My Return To Work

Good evening,

End of my first week, day 6. I’m pretty sore. Lots of climbing in and out of the truck and using muscles that have disappeared over long periods of inactivity (office work).

I had an epiphany with backing. I have to stay loose and humble otherwise I get ****y and that’s when I seriously mess it up. When I’m loose, I can feel the truck and the smallest change/input to the steering.

I attempted a 90 with little instruction and got quite confused. I’m eager to have instruction for it on Monday.

I have tomorrow off to complete a 34 hour reset. I need to catch up on laundry and other errands. Eating healthy has been challenging here. Lots of fried foods and very little veggies. I’ve been going to Winco for salad and chicken. My diet remains good and I feel pretty good.

My spider bites have nearly healed. One of my classmates discovered some hobo spiders in their room. The locals generally assume that’s what bit me. Google images for hobo spider accurately described the sores and symptoms.

I’m really enjoying the program.

Cheers,

G

The Epiphany: The Heavenly Choir starts that "Ahhh Ahhh" thing, the lights come on and Spoonerist realizes:

I have to stay loose and humble otherwise I get ****y and that’s when I seriously mess it up. When I’m loose, I can feel the truck and the smallest change/input to the steering.

Loose and humble. Loose and humble. Loose and humble. Stay away from "frustrated" and "****y" and work with "loose and humble." You have the key to backing if you can feel the truck and steering. Also, watch the trailer in the mirrors*. Keep an eye out for even the slightest change in direction. That will need your attention. Don't get frustrated, but view each foot of backing as a problem to be solved. And sometimes you'll actually make it!!

*Sometimes I use a word picture to describe this: Suppose your dog is hungry and you have a dog treat on the floor right in front of you. Dog is eyeing it, ready to grab it, but you are watching. The slightest second of inattention on your part, the treat disappears! Keep your eye on that trailer in the same way!

Greetings,

Things are going well. Backing is finding its way into my muscle memory and clicking! I started road driving on Monday and really enjoy it.

A fellow classmate brought up one of Brett’s stories today. This was the first time I’d heard about TT in school. Later I asked others if they read or participate here. Mostly lurkers.

I really like my trainer. He’s an excellent teacher. I can hear his words in my head... hug the mayonnaise or mustard (white or yellow lines).

The challenge of road driving is brilliant.

I’m taking my school PTI test tomorrow, ahead of schedule, I feel ready.

I’m off to bed. Good night all.

Cheers,

G

Howdy,

Just finished my second week! Things are going well. My offsets are pretty solid, usually without a pull-up. My 90’s are getting close! I had one this morning that I hit in 1 attempted with no pull-up.

My road driving is improving. All the commentary driving is settling in and not totally confusing me. Some strange, sharp corners are still messing with me. I’ve gained a few nicknames... finger-because I asked if we need to finger the slack adjuster. Kerb- for obvious reasons...

2 day weekend is a welcome thing. Next week we will start night driving first thing in the morning. My body has adapted to a 0330 wake up. Going to sleep by 8-9 was a change.

I passed the Swift pretrip test yesterday. Skills is Tuesday. Driving Wednesday. Because I’m from WA I won’t test out until a week from Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

G

Just a quick update:

I passed my Swift skills test today with 100%!

Road test tomorrow then state test on Monday.

Things are going well.

Cheers,

G

Just a quick update:

I passed my Swift skills test today with 100%!

Road test tomorrow then state test on Monday.

Things are going well.

Cheers,

G

Congrats, for sure! I love reading along w/ y'all... don't always sign in; always 'be a readin' ' LoL.

ps: HAY ERROL... i'm GETTING IT, haha! (watch when I hit 'submit' something goes wrong, LoL~!) ;)

Hello all,

Thanks for the well wishes! I passed my road test a bit ago!

Trifecta for me!!

I’ll be continuing to practice everyday until my state test on Monday.

Cheers,

G

ROCK STAR!!!

Congratulations to you!

Welp, week 3 is done.

One of the things I have recognized (and appreciate deeply) is that trucking school (and I suppose the industry as a whole) is a cross-section of humanity, people of all walks of life are doing this. I love the variety.

More practice with backing has yielded a decent sense of how to fix a messed up attempt. So much so, that the instructors had me teaching a 1st and 2nd week student(s) their 90s. It was cool!

I have the weekend off. I hope my skills stay with me... last Monday they seemed to’ve suffered over the weekend.

Thanks to all the readers and commenters!

Cheers,

G