First Drive After 18 Years

I earned my Class A CDL in '96. I drove local for 9 months and then decided to go to school to study lab medicine. Now, after tiring of the hospital "Peyton Place" politics, I have the urge to drive again.

I qualify for a no cost refresher course which begins May 26th. I have satisfied all the requirements and I'm excited to get it on the road (no pun intended!)

My buddy knows a guy that needs a driver so he gave him my number. The man says he needs a driver TODAY. I drive out to their yard and I find out the truck is a 2002 Volvo class b dump truck- 10 speed, hydraulic clutch. The lady that "owns" the company gave me a quick interview. She understood that I haven't driven a truck in 18 years. She says no problem, her guy will show me the ropes.

The truck is on site on what they call a clean up. Basically, leading in front of a asphalt grinder. She drives me out to the site and I hop in.

I introduce myself to the driver. He seems friendly. After a few moments of silence I begin peppering him with questions about the truck and the company. He doesn't respond with detailed answers. I do learn that the truck has non-functioning air conditioning and that the company doesn't offer health insurance.

During the next 4 1/2 hours the truck moves 50 feet and I sit in the passenger seat watching the driver look out the side mirror. Finally, the foreman walks up and signs the driver off.

The driver turns the truck around and says, "Well, you ready?". I asked, "Ready for what?". He jumps out of the cab. I guess he wants me to drive.

So, we switch places. I get in the driver seat, fasten my seat belt, push in the parking brake and try to find a gear. There isn't a diagram so I'm searching for something around 2nd gear. He asks me what I'm doing. He says to start off in 4th. I envision where 4th is and it falls in.

The truck has a funky hydraulic clutch. I let it up and give it a tap of juice. . "DON'T give it gas! Just let up on the clutch!". Man, the friction zone was like an inch from the top.. I didn't want to stall it.

During the interview with the lady owner she explicitly instructed me, "No double clutching in my trucks". This kind of went against what I was taught, but whatever, she's the boss!

So for the up shifts I floated the gears. It took me a few reps to figure out the sweet spot without getting a little "grrrrr" between the shifts. Now, when I went for the downshifts, that was a whole different story. My ingrained habit was double clutching. The lady said no double clutching. Oh my, I felt like a fish out of water. I had one heck of a time. Twice I had to stop and start off in 4th again because I could just not get it right. The driver sat next to me most of the time playing with his phone In silence.

I made it out of the city and out to the rush hour freeway traffic. Another missed downshift and another restart in 4th. I make it to the exit for a little 2 lane rural action. I actually pulled off a couple clean downshifts. .. hey, I think I'm getting it!

I pull into the yard, missing yet another downshift into 6th.. I guess I spoke too soon. Man, I think the lack of double clutching is throwing me off my game.

I get out of the truck and the boss lady is standing in front of the garage. I walk up to her and she asked me how it went. I told her we sat practically motionless for over 4 hours. Yeah, she said. It can get boring. She asked me how much driving I did. I told her from the job site back to the yard, about an hour. She asked me how well I thought I did. I was truthful about the trouble I had downshifting. I told her that after 18 years it may take a little practice but I think I can get the hang of it. She tells me to stand here and she's going to go in the garage and talk to my "trainer".

After 10 minutes he comes out of the garage in a quick pace, walks right passed me without saying a word.. hurries into his pickup truck and hauls rear end out of the lot. The boss lady is wearing a dissapointed look. "So, you had problems downshifting?". I'm thinking, um, yeah, I already told you that.. I'm also thinking that the problem I had was due to your double clutching denial. "Yes, I had some difficulty. I think I just need a little more time to get the feel of the tranny".

Just then, another driver came out of the garage saying that that truck has a wierd transmission and it took him a while to get used to it.

The boss lady immediately contridicted him and told me nothing is wrong with the truck... it's a great truck.. all the drivers love driving it.

Then she goes on to offer me a second chance tomorrow. I said sure I would (I'm no quitter!) . I told her I just need to get the feel for matching the gear with the road speed. She cops a mild attitude and informs me that it is not necessary to match the gear with the road speed.

And again, she says, by the way, we're going to lose a lot of money in brake repairs because of me. That truck has a Jake brake and it's used to slow the engine down! So use it!

My second chance starts tomorrow at 6:15 am. I think I'm going to concentrate on attending the refresher course instead.