CFI At Crowder College

Practice helps. Great to read you continually improve, Don!

Great to hear Don. Keep up the good work.

Old Blue sounds like ol' reliable. Glad you found it. It's the weekend of PTI, lol. I've got in-cab down pretty good, but it's everything else I need to work on, lol.

Have a great weekend, brother!

Just wanted to say I have been following along also since you began this diary. Sounds like things are going well and you seem to be learning quite a bit and progressing along just fine. Can't wait to hear about the test day.

5/21/18, Day 16

This morning we had our final (book) exam, and turned in our trip plan exercises. I, and two others were done with our tests, so an instructor told us three to come with him as we were going to go on a road drive. I'm like "good, I need the practice." Well, it was a graded road drive. I went first, and thought I did fine, but not great. My score was a 97. Was I happy? Yes, but he must have graded on a very favorable scoring method. I was better with my shifting, but I still had a couple missed shifts and other minor things I felt I did not do well. One thing that has irritated me a little is the inconsistant between instructors. One states you cannot "coast" at all when coming to a stop; another (today) says you can the length of your truck. One says stop in 5 or 6th gear, but no higher or you will get point deductions; another says 7th is fine. One says rpms are to high before upshifting; another says rpms are okay. The inconsistancy is the only complaint I have with Crowder. Everything else is great!

After lunch, we practiced all our backing maneuvers. I have the 90 down and the offsets are my 2nd best. Passenger side parallel is good, because I can use the driver side white boundery to guide me in. Drivers side, which to me is more blind side than passenger, is the trickiest for me. I cannot see the yellow inner side boundary as well, nor the passenger side outer markings as well, so I have to have the perfect set up on it to do well. Wednesday is the day for my first attempts, so I will be really practicing my pre-trips tonight and tomorrow night. I will be testing in "Old Blue", so I hope she gets me through the tests.

I can really relate to that inconsistency between instructors thing! For the most part, they are all really good at both driving and teaching. But there are just those few little things that come up once in awhile.

Found out today I also begin my test on Wednesday. WooHoo!

Good luck Don. Remember they want you to pass. Just do it. Try not to over think it.

Hey guys, driving a truck is not black and white. What you're calling inconsistencies may just be differing driving styles. That doesn't make one of them legal and another not as far as testing goes. The testing agent wants to see some degree of confidence and competence in what you're doing. A missed gear may not even count against you as long as you recover well from it.

I messed up multiple shifts back in the day when I got my CDL. I still remember the lady who rode with me commenting on it after we were finished. She said, "You missed several gears, but you always got it right back under control like you knew what you were doing. So, I didn't count that against you."

I'd be willing to bet that if you took an instructional drive with me, then G-Town, and finally Brett, you'd be saying, "Man, those guys are confusing me with conflicting information." Each of us may do things slightly different. Don't get yourself confused splitting hairs. Just drive the truck like you know what you're doing. That is what they want to see. They're not looking for perfection right down to the details of the RPM's and what gear you came to a stop in.

They know you guys are really green, they just want to see that you are in control. That is what makes them realize that you can be counted on to be safe until you can start perfecting your new found abilities.

I will do my best, Scott. Thanks.

Hey guys, driving a truck is not black and white. What you're calling inconsistencies may just be differing driving styles. That doesn't make one of them legal and another not as far as testing goes. The testing agent wants to see some degree of confidence and competence in what you're doing. A missed gear may not even count against you as long as you recover well from it.

I messed up multiple shifts back in the day when I got my CDL. I still remember the lady who rode with me commenting on it after we were finished. She said, "You missed several gears, but you always got it right back under control like you knew what you were doing. So, I didn't count that against you."

I'd be willing to bet that if you took an instructional drive with me, then G-Town, and finally Brett, you'd be saying, "Man, those guys are confusing me with conflicting information." Each of us may do things slightly different. Don't get yourself confused splitting hairs. Just drive the truck like you know what you're doing. That is what they want to see. They're not looking for perfection right down to the details of the RPM's and what gear you came to a stop in.

They know you guys are really green, they just want to see that you are in control. That is what makes them realize that you can be counted on to be safe until you can start perfecting your new found abilities.

Good luck Don. Remember they want you to pass. Just do it. Try not to over think it.

Old School, I feel I have very good "control" of the truck. I haven't had any deductions for lane changes, encroachments or anything that could be perceived as any kind of hazard. I haven't rubbed any curbs or such. I do worry that during my test if I turn my signals on too early or late, miss shifts (even though I recover and get back to a gear), "coast" when stopping and other smaller points, I will get points, points and more points until I point out. I am sure I am just being a "worry wart" about the testing.

Hey guys, driving a truck is not black and white. What you're calling inconsistencies may just be differing driving styles. That doesn't make one of them legal and another not as far as testing goes. The testing agent wants to see some degree of confidence and competence in what you're doing. A missed gear may not even count against you as long as you recover well from it.

I messed up multiple shifts back in the day when I got my CDL. I still remember the lady who rode with me commenting on it after we were finished. She said, "You missed several gears, but you always got it right back under control like you knew what you were doing. So, I didn't count that against you."

I'd be willing to bet that if you took an instructional drive with me, then G-Town, and finally Brett, you'd be saying, "Man, those guys are confusing me with conflicting information." Each of us may do things slightly different. Don't get yourself confused splitting hairs. Just drive the truck like you know what you're doing. That is what they want to see. They're not looking for perfection right down to the details of the RPM's and what gear you came to a stop in.

They know you guys are really green, they just want to see that you are in control. That is what makes them realize that you can be counted on to be safe until you can start perfecting your new found abilities.