an alcohol evaporator was (on the Air Brake Test). So the old stuff doesn't seem ready to go away.

Ryan you passed Step One when your school trained you will enough to get you Commercial Driver License. That's all they are paid to do. I am a CDL instructor. I'm happy when any student passes their CDL exam and gets the full license. I also tell them they aren't really ready to pull a trailer across the USA (Canada in your case).

The companies that hire recent grads know this too. Then comes Step Two: it's common practice for any company to put a new driver with an experienced trainer for several weeks or several thousand miles to get the experience that's impossible to put into a book or to teach in a class.

Since your training was five years ago and you haven't driven since (driving around with Dad counts for nothing), I would not be surprised at all if any company you apply to will require you to take the full course again

Mackerel worries:

Well I just don't quite know yet? Errol, I have come from a passenger centered industry (the Railroad), maybe I am worried that it will be the same nonsense I suffered there.

There ya go. If you deal with passengers, of course with each one you represent the railroad. You had better follow all the rules about dealing with passengers, and enforce railroad rules in a nice way. One complaint to the 800 number and you will be on the carpet explaining yourself. I don't blame you.

As I described, you don't deal with any paying customer. The most human contact you'll get on the job will be in shipping & receiving offices. TBH, the office people have a job to do, and though they may be pleasant enough, they are not required to put on a happy face all day long.

As I hope you have learned here, don't expect any micromanaging in your future.

What part of your job are you worrying about being micro managed? After you get your own truck, you get dispatched with pick up and delivery times, often with prescribed routing and even which truck stop to fuel up at. Then you have federal regulations prescribing your maximum working hours and your minimum break times.

This is not micromanaging. Get your job done and no one will be looking over your shoulder.

Andrey gets it right:

Each US state is the same. And driver's manual is the same. You always yield when turning left unless you have a green arrow. But even with a green arrow, if an oncoming guy is not slowing down, I would rather yield than kill him.

The only small difference I've noticed is between California and places from the Midwest to the East Coast: the hesitation in making a left turn with a single left turn arrow like we are talking about.

In California left turn lanes, cars will pull out into the intersection with the main green light, and wait for a chance to go left. The other left turn cars pull up close behind. Then if they are still there when the yellow light comes on, they all head for the left turn, paratrooper style. As many as four cars will clear the intersection just on the yellow.

Not so in Memphis, at least. Some drivers "get it", but when a left turn arrow goes out many drivers stop at the crosswalk all together and that's all there is till the next green.

I'll pull my whole truck out into the intersection waiting for my chance to finish my left turn.

Left Turns by dirtydeeds:

I failed to yield on green when making a left turn. I’m use to having the green light to turn left while the oncoming traffic has red especially when the lane I'm in is specifically for making a left. It has the arrow and everything.

I'm from Mississippi. I taught Step Van driving in Fairfield, NJ for several months in the fall last year. I did not notice anything unusual with the lights around Essex County.

Your description seems to describe a comon situation: the usual red/yellow/green light is hanging in the center of the road, but with an added single green left turn arrow. These usually have a sign that says "LEFT TURN YIELD ON GREEN". This means when the main green light is on, anyone going in that direction may enter the intersection and go straight or turn left as it is safe to do so. As long as the green arrow is also on, left turns are protected, no yield is needed. But the when the green left arrow goes out (there's a short waiting period) the oncoming traffic gets the green and can enter the intersection at the same time, even if there's a left turn pocket for you. Left turners may then enter the intersecton, but just as in an intersection without a left turn light, the left turn people may turn left only when it is safe.

It is unclear if dirtydeed's left arrow was ON or not. Supposing it went out as he approached the intersection, he was on his own on making that left. And if the examiner saw that an oncoming car had to slow down because dirtydeed was turning left, it's on dirtydeed for failing to yield.

Scott, I thought I had your contact info (email/phone #). Can you send it to my anti-spam email please?

TT.errolv@spamgourmet.com

In the actual regulation (§393.108 (d) (Aggregate working load limit for tiedowns) "One-half" is used three times. Doesn't look typo to me.

But I'm not a flatbedder.

Thanks, Scott, for bringing this point out.

It's true, a lot of drivers might think that driver Out Of Service is all there is for common FMCSR violations. But there's more to it.

Also, often on TT we read "my dispatcher made me drive while over weight limit/out of hours/etc." Here what the author, a lawyer, says about that:

I recommend that drivers simply refuse to drive in violation of any commercial vehicle safety regulation. If they do refuse to violate an FMCSR, then they have legal protection against retaliation by the carrier, and they also avoid the possibility of criminal prosecution.

Mike, one more thing. You mentioned

I'm going to visit a few CDL schools in my area next week...

Are you only considering private schools where you need to pony up the tuition? How about Paid CDL Training Programs where your company will finance (often interest free) your training? Also, when you are admitted to a company training program, you all but have a job to walk into when you're done!

Apply For Paid CDL Training

No school will need to "train you in both". Just like with cars, whoever can drive a stick can also drive an automatic.

I know people want to feel restricted somehow if they have any restriction on their license. Sorry, this is a mountain vs mole hill issue. I suggest you don't waste energy on worrying about it.

The "what if" thing about having only a standard shift truck available is like worrying if one of you're shoestrings might break.

Travis, for the big trucking companies manual shift is a thing of the past. When you own thousands of trucks, saving a half cent a mile is worth the investment. Auto shift saves them money so they'll switch over.

In that case, the auto shift restriction on your CDL means nothing. You want to have a clipped wing feeling because you think your options are limited. They aren't. I trained on manual shift. When I was issued an automatic and learned how to use it, I didn't what to go back.

Any company that hires you wants you to do well. Accidents, getting lost and messing up at a shipper are not good for you or the company. You wrote:

I don't know which one that will train me the right way.

All companies that want to hire you will train you the right way. But if you are really thinking "I don't know which one that will train me with a manual shift transmission" it will be hard to find a job.

Your breaks are "Off Duty". SB is off duty. Sweet dreams, Moe.

A shortage in your neighborhood Kroger of Libby's canned vegetables is one thing. This news article by CNN is about a shortage that will get the general public in the short hairs:

Coming this summer: Gas stations running out of gas