CFI Training - Truck Dynasty, Springfield, MO
Topic 24345 | Page 3
That's awesome that you got that extra time. Was there a special reason for opening on a Saturday?
Was there a special reason for opening on a Saturday?
I think it was because of the weather this past week. Several students were supposed to take the CDL exam, but the DMV offices were doing the pretrip only due to icy conditions. I was truly surprised that more students didn't take advantage of the extra truck time. It was great not having to wait for an available truck to practice with. Sure beats sitting in the hotel room all day.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
The ones who didnt show will be the failures or quit in training. the ones who did will be successful. this is how easy it is for companies to see it too.
The ones who didnt show will be the failures or quit in training. the ones who did will be successful. this is how easy it is for companies to see it too.
I was thinking the same thing, Rainy. Funny how the ones that needed practice the most didn't bother to take advantage of the extra time.
Oh well, their loss was my gain. I'm keeping my eyes on the prize.
Day 11 (week 3)
Today began with the usual routine, everyone pretripping the school's five trucks and trailers. We had five new students start today as well. Also had two guys take the CDL exam this morning, one passed, the other will need to test again later in the week.
In the meantime, there was a long wait for the trucks in the yard. Got to get in a couple alley docks this morning... need more practice, but I'm getting better each time I do it. Worked on straight and offset backing, and got in a blind side parallel park before the end of the day. Looking forward to getting some road time soon. The past two weeks have gone by fast!
That's all for now, and thanks for reading!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Day 12
First part of the day was the usual pretrip routine, then it was on to parallel parking and alley dock. I was a lot better with the alley dock today, I'm finally understanding the 'feel' of how it's done. A little more practice and I'll be good to go.
After lunch, I got called for on-the-road time. It was my first time on the highway with a trailer, and it was a humbling experience when it came to the in-town part. The instructor told me it wasn't bad for my first time out, but I definitely need to get the hang of downshifting. There's a LOT of information to process at once, and it feels like learning to drive all over again. Like G-Town says, you always have to "watch your wagon!" It really takes some getting used to. At least I didn't hit anything! We took turns driving between four of us, and we got back to TDDA just before 5pm.
That's all for today, time to practice the shifting rhythm a bit before going to bed. It's been a long day!
As always, thanks for reading.
Day 13
Pretty much the same routine today, pretrip then back to the yard to practice backing manuevers for the remainder of the day. We had five students earn their CDLs today.
Looks like I'll be testing for my CDL sometime next week. The CFI recruiter told me my schooling would only be for three weeks. Not going to worry about it, the extra week will do me good to prepare for the exam. The only bad thing is that means another week without a paycheck. Wish I would have known about this before leaving home.
I'm gonna make it my goal to hit the trifecta when it's my turn to test.
That's all for now, thanks for reading.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Day 14
Missouri weather is crazy.
Was awakened at 11:30 last night by... a thunderstorm, pouring rain, and tornado warning sirens! Then it got much colder, and got freezing rain and snow!
Today was a short day at TDDA, we had blowing snow and icing to deal with. We all watched a video first thing this morning about "Truckers Against Trafficking". Very educational, and more than a little disturbing. We had a good discussion in class about it.
After class time was over, everyone got tested on the in-cab pretrip, except for me and the other two that passed the pretrip test last Friday. The remaining three of us got to spend the rest of the morning working on our yard maneuvers in the meantime.
We ended up leaving for the day just after noon due to worsening road conditions. We'll have a full day this Saturday to make up for the lost time.
Also found out today that my test date will be either Wednesday or Thursday next week, depending on which DMV test site I get assigned to (Carthage or Strafford). I should know for sure by Monday.
That's about it for today, thanks for reading.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Welcome to missouri where we get all 4 seasons of weather in a 6 hour period lol
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Thanks, Turtle.