Final Week!

Title says all. Final week at Swift academy, things are going great. Backing maneuvers are going well, I am feeling confident and having little to no problems getting the trailer where it needs to go. Cones are making it easy I'm sure and down the road I think I'll miss having them. Pretrip is great. Not missing anything other than the stupid torsion bar on the tandems. I don't know why but I keep forgetting to mention it.

Other students are doing good as well for the most part. I think they have all realized they need to pay attention and a couple that are struggling are getting anxious and paying attention instead of just hanging around. Boggles my mind that they upend their lives to come do this and think 2 weeks of smoking and sitting on the bench not watching or listening to instructors is acceptable, they are sweating each day now.

One of the trainers, the guy that is new and loves interacting with all of us that are applying ourselves was getting into one of the trucks, tore his meniscus and went to the hospital. He's pretty upset he's missing out and hopefully he has a full recovery soon. If he wasn't using 3 points of contact he woulda fully fell out but he caught himself and hopefully will be ok soon.

Almost halfway through the last week before testing week. Still enjoying it all and super super excited!

Good for you! Best of luck for continued progress and success.

Having little or no problems backing the trailer in training is more than most students can say. Keep up the good work. Your reports are interesting to read.

Title says all. Final week at Swift academy, things are going great. Backing maneuvers are going well, I am feeling confident and having little to no problems getting the trailer where it needs to go. Cones are making it easy I'm sure and down the road I think I'll miss having them. Pretrip is great. Not missing anything other than the stupid torsion bar on the tandems. I don't know why but I keep forgetting to mention it.

Other students are doing good as well for the most part. I think they have all realized they need to pay attention and a couple that are struggling are getting anxious and paying attention instead of just hanging around. Boggles my mind that they upend their lives to come do this and think 2 weeks of smoking and sitting on the bench not watching or listening to instructors is acceptable, they are sweating each day now.

One of the trainers, the guy that is new and loves interacting with all of us that are applying ourselves was getting into one of the trucks, tore his meniscus and went to the hospital. He's pretty upset he's missing out and hopefully he has a full recovery soon. If he wasn't using 3 points of contact he woulda fully fell out but he caught himself and hopefully will be ok soon.

Almost halfway through the last week before testing week. Still enjoying it all and super super excited!

Congrats & Kudos, Jaybird!!

And to think . . . . a month ago, you were 'All Over the Place!' Kinda like that song,

"Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Happy for you, sincerely. Personally, I think you've made the best choice;

~ Anne ~

Yeah the straight line, offset, parallel and 90 are all great. Feeling confident, not hitting cones, always in the line. Now mind you remove my line references and cones, im confident it will take me 10 minutes and 10 get outs. Excited to practice and try a back for the first time out in the world!

Yeah the straight line, offset, parallel and 90 are all great. Feeling confident, not hitting cones, always in the line. Now mind you remove my line references and cones, im confident it will take me 10 minutes and 10 get outs. Excited to practice and try a back for the first time out in the world!

There are times when you are trying to back somewhere at a shipper or receiver that may take 30 minutes and 10 GOALs. Just be patient and let other trucks go by before continuing to be in the way while working it in the spot. You will often find another driver offer to help. It's your choice whether to accept or not. I am much more trusting when it's that driver's truck that they are spotting me to avoid.

Yeah the straight line, offset, parallel and 90 are all great. Feeling confident, not hitting cones, always in the line. Now mind you remove my line references and cones, im confident it will take me 10 minutes and 10 get outs. Excited to practice and try a back for the first time out in the world!

Jaybird, backing is a difficult skill to master. Some drivers have a propensity for it and that’s great. Other drivers take time to develop the necessary skills and ability. I’m going on 14 months and still working to hone my skills. The key to avoiding mishaps is to take your time, GOAL, and don’t let other drivers rattle you. I know, easier said than done. I have irritated other drivers along the way, but I’ll never encounter them again so I still take the time I need in each given situation to make sure I’m safely backing up.

Yeah the straight line, offset, parallel and 90 are all great. Feeling confident, not hitting cones, always in the line. Now mind you remove my line references and cones, im confident it will take me 10 minutes and 10 get outs. Excited to practice and try a back for the first time out in the world!

Jaybird, backing is a difficult skill to master. Some drivers have a propensity for it and that’s great. Other drivers take time to develop the necessary skills and ability. I’m going on 14 months and still working to hone my skills. The key to avoiding mishaps is to take your time, GOAL, and don’t let other drivers rattle you. I know, easier said than done. I have irritated other drivers along the way, but I’ll never encounter them again so I still take the time I need in each given situation to make sure I’m safely backing up.

I thought the same thing about never seeing them again, until I unloaded at a place in upstate NY back in January and irritated another driver as I struggled to wrestle the trailer into the spot for unloading. I saw this same driver like an hour or so later at a truck stop just down the street. It was the closest place to park, so we both had the same idea. He shook his head as he watched me struggle to back the truck and trailer into a spot in that truck stop. I really had a better reason to struggle at the truck stop because the lot was covered in snow (lines covered) and trucks weren't very uniformly parked. There was one spot available that I felt confident I could manage without doing damage, but one of the trucks was crooked. The crooked truck made finding the right angle rather challenging for me.

Anyway, so they might see you again, or you see them again. So long as nothing is hit, I don't worry about what another driver thinks. No one starts off a great backer. I have yet to see any driver who doesn't have an off day. We are all in the same boat, so we do well to be kind to each other. Unfortunately, not all drivers have such a view.