Comments By Johnny 3

Overtime continued: Well this is going to be my last daily journal entry for this diary.

I get to say this because I passed my final road test &have been officially issued my class A cdl!!!!!!! yay!!!

It's still a little embarrassing to admit that it took me several tries but that matters little now that I made it.

Today's test did not go completely smooth as I once again ran into a situation where I lost a gear. I was able to recover quickly enough to not get failed for it this time.

Yesterday I was given an opportunity to practice & the instructor who I practiced with made it a point to give me some instruction specifically on gear recovery since they knew this is what did me in on my last test. I believe this made the difference today.

Since this is my last post in here, I want to say that DMACC was wonderful & collectively did everything needed to make sure that I achieved what I signed up for.

I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a good non-company sponsored option in Iowa. :)

Overtime, continued:

1/27/2017.

I finally passed my backing skills test today!!

It only took me 5 tries, how embarrassing. I went in this morning and practiced for a half a day to get the kinks worked out & that seemed to help a lot. I did well on it too. It only took me about 15 minutes on all 3 maneuvers & I broke no boundaries or cones whatsoever. I lost 4 points total on extra pull ups ( under 12 is passing).

$300 extra dollars (spent on 3rd party examiners so I could test in a timely manner) later this is done.

I did get my first crack at the road taste finally today. This is my last obstacle toward obtaining my class A CDL. Unfortunately this was not a success.

It seemed like today was going to be the day & the test had been going well. Unfortunately I had a situation toward the end of the exam where I lost a gear while trying to upshift going up a hill. This caused me to roll backward slightly & I had to come to a complete stop to recover. Since traffic was behind me, I impeded traffic, making the test an automatic fail.

The examiner gave me a nice encouraging short speech after the test was done. In short, she apologized that it was necessary to fail me today & that she thinks I will be a great driver & to keep at it & told me all the things I did well also.

Although today didn't go exactly how I wanted it to, I am happy to have overcome something that had been a major obstacle to me.

I was also able to call the d.o.t & get my next free appointment moved up to Feb.1 (Wednesday). It was originally Feb. 8th. They were able to move it up because I only have the road test to do now & don't need as much time set aside since I no longer have to take the skills test.

The head instructor at DMACC even set aside time to practice 1 on 1 with an instructor beforehand to sharpen up before my next test..

I would like to add that I am extremely impressed with how accommodating the school has been in taking extra effort to work toward me succeeding. I have not had to pay a dime extra for all the extra fuel & practice that they have needed to provide me after what should have been my graduation date & nor have I gotten any flack from any instructors for the amount of effort it has taken & continues to get me through this. I am glad I went this route!

More to come!

Thanks for writing again Tim,

I would take you up on that but if all goes according to plan, I will be at Melton corporate headquarters in Oklahoma at that time...Otherwise I would probably still be in Des Moines Iowa & extremely disappointed.

& good luck on your house & any other obstacles you may have!

I 'll buy the meal if you pass friday, you pay if you don"t! I'll be in MO. in March to get a house ready to sell! One of my issues holding me back! Give yourself a "OORAH" pep talk prior to the testing friday, give yourself alittle b**ch slap in the face as well !! YOU CAN DO IT!!!! Just don"t screw up the road test after !!!! LOL Have fun with it man !!!

Overtime:

1/25/2017.

Today I used a 3rd party examiner (still d.o.t certified to test). This was the alternative to making appointments which are 3 weeks out with the d.o.t for free.

3rd party tests are $100 per test. I registered for skills test & road test so I committed $200 with my credit card to take another shot today.

Once again, I was unsuccessful.

It is somewhat embarrassing to write this but I want to write an accurate portrayal of my experience & it is not complete until I successfully obtain my cdl.

Sadly, I discovered that I don't test well even on maneuvers that I do well on in practice. My nerves just get to me on test time. I was close today... no meltdown on the easy maneuvers ( straight-line & offset). However, I managed to get myself wedged into a bad position that was difficult to correct on the alley dock maneuver, it was correctable but not without a ton of pull_ups ( too many to pass d.o.t) I had just gotten myself straightened out when I was informed that I had accumulated too many points. I will not let this happen again. If I see myself about to get worked into a bad position... I will just reset and start over next time ( that is all you are allowed to do until part of the bumper crosses the plain). I was stubborn and made it to where a tiny portion of my bumper made it but that didn't give me much room to do the pull-ups that this allows you to do anyway....

I put another dent on my credit card this afternoon & am already signed up to test again on Friday.

More to come ( hopefully not too much more!)

Hello Tim, I haven't really been sent home but I'm not staying at the school. It is a private school that I paid for that is close to my home. I am not attending full time anymore but they still give me opportunities to practice on the day before testing & will also provide a vehicle for me to test with whenever I need to test...As far as I'm concerned, they have been very supportive despite my failures. They don't just want to take your money..your success matters to them!

Johnny, sorry for your misfortunes! You are providing good info tho!! Are they providing cont. training for you or have you been sent home? More info on this would be appreciated! Best of luck!!

Overtime: Well, I am done counting the days.

However...My quest to obtain a CDL has not ended unfortunately. I will continue writing until this happens. It will happen!

I did get another opportunity this morning. I got through the straight line backing just fine. Today my meltdown happened on the offset backing. This has normally not been difficult for me.

There were a number of factors that contributed to today's failure. 1. I should have done a better job adjusting the mirrors prior to testing. Hindsight advice: If thr mirrors arent adjusted properly. It is MUCH more difficult to make minor corrections as needed.

2. I had an extremely difficult examiner. This particular one deducted points if you were about to break a barrier even if you hadn't yet so I had much less room for error than I had with other examiners. She also expected the entire back end of the trailer to cross the plane before pull ups were allowed. Most examiners from what I've seen will allow you to break it with a corner... this also leaves much less room for error initially.

3.My nerves got the best of me again & I simply wasn't executing/ thinking things through as well as I had in practicing.

I have another free appointment with the d.o.t on February 8th. I will try to get an appointment with a 3rd party examiner at some point this week...This option costs $100 per test but I need to make this happen asap so hopefully that works out. This may end up being a costly detour. I have invested too much at this point to give up though. I will write more after my next test, more to come!

Overtime: Well, I am done counting the days.

However...My quest to obtain a CDL has not ended unfortunately. I will continue writing until this happens. It will happen!

I did get another opportunity this morning. I got through the straight line backing just fine. Today my meltdown happened on the offset backing. This has normally not been difficult for me.

There were a number of factors that contributed to today's failure. 1. I should have done a better job adjusting the mirrors prior to testing. Hindsight advice: If thr mirrors arent adjusted properly. It is MUCH more difficult to make minor corrections as needed.

2. I had an extremely difficult examiner. This particular one deducted points if you were about to break a barrier even if you hadn't yet so I had much less room for error than I had with other examiners. She also expected the entire back end of the trailer to cross the plane before pull ups were allowed. Most examiners from what I've seen will allow you to break it with a corner... this also leaves much less room for error initially.

3.My nerves got the best of me again & I simply wasn't executing/ thinking things through as well as I had in practicing.

I have another free appointment with the d.o.t on February 8th. I will try to get an appointment with a 3rd party examiner at some point this week...This option costs $100 per test but I need to make this happen asap so hopefully that works out. This may end up being a costly detour. I have invested too much at this point to give up though. I will write more after my next test, more to come!

Day 28 (Day 30 according to DMACC):

Well today was it, graduation day. It was a bit anti-climatic for me. They took a picture of the class, gave us congratulations speeches, & provided certificates to those who had earned them. I was not one of those. They offered words of encouragement to the 2 of us that still have not passed everything..

After all this was over, the other student that hadn't passed left... I chose to stick around and ask an instructor permission to practice the backing maneuvers on the concourse, it was granted!

I got the concourse for a full day.. I started off pretty rough like I had been on the test but by the end of the day I was doing all 3 maneuvers in less than half the time allotted & not losing any points even!

Having a full day to practice by myself & figure out what I was doing wrong on my own with no pressure made a huge difference, I am excited to take my test tomorrow now. I am so grateful that they allowed me to do this, it was a bit beyond the scope of their program but it seems to have made a world of difference for me.

Hopefully I can make it count tomorrow now.

More to come!

Thanks again for writing G-town, This is definitely what happened. I think I would have still failed at the alley dock yesterday anyhow. I did get a ton of practice today though & I think tomorrow will be a success now. I figured out a couple of things today that will help me :)

Johnny, buddy,...NERVES, I think they got the best of you. Refocus and try to relax,...breath. You KNOW HOW TO DO THIS,...straight-line (just fine); set-up straight (no angles), take your time, don't rush, watch both your mirrors and do not over correct. Working from the bottom of the wheel, palms down, elbows close to your sides forces you to make smaller corrections. If you have the time to practice this, try it.

This is a minor setback. Many people do not pass the CDL tests on their first try. You'll be okay.

Day 27 (29 according to DMACC):

Well, today was judgement day, tomorrow is graduation.

It was my 2nd attempt at passing the backing maneuvers for the d.o.t & it was a disaster for me.

I had a complete meltdown on straight-line backing & lost most of my allotted points on the easiest maneuver which I have NEVER struggled with.

I got to the offset backing and wasn't doing too bad & I normally don't. The 1 extra pull-up I took however, was enough to fail me because of losing so many points right off the bat. I didn't even get another shot at the maneuver that got me yesterday...

It has been a while since I have been this frustrated.

The good news is, I was able to schedule a d.o.t exam Saturday morning & one of the instructors at DMACC was kind enough to volunteer his free off duty time to make arrangements to show up with the test vehicle and insurance information. I am very grateful for this! When I told them this was the only appointment I could get within a decent time frame the head instructor seemed doubtful that anyone would take it on & told me that Saturday appointments were outside of their agreed schedules. Fortunately, 1 of the instructors cared enough to do it anyway.

In total, 7 passed everything today and now have cdls. 1 other person besides me has still not gotten through their tests.

I know I am capable of getting through this because I've done it several times in practice. I just have to learn to relax and think things through when it counts.

If Saturday isn't a success, it will become much pricier as I will have to pay the extra amount to have d.o.t certified 3rd party examiners test me at $100 per test. This is the only way to make it happen within a timely manner. The road test shouldn't be a problem once I get through the backing maneuvers.

Hopefully I will get an opportunity to practice a little bit tomorrow after going through the brief ceremonies for our graduation...I am still expected to participate even though it feels like I haven't earned any sort of celebration.

I will continue to write in this until I obtain my cdl, more to come.

Congrats, and all the endorsements too!