Comments By Rookie Doyenne

Rob D., it goes without saying that you're being solidly supported and cheered on, too! However...... it should be said once in awhile, too.

Please keep us informed about any changes to your upcoming training program. I'm wondering how the current protocols being enacted around virus concerns will be broadly affecting folks planning to enter the trucking industry in the near future or a little beyond. Delco Dave has reported effects with the local DMV being shut down.

I'd like to posit a continued healthy demand for new drivers but I hope that obstacles to training won't arise!

Noob!

Congrats on the 1 year milestone! Love the updates as usual and... That. Story. Is. Rich

Congratulations on getting set up with Wiley, Mike B.!

Your mixed feelings are to be expected. It's wonderful that you're excited about this opportunity and I hope, and I will pray, too, that you maintain this excitement and that it leads you confidently into success in this part of trucking that you've had to defer for a long time.

It's an enormous blessing to be able to provide for a family and I hope that will sustain you, too.

I'm young enough right now that this is basically the first thing that's happened in my life I can actually comprehend and be affected by and I'm starting to get a little nervy. I'm not at risk from the virus itself but the economic impact it's having and seems likely to continue to have has me worried about my footing a little further down the road.

It's cliche, but..."Danger is real, fear is not."

There are and will be pragmatics to contend with and plan for.

There always have been, throughout human history.

The antenna's been around awhile and seems to be a reliable performer for your rig. A few reports of grounding issues:

... I had to bond the pretty chrome upper bracket cover to the mirror arm with a small piece of flat-braid before I could get the SWR down .... After that, it worked great, with a ~1.2 SWR. I was using a "Terminator II" double-coil antenna, the one they sell at Pilot. ...once I did it, SWR plummeted and I actually had a good range. ... I used flat braid straps to bond the mirror arm to the door, the door to the cab, and the cab to the frame, in addition to bonding the chrome cover of the upper arm bracket to the mirror arm itself. This improves ground plane significantly.

Terminator II SWR fix with ground plane mod is the Trucker's Report Forum page for those quotes.

Are you taking SWR readings on different channels?

Searching "CB antenna SWR" on here turns up a lot, too, including problems with Cascadias, mount location, nix on original equipment... From guyjax (Guy Hodges):

Thank you Guyjax. Now what's a good antenna? I want to get out there.

It's going to depend on the swr's and the type of reflection there is. Those can only be measured with a meter. The lower the swr (standing wave ratio) the better. Mine is 1 and 1.2 that is the swr for channel 1 and channel 40 respectively. About as good as you can get.

Antenna type does not matter so much as long as it gets low swr's. Steel whip of course for better reception.

Never use anything that can with the truck. Seriously. Even run your own power cord to the batteries. And that includes the antenna coax.

It should be inexpensive to get the antenna tuned at a shop. Please post back and let us know how you resolve this.

Congratulations, Dean, and on that great performance, to boot! I don't know if it's any sweeter having endured the challenge, but the dancing bananas are here to celebrate, regardless! moving on to the next chapters.

Excellent news! Rooting for that momentum to carry ya forward!

Hey everyone, things have been going pretty good with me being solo. Been running as hard as I can. I accepted a load to NYC the other day because I wanted the experience....... I think the experience definitely helped teach me some skills I need.

Hey, Harvest, that sounds so positive, like you've got the "challenge" aspects of new things and being new held off where they can't bite you, yet you ARE new in the midst of new things and progressing, even enjoying, I hope, from the way that reads....

Today hasn’t been such a great backing day. ..... I also got a cb radio yesterday and the other truckers were brutal when I was trying to back. I was getting called every name under the sun. I’ll be honest so far I haven’t heard any helpful things through the fb except name calling and other bs.

Lol, you got great feedback above; I only hope when it's my turn out there, to receive the same. I'd especially second PackRat's advice to use the "off" switch on the radio. Among

some skills I need

could be "selective attention".

(For those who don't know, I taught a Permit class at Swift's Academy in Memphis a few years ago.)

Errol, that's interesting! No, I didn't know. Have you any particular impressions you'd care to share regarding the switch-up from teaching kids to teaching adults? My immediate thought is that the adults in this case come with consistent high motivation.

I have gone through the High Road program a few times and read the PA paper manual countless times.... I posted this quoted comment in another thread earlier....I have been taking lots of permit practice tests from different states to keep the info fresh and know it like the back of my hand. Some states word and ask the same questions differently, I find seeing it worded different ways really keeps my attention and helps me memorize the info. .....

Speaking of which, you would seem like the ultimate, motivated "dream" student, Dave!

What you posted earlier in the other thread caught my attention. It called to mind study techniques that I taught with and have used myself.

Basically, you cited repetition as helpful - practice of anything makes perfect!

But I have a bias for what is known as "errorless learning", and that applies to exactly what is being "practiced" or repeatedly reviewed.

Consider that practice tests expose incorrect information and that feeds into the brain. The correct answer isn't as cleanly embedded in light of this broader inclusion with incorrect answers.

With question pools like DMV exams that are available ahead of time to study from, it is a good technique to black out the wrong answers and just re-read the question with the single correct answer. If one wants to try practice tests, best to wait until after a point where, when reading the question, the answer starts popping into one's head before reading it. That displays pretty good mastery and the retained info won't be much affected by all the other answers on the practice exams. Those could just be skipped, BTW - if one is confident enough to believe that in sitting for the real exam, when looking at the questions, the practiced, correct answer will stand out with comfortable familiarity.

People come each with individual strengths in learning modalities - most people are good visual learners - but almost everyone learns best when using multiple learning channels - including listening and using muscles. The same information is embedded more strongly into memory when delivered through different channels.

As that applies to CDL exam questions, a multi-sensory study step-up could mean writing the question and answer (kinesthetic input or muscular learning). Even better, read the question (and correct answer only) out loud - which is visual and auditory input - then rewrite the question and answer by flipping it into a statement - which is kinesthetic. That harks as well to what Dave wrote about finding "different wording" to be helpful, and that aids comprehension, as well, beyond just memory. An example of such is:

read out loud: What is Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)? The total weight of a single vehicle plus its load.

write: The total weight of a single vehicle plus its load is Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW).

If writing statements, do so on index cards and flip through those for practice, alternating with the exam guide.

OK, nobody asked and maybe that's way more than anybody cares to know. But..... these methods work really well!!!

Awesome news, Dean! Glad you're sharing with us. It'll get done, you will prevail.