Report From Quality Drivers/Celadon School In Laredo, TX

I like how they organize. They rotate well between backing range and driving. Everyone gets enough driving time and time to practice backing everyday.

Every driving starts with an air brake test.

The driving will be with different instructors.

Claudia teaches us when to shift using road speed, but Mathiew teaches us how to use the engine speed.

Update 9/22/14:

Today, I practiced Parallel Parking. In the morning, I had four attempts. I passed the last one with one pull up.

After lunch, I had six attempts. The first was bad because I hit the curb/cone with my steer tires. Three I passed with one pull up. Two I passed without a pull up.

The last attempt was my best one. I was allowed one more attempt, but I stopped. I wanted the best one be my last one in order to go home with confidence.

I enjoyed the day today.

Update 9/23/14:

The instructor Mathiew gave me one to one instruction for about twenty minutes. I thought that I had learned enough the day before, yet he was able to teach me something new. His teaching was focussed on steering correctly. I was able to successfully without needing a pull up.

With one attempt, I wanted to experiment with the timing. I was a bit close to the cones and a bit crooked. I wa nted to know if I am able to get out of the situation without hitting any cone nor the line in the back. It was like a puzzle. I was able to make the right move and pass this attempt, but I needed one pull up.

The examiners only allow one pull up of 15 feet or less. This was a great day.

Update 9/24/14:

Today was a short day.

However, it was the first day driving on the road. We were three students inside the cab.

The instructor was patient and knew how to teach well. She was patient when I stalled. She was patient when I ground gear or missed the gears.

My upshifting and downshifting was good for the first time. I got the lever in gear most of the times.

Whenever I missed gears, however, I had some problems. Tomorrow, I hopefully put the lever in gear. I am revving too much and forget to clutch it in.

Another issue was to take off on an upgrade. I stalled several times. However, the last two take offs at the same spot were good.

One time, she wanted me to downshift driving an upgrade. I was not able to downshift quick enough and miss the gear. I needed to stop in the middle of the frontage road. She made me drive the same spot a second time. It was good.

9/25/14

My driving was better than yesterday. No stalls and I had less trouble recovering missed shifts.

9/26/14

Today was really good. She allowed me to drive the freeway while other students still drove the Frontage Road.

I mastered some tight turns.

Right now, I use the phone to write the diary.

Next week, I am probably not able to post. I have some problems with my phone. I need to suspend the services for a while.

We already have a story going on that covers information about the school of Celadon in Indianapolis.

On the 8th of September, I'll start my class at Quality Drivers School in Laredo, TX. This is a good opportunity to examine this school as well for those who are from Texas and want attend this school.

Stay tuned!

How did u get in? Will they disqualify me for lack of work history?

I asked my recruiter if I need to bring documents to prove my unemployment history. She told me that Celadon does not require the applicant to prove unemployment.

Self-Employment needs to be proven.

If you don't have any DUI or Felony etc you should be fine.

They were the least demanding and beaurocratic among schools I applied to.

They accepted me and invited me very fast.

It is not an accelerated program.

It is a self paced program.

You need to be patient. It is a new school that is just three months old.

I urge you to read the manual, especially sections 1, 2, 3, and 14, before starting the school. These sections are pretty long and contain lots of information.

Send an application through their website.

Click careers then Driving school and then fill out the application form.

This week was great. I improved a lot. My driving is good so far. I did some driving in the traffic on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday they let me drive a secluded Frontage Road to refine my shifting. I also did some longevity driving on the I-35 on Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday 10/3/2014 was a good day. I improved my skills significantly. Although skip shifting is not allowed during the test, the instructor liked that I chose this option when I needed to stop quickly.

My backing skills need to be better though. Oversteering and hasty movements were my main problem.