Sweet Jimmy's Journey Through School

Day 4

I've been here for a few months trying to learn what I can from everyone else's experiences, and I kept thinking "how can they have that much trouble shifting?" Well I offer my deepest apologies for thiking I'd come in and shift like a pro. I'm sure I'll get it, but the downshifting is still a tough row to hoe. I'm still very impressed by the instruction and driving time we get at Bevill State. No school tomorrow due to testing for some company, and I'm okay with that. I can do a few more jobs in wrapping up my company business. after i get it fully closed down, It's all truck driving all the time. Still keeping the "Kori" attitude, it's paying off big time!

Day 5

We've lost several class members due to them being unable to pass the permit tests. My instructor took us on a more challenging road course today, and I let the trailer get off pavement during a right turn. Didn't pull up enough before starting my turn. My instructor lost his mind, and while I was glad for the instruction, I think he overreacted a bit. But I won't make that mistake again. Other than that, all is going well.

Well, they told us this week that it's possible to fail the class and still get your CDL. It appears that the school standards are far more stringent than CDL standards. They said that if we fail the school tests that they will re-test us at CDL standards. This made me feel better because the backward serpentine course is pretty tough. It's the only thing I've had trouble with so far. They did point out that if we pass the class that we will get a certificate stating that we have 200 hours of driving experience and that companies really like that. I thought they were blowing smoke up our nether regions until recruiters started talking to us and told us that they love hiring from Bevill State because new hires from this school are usually very well trained. They took a poll to see who planned to go OTR , and I was the only one in the class. Kinda shocked me. More later, if anything of note takes place.

Okay...so if you get your CDL and don't graduate, what happens to the certificate, do you still get that? In addition to a valid CDL, the vast majority of carriers will need a certificate of proof that you completed at least 160 hours of formal tractor-trailer schooling to be hired as a trainee. I'd ask that question.

The backward serpentine you speak of is totally unnecessary and frankly a potential situation you learn to avoid. In five years of driving, I've had to execute that kind of maneuver twice. That would be rather cruel if they withheld the certificate for only failing that piece of their training.

You just don't get the certificate if you don't pass all the school tests. You could potentially fail the backward serpentine and do well on all the other tests and still pass the class. I'm sure I'll get it, still have 4 more weeks of school. I think I'll pass the school, but the pressure isn't so great on me as I already have a job waiting. The boss was going to let me take the test in one of his trucks, but I felt I'd be a better driver if I had some schooling.

You just don't get the certificate if you don't pass all the school tests. You could potentially fail the backward serpentine and do well on all the other tests and still pass the class. I'm sure I'll get it, still have 4 more weeks of school. I think I'll pass the school, but the pressure isn't so great on me as I already have a job waiting. The boss was going to let me take the test in one of his trucks, but I felt I'd be a better driver if I had some schooling.

Cool. That'll do then.

Nothing much to report today, but I thought Brett might like to know that my partner and I were disagreeing on how the offset backing was done. I was going to look in my book and looked over and my partner had a post from here pulled up. This site was wildly useful before school, and it's still coming through for me during school.

After a steep learning curve on downshifting, I think I finally have it down. After my road trip today my instructor told me that if this had been test day I'd have passed the road test with flying colors. That really boosted my confidence, emulating Kori's attitude had paid off. There have been recruiters visiting at the end of the day for the last several days. I've been leery of everything they said, but the Schneider rep seemed honest, as did the Howard guy. I have a job waiting, but I'm listening to everyone.

After my road trip yesterday my trainer said I did great! I asked if B.J. McKay would be proud. He told me yes, then stopped and said "wait a minute! If you're B.J., that would make me The Bear". My 23 year old partner had no idea what we were talking about.

Good morning all! I've done a poor job of keeping this up, but I haven't really had much to say as far as day to day schooling. I will say though that if you're in the Birmingham area, you can't go wrong with Bevill State in Sumiton for school. All the instructors are former drivers with years of experience and seem to really care about you learning to drive, and to drive safely. We are in our last week of instruction and testing starts next week. I've been torn as to which direction to go after school as I already have a job waiting, but several big companies have shown interest in me, so I was thinking of going with one of them. But I decided to stick with first offer since, even though it's a lower rate per mile, I'll be trained by a friend for a few weeks and then they're going to run us as a team after that. I'm usually pretty immature for a 50 year old, but I felt that having a 20 year veteran in the truck for months would pay huge dividends further in in my career. I've seen it said several times here "don't get hung up on cpm", and I'm taking that advice. Again, thank you all for the great advice I've gained from this site. And thanks to Kori for letting that great attitude show in her posts. It's helped more than anything else during school.