Troops Into Transportation
Topic 27403 | Page 4
So, today was interesting and reaffirmed i do NOT want to be a local driver anytime soon!
This was our 5th road exercise. The levels get progressively more difficult each time and I like the method they use. Today the took us through the city, side streets, tight tight corners, into the country. Lots of hills with limited distances, hills with railroad tracks at the top(no one shifted on the tracks). Intersections at lights at the top, almost every stop was at some point on a hill. I had no stalls , and only grinded a few. I realized I have had my seat too far back and was having a habit of not pushing the clutch in far enough.
We saw a truck that had gotten stuck going up a drive that he shouldn’t have , think his landing gear was caught up and you could see space between his skid plate and kingpin.
I would like to give a shoutout to the instructor Justin. Who kept his cool for 5 minutes with one of the other students who stalled the truck like 10 times in a row on a small hill. Even when the truck started rolling back, he kept his cool, was WAY more professional than I could ever hope to be. Just put his hand on the trailer brake from time to time and calmed the driver down. Justin was wounded in action and spent a few months in Walter reed. Lost a lung.
For any of you military guys that are interested all of the instructors at fort Benning in this program are military vets and know what it’s like to transition from military to a professional CMV driver. So far they have been exceptional and I have learned way more than friends that went to other CDL mills. They truly want to set you up for success. I’m not endorsing the school, but my experience thus far has been phenomenal.
The TMC recruiter came by at lunch and man, they need to give that guy a raise. He convinced everyone that said hell no to flatbed at the beginning of the class fill out a contact sheet lol. His joke was “ I have 8 kids and that makes me a true flatbedder. “ someone asked how that qualified and he replied “ I don’t like to tarp and I don’t know how to back up” 😂🙌🏻🙌🏻. I could have died!
Great day overall. Truly hope I’m Not too long winded but like to be thorough.
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.
CMV:
Commercial Motor Vehicle
A CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business, is involved in interstate commerce, and may fit any of these descriptions:
- Weighs 10,001 pounds or more
- Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more
- Is designed or used to transport 16 or more passengers (including the driver) not for compensation
- Is designed or used to transport 9 or more passengers (including the driver) for compensation
- Is transporting hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placards
Personally, I like reading the so-called "long winded" posts here in the Training Diaries section.
You're doing great, so keep posting.
Alright guys, got my CDL so I will be closing the chapter on this. It was a fun school and I think highly of all the instructors I had. I am still active duty army so won’t be available to go to an orientation till the end of April. The good news is the troops into transportation program allows free lifetime refresher training which I fully plan on taking advantage of.
There are 2 days left and I plan on maximizing my time by playing with the alley dock and using the 53 ft trailer and sleeper cab. Trying different tandem settings and whatnot We have been training most of our yard maneuvers with day cabs and 48 ft trailers. I don’t plan on operating either of those any time soon so I want the real deal. My gi bill payed for the class so I plan on utilizing as much training as possible!
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 Cab:
A tractor which does not have a sleeper berth attached to it. Normally used for local routes where drivers go home every night.
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Great Job and thank you for your service!!
Congrats on getting your CDL! Thanks for posting your diary - it's been great to follow along. Best on the next steps!
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.
Congratulations!!!!!
Well done. Congratulations!
Congrats! I have three weeks to go yet. After this week we drive 7 to 10 hours a day for three weeks (Mon - Thu).
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