CRST - Training Adventures In Cedar Rapids

Jeremy

Yeah I am sure it works since so many have accomplished this achievement prior to today. Give'm Hell.....

Chris

Thirty minutes at a time per student is fairly typical at driving schools. Remember, there's quite a few people there, and limited trucks.

Yeah I am sure it works since so many have accomplished this achievement prior to today. Give'm Hell.....

Yes, sir, 110% !!!

Thirty minutes at a time per student is fairly typical at driving schools. Remember, there's quite a few people there, and limited trucks.

Yes, sir. We have 61 people in this class. The class before us only had about 20. Even if it thins out before testing next week, we are still going to have a lot of people.

Breaks over again. Next break is noon for lunch!

Jeremy make the best use of that time. When you are not in the truck practicing backing maneuvers, watch what others are doing. Study what is working and what isn't.

Think 1/4 circles (not hard angles) when trying to put the trailer in the home. Arc it in...

Good luck!

Jeremy make the best use of that time. When you are not in the truck practicing backing maneuvers, watch what others are doing. Study what is working and what isn't.

Think 1/4 circles (not hard angles) when trying to put the trailer in the home. Arc it in...

Good luck!

Yes, sir! Observing all I can. Just one SNAFU. They called lunch little early and declared that only about 12 people are practicing backing today and the rest of us will get 2 half-hour turns driving (opposed to the usual half-hour) today. The way it was just explained is that we will rotate turns driving for 30 minutes each, 3 to 4 students per truck. That will take most of the afternoon, which doesn't leave time for much else today. I guess I can study some notes while the others are driving. But...

Days like today do not make much sense to me. They have a simulator they we ate required to spend a half hour on this week, but the computer that controls the software has been acting up, so its been hit or miss as to who gets in there.

Then we have testing next week, but there seems to be a strong emphasis on driving this week. We all need to practice some other things and a few of us are getting pretty anxious about it.

I'm sure they know what they're doing, they've successfully graduated thousands of students over the years. And I suppose I'm not the first student to feel woefully unprepared, lol.

To their credit, most of these trainers are exceptionally great at teaching. Some are not, but most are. They have to follow a program and a format that is drawn up and put together by management, but they still manage to teach you stuff despite that, lol. And some of them have some pretty serious wheel time (and thus some great trucking stories) they bring to the table.

Could almost spend the entire hour typing, but I need to study my Smith system notes for the test tomorrow. And with at least 4 hours of driving/ riding coming up, who knows when the next break will be. Hopefully I can get some back-up time tomorrow.

Well, it was a trick!

We stopped at a truck stop to practice alley docking. I drove us here after another student was kicked out of the drivers seat.

They didn't have enough room on the yard, so they sent us all out in different directions with a truck and a trainer to practice at various locations.

The student that was kicked out of the drivers seat after 5 minutes was told to move because he wasn't giving any commentary as he was driving. While it's not a DOT requirement, it is a school requirement here because they a) want to make sure that you are seeing and paying attention to all the things you need to see when driving a truck, and b) because it just gets you in the habit of noticing everything. (Its a good habit to get in to.)

Well, some practice with a really good instructor now has me feeling a bit more confident. I did a pretty good alley dock on my first try (albeit with a truckload of guidance) and it felt pretty darn good!

We're now out practicing driving again, though I'm hoping for another surprise stop since we've still got about 3.5 hours left on our clock for today. We'll see...

But turned out to be an awesome day, so far!

Congrats.

The days do seem to blend together and you may feel like your in a whirl wind. Take each day as they come and try not to focus on what is coming a day or so later.

The student that was kicked out of the drivers seat after 5 minutes was told to move because he wasn't giving any commentary as he was driving. While it's not a DOT requirement, it is a school requirement here because they a) want to make sure that you are seeing and paying attention to all the things you need to see when driving a truck, and b) because it just gets you in the habit of noticing everything. (Its a good habit to get in to.)

I remember being 16 years old and having to call out absoloutely everything to the instructors while we were practicing, from all the people that were in driveways or on the streets to the side of us; we'd have to do it when we checked our mirrors, and a bunch of other things that I've forgotten by now. Most of those habits have stuck, and I haven't ever been in an accident. I pretty much think that that's a good thing to have to do while driving a truck, especially.

Also Jeremy, how is downshifting when going around/through curves/hills and stuff in an automatic? I assume as you slow down it does it for you, but do you need to pay attention to that very much like the test questions for getting my CLP led me to believe.

It what a pretty awesome day! We did get some more drive time and we did get some more backing practice. Feeling s little more comfortable.

Also Jeremy, how is downshifting when going around/through curves/hills and stuff in an automatic? I assume as you slow down it does it for you, but do you need to pay attention to that very much like the test questions for getting my CLP led me to believe.

Yes, an automatic begins to power down (and slow you down) as soon as you let off the accelerator. There is also an option for a multi-speed jake brake on the steering column - not sure if that's a standard thing or just on automatics.