Comments By Tinker

I did look in to the private school here as well. There were several reasons that I chose CNM over them. The price difference was primarily the reason I went with CNM. What I have found since is that CNM is a PTDI accredited school and because of this the graduates from that school are hired by more employers. That is mainly because, while the other school teaches you how to pass the CDL exam in 5 weeks or less, CNM spends 15 weeks teaching you all the knowledge and skills you need for the exam and many more. To give some examples, we did a lot of work on trip planning, log books, driving in extreme weather, and many other topics. If you take the evening class, you will spend every weekend backing trucks for the first two sections. The third section is 7-5.5 hour driving shifts at various times. One is the overnight, 9:00-3:30. On that one, you will drive to various docks around town and dock that truck. Real world backing practice. Each of the 7 shifts is one on one with an instructor. Usually a different instructor each time. This gives you the chance to learn different techniques and points of view from people with years of experience. I won't say anything bad about the other school, they do what they say they will. You sign up, you pay, they will get you a cdl if you work at the program. CNM has a more in depth program in my opinion. My wife will be taking the day classes there starting in May.

Took and passed my state exam today! Graduation is on Saturday. See you on the road.

I haven't updated this in a while, so I decided to get it done. I completed the second section of the course and passed with flying colors. Now we are in the final part of the course. This part consists of some trip planning and log book exercises, interviewing current drivers, an oral presentation on current topics related to trucking, and...driving!

The driving is 7 different 5.5 hour shifts. One of those shifts is the overnight. It starts at 9:30 pm and ends at 3: am. During that shift, the instructor you are with has you drive to various docks around town and dock the truck. A minimum of 4 docks is required. I got through them faster than expected and did 7 in total. Then we drove around town working on my shifting, lane control and speed management. That was my first of the 7 driving shifts. I tried to prep for it by staying up the night before so that I could sleep through the day. That backfired! I slept 2 hours and was up all day. I drove my overnight on that 2 hours of sleep. I really surprised myself at my new skills. Several of the docks were very difficult, including one blind side 90. I got it though!

The rest of the driving shifts are ranging from early morning to late evening. Like I said, we are required 7 shifts total. I am down to my last one on Friday. It has been an awesome and eye opening journey so far. I have driven mountain, busy city streets, narrow lanes in historic towns, and long stretches through the desert. Each shift is with a different instructor. That means that I can gain some knowledge from each of them, and there is a lot of knowledge to be gained! With one instructor, we stopped at a truck stop on a reservation and I got serenaded by a woman! very unexpected and a memory that will be with me for a long time. That instructor gave me the number to a flight instructor, since he thinks I would be a good pilot too. One step at a time though...

I test on Tuesday for my CDL. I am nervously confident. By this time next week, if I don't screw up too bad, I will be a rookie driver.

Good luck on your new journey! I am almost done with training at my local community college. It has been a great experience so far. The only advice I can offer is , be patient with yourself, ask questions, and enjoy the ride. Keep us posted.

Good luck on your new journey, John. I am sure the information will be overwhelming at times, but just take your time and ask tons of questions. I am still in school myself. I am surprised at how far I have come since my first day. Pre-trip seemed an impossible task at first, and now I can run through it with confidence. Backing skills were intimidating and some seemed next to impossible. Now, I am very confident that I will pass the skills test easily. You will too! Just keep on doing what you do and you will be just fine. Hope to meet you on the road sometime. Keep us updated.

I think that this thread is a great idea. I am currently in school and am always looking for more information. There are few, but some companies that will hire a recent graduate depending on what school they attended. With that in mind, is there anyone that can provide information on the following companies other than the basic information? I am wanting to know what the work eviroment is like, the general attitude and culture, and of course the pay. Coastal Transport Core-Mark YRC

There are some companies that hire recent grads, depending on what school they attended. Many of these companies have an approved school list that meet their requirements. It would improve your chances to get your hazmat and tanker as well. Even if a company lists that one year of experience is required, send in an application anyway. You may not have the right bait on your line, but you never know what you'll catch unless you drop that line in!

Congratulations!

Weekly update 3/6/17

This week was the beginning of 1220. We have a new lead instructor, many of the others are the same guys. Our new lead instructor drove for 17 years. So far, he seems like a good instructor, patient and knowledgeable. In this part of the course, we spend the first half of the day practicing backing maneuvers and pre-trip. There is a difference in that our maneuvers are graded just as if it was the state test. The first of each is anyway. After we get the graded maneuvers out of the way we are free to practice over and over until noon. I was told that the reason for the constant grading was to get us used to the idea of someone with a clipboard analyzing our every move, so during the real test our nerves don't get the better of us.

So, my testing scores were good, but nerves did get me. I had 2 points on one offset, 2 on the blind side parallel, and 1 on the 90 degree. % total for all 6 maneuvers. Not bad, and a pass if it was the state test. I am really hoping to improve. After the grading, I was driving like a pro! Dang clipboard freaked me out. One student got so upset with their scores that they walked off and did not come back. I understand the frustration, but now is our time to screw up and learn. That way we have it nailed down tight come test time.

After noon, we were split up in to groups of 3 and assigned to a truck and instructor for real world driving practice. I was assigned to the Cascadia with Joe. Me and him get along well and he had me drive to Rio Rancho, just north of Albuquerque. There he had me pull up to a few docks and practice docking the truck. Real world was much easier than clipboard graded! Shifting went well due to the extra practice I have been getting. I gotta say though, the first time I got that truck up to highway speed it felt like we were going way too fast! By the end of my driving shift I was driving much better. I do need to pay more attention to the road signs though. The other 2 students with me did very well driving. One is a repeat student, failed last semester and is here to try again. Glad he isn't giving up.

After our drive time was over, we were given free time on the backing range. Many did not take advantage of it and spent their time playing with their phones. Not me! I had a truck all to my self and ran it to every station and practiced over and over. The truck I was using was an automatic. Backing that truck is different. I need to learn on all types though, since it is doubtful that I will be given my choice of truck when I start working.

Our classroom study has been focused on Hours of Service and logbooks. We have done several logging exercises and will have to start keeping our own logs daily. This means that we will or sleep time as sleeper berth, anytime not working as off duty, and any time behind the wheel as drive time. This should be interesting. It will give me the opportunity to actually see my patterns and how much actual work I do. I will probably have a second log book to show my wife, just saying....

Tinker

As I stated in a previous post, this course is broken up in to three sections. 1120 basic theory and operation, 1220, intermediate theory and operation, and 1392 advanced. This weekend marks the end of 1120. The week was spent going over all of our paper work and making sure all assignments are turned in. One of our assignments was to create a portfolio and resume. Those were turned in, graded, and returned to us. These are meant to be used by us in our job search.

This weeks range time was used for testing. We were tested on our pre-trip, offset right, offset left, and straight backing. I did my pre-trip exam first on Saturday. This is not the state exam, just for clarification. I did well on this exam having only missed 14 items according to the instructor. There were several of those 14 items that the instructor marked that I actually did mention. He was kind enough to point out that it doesn't matter if I said them if he never heard it. He felt that I was going to fast and he may have not heard me, but on the state exam the examiner is right. If he never heard it , it doesn't count. Point well taken. I will slow down a bit and make sure I am speaking clearly. The rest of the day was supposed to be practicing maneuvers, but I did not get to participate. I had some emergency service calls to take care of.

Sunday was testing on offsets and straight backs. We were being graded the same way the state grades the tests. I have to brag a bit here. I nailed those maneuvers. It was easy to do without any points, no pull ups, no dead cones! One of the other students asked how I do those maneuvers. I tried to explain my thinking and what I look for. I just don't think he understood though. He did tell me that when he is doing an offset, he cranks the wheel, starts in reverse and counts to three. Then he gets straight with the trailer to see where he is at. I think that is where he is running in to trouble. Some trucks move a bit faster or slower than others. I tend to look at angles. As a plumber, I am very good at seeing a 45, or a 22 degree angle.

The rest of the day was spent practicing maneuvers, and driving out on the road. Yup, you read that right, we are moving forward! I drove a Freightliner and a Peterbilt today. Shifting was not an issue, I have been getting some practice before and after class with one of the instructors. They bring the trucks to the range before class and drive them back after. While the other students usually show up late and try to leave early, I try to be there to offer my help. It paid off, as the usually let me drive the trucks to the range and help put them away with an instructor. Sometimes being willing to go an extra step can gain you a mile.

Maneuvers were the same ones we have been practicing. I seem to have my parallels on both sides down. There is an occasional hiccup, but not often. I can complete those two maneuvers without any points. That alley dock, it is tricky. I didn't get my set up quite right and it cost me. I will get it nailed down. I still have two more months to learn it. Last weekend I made it look easy, this weekend it made me look foolish. I think it is the same as my pre-trip problem really. I just need to slow myself down and not over think it.