First Days At School

So I decided to go the private school route and found a great one. Small local school 101 School of Trucking in Ventura California. Great owner and instructor Tim explained the life, training, costs and steps to becoming a driver. Did my studying with the help of the training guide here on the forum as well as material he provided and aced the tests for my permit. Still need my Hazmat endorsement but have my application in and taking test on Friday. I seem to have a bit of a block on this subject. Hopefully wife quizzing and the training guides will help.

Hit the pad and went through my pre-trip inspection and did well. Still working on the proper terms for each item. Tim drove over to the training area and then said switch seats and let's see what you can do. I had obtained my Class A 30 years ago but never really got to use it. Insurance and teen tickets got in the way. Anyway got in and buckled up and the double clutch came back like riding a bike. Little issue with the gear pattern but no grinds. Did a few quick loops going through the gears up to 7. Lot's of stopping and starting and reminders about mirrors.

Next step was backing in straight line and did pretty well first and second time but not so good on third. We are using a 24 foot trailer and Tim said it's a bit trickier. Did a few more loops and then he said let's parallel park. He showed me once and said now you do it. He had showed me marks to use on trailer and tractor and where to line up the rig. One shot and in the box. I was pumped.

Many days to go put I am quite excited about the future. One note was my need to do a little stretching and exercise in the next few weeks. My left leg was numb from the clutch. Guess I'm a bit out of shape. Tim said that fatigue later in the session probably made things harder. The other was to remain calm. Hard to do at first but he was very good at throwing out some good jobs and other ways to keep me going.

More to come later this week.

Decided to take care of TSA Hazmat today. Good thing because they are only open Monday and Tuesday. Done and as an added bonus found 20 dollar bill on way out. Off to DMV and 30 minutes later passed remaining endorsements. Now just driving test left in a couple weeks.

Didn't mention in previous entry but like a lot I see I am in my 50's and embarking on a new career. Spent 30 years in Construction/ Electrical sales and tired of the grind. Looking forward to my new life and hopefully a great future. I really recommend by the way if you can look into the WIA and local community colleges for training. I considered the company sponsored and just felt a bit of apprehension. I am sure they are all good but a bit of me wanted to control who I worked for.

Updates on Thursday.

That's awesome man. Did you really say you were using a 24 foot trailer? Why do they use such a short trailer?

Short answer is seems to be what they have locally. Bit harder to control but I am doing o.k. so far. Offset and Parallel were easy with it but straight line seems to wander faster.

Wow! I think you will have a hard time with a longer trailer. It will be much slower to react to adjustments you make. Also, it will be much less forgiving.

I am thinking that when I end up at a company training will be with longer trailer. Everything else is going well. Shifting, etc. Little iffy on downshifting but getting the hang of it. Passed the skills part already and thinking I will be done in a couple weeks. Applied with CRST and Schneider so far. Schneider training looks good. Close to home also.

Heading into the home stretch. Finding the proverbial Catch 22 when looking for jobs. Need experience to get experience. Couple of companies looking good though. Hope to have CDL A in hand next week. Keeping a positive outlook and enjoying the journey.

Awesome man.... you will find a job easily.

Record heat here today so sweat was just from that. Yeah sure. Had a great day driving and skill testing. Still having a bit of trouble with down shifting. Did a full practice test for CDL Pre-trip, Air Brake, Skills and driving. Instructor said I would have passed easily. I'm still looking forward to more time on road before the test. Odd part is local DMV is closed for remodeling so bit of a hike to next closest one. I really like the one on one training and the calm demeanor of my instructor. Hoping to be done by the 15th at the latest and working again.

Still looking at companies and situations. Part of me thinks teaming up with someone for 6 months to a year makes sense but personality keeps telling me to go solo after the required training with whatever company I go with. I am guessing that answer will come after the time in truck with a trainer whether I can adapt to that. Still leaning solo though.

I also want to say that both the website and most of all the other driver stories have been a great help in this process. Good bad or ugly it all needs to be said. I am keeping my usual glass half full attitude and can truthfully say I am having fun. Except for that downshift thing.