63 hours behind the wheel

It really was my intention to post every night or at least every other night. Or maybe at least every couple of nights.  At least more than once every 10 days! Google's gmail to blogger interface went down and it's hard to write on my iPhone in the blogger app.  Especially when it doesn't work in landscape mode.  Really? 

I'm sitting in the driver's lounge of the Springfield, OH terminal typing on my laptop. I've been here since Friday around noon.  We came here under a load for a 34 hour reset with the load scheduled for delivery in New Jersey Tuesday morning.  We "lost" the load as they gave it to another driver who needed to get home in New York.  We weren't planning to leave here until later in the day today anyway, but now we sit until they get us a load out of here.  At least we're at a terminal with all the amenities and not sitting at a truck stop in the middle of BFE.

These last 12 days have been intense, fun, full, frustrating, and wonderful.  The first couple days were the hardest because everything was new.  Every move took so much concentration.  It's getting easier now.  I don't tense up as much when it's time to exit the highway and maneuver thru town.  Coupling and un-coupling a trailer isn't so foreign. Backing is slowly coming together for me and I'm shifting pretty smoothly.  I've driven a standard transmission  most of my life. My dad made it a point that I learn to drive on a standard.  Shifting a tractor is very different. Especially down shifting. I'm not having to think so hard every time I have to do something with the truck.  I still have to be alert, but it's coming more naturally.  I need to get a load headed through some mountains.  Although I'm glad I haven't had one before now.  My trainer says I shifted better from the start than any of his other students but I feel much better about hitting the mountains now. 

This is being such an amazing journey and I'm almost done with what I can only call a re-birthing process.  Quitting my job without a plan was like the orgasm, letting loose the seeds of freedom (did I really just write that?).  Realizing I really wanted to drive a truck and becoming determined to find a way was like the fertilization.  Getting into school, conquering the financial hurdle and the medical barrier was like implantation.  School, the search for the right company, orientation, passing the DOT physical and physical standards test, these are all part of the developement.  This last stage, the 120 hours in the truck with the trainer learning how to really drive a truck is the birthing process.  Once I complete the upgrade then I will be reborn.  And John and I will pick back up our journey together.  This has been the hardest part, being without him for 12 days now.  We saw each other briefly last Friday but brief it was. 

I have 57 more hours to do then I get to upgrade.  It's basically a road test, written test, simulator tests and, assuming I pass, then I go to 2nd seat status, teaming with John.  After 2 months teaming with him I'll achieve 1st seat status and finally be earning real $$.  We'll still be teaming, I'll just be earning full pay.   Can't wait to get back on the road!

Things I've learned in my 1st week driving a truck...

Be an opportunist:

• If you have the chance to take a shower - take one
• If you have a chance to use the bathroom - do it!
• If you have a chance to eat - eat
• If you have a chance to do laundry - do it!
• If you have a chance to sleep - sleep!

I'm truckin' now!

Finished up my first day with my driver trainer with US Xpress. Put in 6.5 hours towards the 120 I have to do. I'm exhausted but feel great! Only got about 3.5 hours sleep last night because I was excited to be finally driving a truck and anxious because John hadn't been hired yet. They were waiting on employment verification from one employer. When I woke up this morning I was pretty sad and very tired. Fortunately during breakfast the recruiter called to say hey got the paperwork and he's hired. So I rolled out of the terminal with a joyous heart. We did it!

This has been such an amazing journey and we still have one last leg before we will be driving together. It feels so incredible to have set a path for ourselves and be finally at this point where it's real.

My first day driving was a great experience. My trainer is very good, encouraging and is making it enjoyable. After the trials of my driving instructor and the nightmare stories I've read about other students' trainer experiences I'm much relieved. I think I dodged a bullet though as my trainer is not the one they first assigned me to. He was all "I'm not here to be your friend I'm here to teach you how to drive a truck. I'll give you a list of the rules and I expect them to be followed". A small bit of fortune and timing saved me from that reality. The other gal in my orientation group had turned down her initial driver trainer assignment because he smoked on occasion and not in the truck. A driver happened to walk past us and asked if I was waiting on a trainer because their student assignment fell through. I said I had a Trainer but he was in GA but I'm ready to roll now. He suggested I train with him. John was much relieved as he feared another experience like my driving instructor had I gone with the first trainer. To use my overused hippie phrase "the universe continues to provide"

The search for the right employer begins

Yes, upon graduating from CDL school you have choices.  There are several carriers who hire students after graduation:  Swift, Werner, Schneider, PAM Transport, US Xpress, CR England, CRST, Roehl, Stevens, and a few others.   They all have some sort of orientation then training over the road (OTR)/on the job with a driver trainer.  The big factors seem to be the length of the orientation/training period, the rate of pay during those times, location of orientation, cents per mile once you upgrade to 1st seat, and the types of loads they haul.

Our search was pretty exhaustive and overwhelming at times because of our criteria.  We wanted to find a company who would let John be my trainer for the on the job training, accept his past OTR experience as valid and not require he go out with a trainer, ran cross-country as opposed to only regional, how they addressed the climate control issue in "no idle" states, and hauled dry van.  We weren't interested in refer (refrigerated) or flat bed.  It became apparent to us in the beginning of this adventure that his OTR experience might be an issue when we were first doing research to see if our goal was even possible, before I enrolled in school.  The 1st company we called was US Xpress and they flat out said "no" they would not hire John as he did not have a year of OTR experience within the last 3. 

Werner wanted him to do 150 hours with a trainer and me 270.  Stevens wanted almost the same but then we'd have to drive solo for at least 3 months before we could team (really?!?).  CRST (a teams only company) wanted John to ride with a driver trainer for 28 days - same as the recent grads.  CR England and PAM didn't run cross country.  PAM also paid pretty low.  Finally we decided to apply to Schneider as they indicated he wouldn't need to go on the road with a driver trainer and I'd only go a week with one then he would essentially be my driver trainer.  AWESOME!  Well, we get a call from them, submit our approval paperwork to start the process prior to orientation and the call stating "I'm sorry, you don't live within one of our teams hiring area".  Now, we are very close to several of their listed hiring areas but our zip code was not on their list. We told them we would be putting everything in storage and if they could give us a zip code we'd get our PO Box there.  Their response: "let me talk to my hiring manager and see if I can get an exception".

We checked in with them everyday for a few days and they still did not have an answer.  So we started to get creative and re-evaluate our plan.  Perhaps a smaller, local company would let John train me and put us in a truck.  A company he used to work for was hiring so he suggested we go by and talk to them.  The term "re-hireable" came up and this turned everything around.  See, John used to work for US Xpress when the 1st company he worked for - a smaller company - folded and was purchased by US Xpress.  So, he called them back up and asked if he's re-hireable.  They said yes! And, orientation is only 3 days, John would need to do 50 hours with a driver trainer (not so bad given the other options) and I'd do 120.  US Xpress then sends their recent grads out as teams for the next 2 months and yes, John can be my co-driver.  Wow! We've come full circle! They emailed us the application within a couple of hours.  This is Thursday afternoon.  We sent back the applications by close of business that same day.  By 10:30am Friday we got a call from the recruiter asking if we can report to Dallas on the following Wednesday.

It's pretty wild the way things played out. John had hoped in the beginning we could go with US Xpress then as I was going through school was suggesting I go ahead and go with them because of their reputation over the rest of the mega-carriers.  Had Schneider called us up to orientation we would have missed the US Xpress opportunity.  As I like to say, the universe has a way of providing when you are on the right path.

Next Up:  Throwing my life into boxes for the 8th time in 4 years

Roadmaster Drivers School San Antonio Review

Its been not quite 2 weeks now since graduation.  Having gotten some distance from it it's my goal to write a review/description of the school.

First let me say be prepared to spend a lot of time sitting around once you finish the 1st week.  Be prepared to be out in the weather for 1/2 of each day for the remaining 3 weeks.  Be prepared for VERY long days.  School is from 7a-6p Mon-Thurs.  There isn't much in the way of break areas for students that are climate controlled.  I can't speak for everyone but by the time I got home at the end of the day I was exhausted!

Week 1:  Classroom - The classroom instructor was named Russ.  He's funny, intense and does a great job of getting you prepared to take your permit test the morning of Day 2 and to pass your skills tests. Yes, 1st thing Tuesday morning you head to DPS to take your permit test.  Don't worry.  So long as you've been paying attention and participate in class you should be good to go.  Basically the classroom time goes through the Driver's Handbook and prepares you to take your skills tests.  You will spend some time in the computer training room doing "eTreads" which is online computer learning.  There are 35 of them and they have to be completed by Tuesday of week 4.  Do yourself a favor and do some over the weekends as some are very long and you may only have 4 left when Week 2 starts but they could be 1 hour long!

Week 2 & 3:  Yard & On the Road - The remainder of your days at school (with the exception of graduation day) will be split between the Yard and the Road.  You'll spend 1/2 day practicing straight line backing, parallel parking and alley docking at an angle.  The 1st day is spent on Pre-Trip and eventually you will get to get in the truck but you'll just be bobtailing (no trailer) around the yard idle shifting.  This is shifting through the 1st 4 gears but not  giving it any gas.  Day 2 you finally get on the road. Essentially you'll get 45 mins to an hour actually driving and the rest of the road time will be spent watching your co-drivers (2-3 other students) driving.  During yard time you might get 2 times around the yard, possibly 3.  There was one day where 1 student only got to go once.  

Week 4:   The 1st 3 days will still be split between the yard and the road.  They will test you on Pre-Trip Inspection, coupling & un-coupling backing, parallel parking and alley backing.  These are loose affairs.  Especially the Pre-Trip since Texas does not test on the Pre-Trip.  Nor does it test on alley backing/docking.  They'll also take you on one of the 3 DPS routes so you can get a feel for what to expect,  Day 4 you report to the school then they take you over to DPS in the trucks.  Be prepared for a VERY long day.  I was fortunate (on the one hand) to go 1st.  I got to get the test out of the way but there was still sitting around waiting for everyone else.   Finally, at the end of the day they hold graduation.  It's a small simple affair where you get your certificate and GPA.

I have mixed feelings about the school due to my experience with my driving and yard instructors, the facilities and the equipment.  But, to be fair, I have nothing to compare it to. Ultimately, I passed my drivers test and I passed the Road test here at US Xpress so it would seem they prepared me for the next step in my training.  Yes, keep this in mind.  The purpose of the CDL school is NOT to get you ready to driver an 18-wheeler.  It's to provide you with sufficient knowledge and training to get your commercial driver's license.  If you feel ill prepared to get into a truck by yourself fear not.  It seems the companies that accept recent graduates have a reasonable expectation of what your skills are.  Be prepared to spend up to 2 months of on the job training by hitting the road with a driver trainer and quite possibly up to a week before that in orientation and additional classroom training.

I'm glad I went the CDL school route rather than company sponsored training.  Now that I've spent time researching companies I have a better perspective on the school.  It got the job done and I have no regrets.

Next Up:  Selecting a company to work for - Yes! You have choices!

A little behind the power curve & very exhausted!

I had grand designs of posting daily but they fell apart once reality set in. By the end of the day I have been soooo exhausted. Between the heat - it was up to 106 last week and you spend 4 hours out in the yard - and the mental effort learning to drive a big rig - i have nothing left in the tank when I get to my parents house at the end of the day. Once I'm home for the weekend I'm a little distracted ;-)

On a personal level this has been the most challenging thing I've put myself through. I love the fact I'm learning to drive a big rig but the learning experience itself has not been as positive as I think it could have been. In a way I'm glad I've refrained from posting much before now because now that I've worked with a few other instructors I have a broader perspective than I did even a week ago.

I wish I could have worked with at least one of them all along. My road instructor barks at you most of the time. Sometime there's bite behind it. The yard instructor is belittling most of the time. This past week we've had 2 ";new to me"; instructors in the yard. They have been awesome! I've dialed in the last few details of parallel parking & alley docking and have received encouraging instruction. I don't need to be coddled or told all the time I'm doing good. But a little encouragement now and then does a lot for anyone's confidence and confidence is key!

I have to share a couple of exchanges from 2 different days between myself & the road instructor. Im not terribly short (I'm 5'5") but I'm shorter than everyone else here These are not exaggerations:

1. (while in the middle of a right hand turn)
Instructor: move over to the right! you're being too scared
Me: I can't move over yet I can't see in my mirror. Your knee is in the way
Instructor: adjust your seat
(remember I'm in the middle of a turn)
Me: I wouldn't be able to push the pedals all the way in
Instructor: well I need somewhere to put my knee

2. (While preparing to drive)
Instructor: what are you doing? Let's go!
Me: I'm adjusting my seat
Instructor: you don't need to adjust your seat
Me: I can't push the pedals far enough in
Instructor: you don't need to be able to push the pedals all the way in
Me: I need to be able to push the clutch all the way in when I stop
Instructor: no you don't

The general consensus with my co-driver is that my frustrations are justified. They're a little appalled. Despite it all tho I'm succeeding and feel ready for the test on Thursday. Good thing because with tomorrow being he 4th of July today is my last day of driving!




Sent from my iPhone

Week 2 Day 2 - Finally Behind the Wheel

My group spent the morning in the yard while the other group was divided up amongst instructors and hit the road.  Evidently that's how things will roll for the remainder of the course.  Alternating between yard and road, morning vs afternoon.   

We spent the morning learning straight backing.  It was a little intimidating at first for most of us because we hadn't even really driven a truck with a trailer yet. I had only pulled any kind of a trailer a few times in the past and usually managed to avoid having to back up. Our yard instructor is Ron.  You can hear him pretty good and he's a much friendlier person.  Yells at you tho when you make a mistake but it's good-natured yelling.  I had trouble the first few times remembering to turn the wheel in the opposite direction I wanted the trailer to move but eventually got more comfortable.  

After lunch we are supposed to meet in the main area to check-in and get our assignments.  Our group was broken up into 2 more groups and assigned driving instructors.  Myself and  2 other guys were assigned Robert.  I just groaned while the rest of the group looked over in what I can only hope was sympathy...lol.

Week 2 Day 1 at Roadmaster Drivers School

We all thought we would be driving today but much to our chagrin we found out we weren't. They broke up our class into 2 groups and assigned each group instructors. We spent the morning on pre-trip inspection, coupling/uncoupling, and the air brake test.  My group was assigned Robert as our instructor.  Man, he's a tough customer.  Grumpy, curmudgeonly, and hard to hear. You couldn't hear what he was saying or see what he was pointing at.   At first I was a little stressed that we're supposed to dial in the pre-trip but later found out the state of Texas doesn't test on the pre-trip OR coupling/uncoupling.  Somehow it never came around to my turn to either couple or uncouple.  In the afternoon we finally got to get behind the wheel to practice idle shifting (no acceleration) in the truck (no trailer).

Forunately rain we threatening because we spent most of the day out in the yard.  It's summer in south-central Texas.  I can't imagine what it's going to be like later in the week!

Passed Them All!

Passed all the written tests!  I decided to take Air Brakes and Combinations first, then take General Knowledge and Pre-Trip.  I took the 1st 2 on the computer I passed them but wished at points I could have been able to skip a question and come back to it.  I recommend taking the written tests.  I got back in a very short line (2 people) and got the written tests for General Knowledge and Pre-Trip.  I'm really glad I did!  Being able to skip a question you're not sure of and come back to it made a big difference.

Russ (the classroom instructor) did a really good job of preparing us for these tests.  

The More Tedious Part of Truck Driving - Log Books!

We spent the day today learning how to do log books.  They're not hard just tedious.  It was a nice reprieve from the the brain cramming yesterday.  I'm glad the classroom portion of the course is over.  The classroom just isn't my arena.  Plus, we're all anxious to get behind the wheel. We're supposed to go to DPS in the morning to take the written tests, at least 2 of them.  We have to have passed all 4 by next Friday.  I'm going to take all 4 and go from there.  I'm ready to be home so I'll take them at the DPS in Austin.  Besides, they have a separate office for commercial licenses so I shouldn't have to wait in line long.


It's been a long, but good week.  I'm ready to be back home.

My Brain Hurts!

Finally slept a little better last night.  Good thing too because all day was spent going over 2 sections in the Driver's Handbook:  General Knowledge (35+ pages), and Pre-Trip Inspection (10+ pages).  Wow it was a lot of information!  By the time we got to the practice tests and questions I was feeling pretty comfortable with the General Knowledge but the Pre-Trip was very fuzzy.  Mostly it was going over the different parts of the truck and trailer and what to look for but between the 2 subjects my brain just couldn't store any more information. Took another nap in my car with the engine/AC running.  I'm really glad I didn't bring my 2-wheeler down here! 

Spent some more time with the eTread computer courses going over Log Books and Hours of Service. Yesterday and today have made this all seem real now that we've been covering what feels like the meat and potatoes of truck driving.


So far my experience with the school is being very positive and I'd recommend it to someone looking into truck driving schools.

Passed the Permit Test!

Showed up at DPS at 6:30am and there were already at least 10 people in line, including 1 person from my class.  I slept even more poorly last night even though I managed to avoid reviewing questions in my head like "what are the height limits between which reflectors must be mounted?".  Come 7am the line hasn't started moving and I'm beginning to think DPS doesn't open until 8am!  So I pull up a square of sidewalk and prepare for a long wait.

Once I got inside and checked in it didn't take long to get through the whole process.  You sign in, they check your papers, vision, take thumb prints and photo.  Then you head over to the testing area.  You have an option to do the test written or on the computer.  I opted for the computer version and only missed one. The disadvantage of the computer version is you can't go back and review your answers or skip a question and go back to it.  You do get a running score which is kind of fun.  I passed!  Off to school

Day 2 at school involved more eTread and covering Air Brakes and Combinations, along with the practice tests and review at the end of the day.   Started getting confused because I was tired and the instructor goes so fast but I managed to just store the confusion and figured it would sort itself out eventually.  I really need a decent night's sleep!  Did pretty well on the practice tests and review so I think I'll be OK.  We take the written tests for our actual license on Friday.

BTW:  Other than the classroom and the eTread room there isn't an area out of the heat for the students. The school is essentially housed in a big warehouse with a couple of rooms installed for the classroom and eTread room.  I'm glad I brought my car so I could take a nap.  Had to leave the engine running with the A/C (this is south central Texas in the summer time!)

Day 1 In The Books

I can't believe I'm actually here.  It's all quite surreal.  I've always sold myself short and gone through life just coasting, rarely looking to the future in any significant way.  To say I live in the moment would be an accurate statement.  Slept like s**t last night so it was a VERY long day.

There are about 16 of us in the class and our instructor's name is Russ.  He's very animated and goes through the material very quickly.  We're going to be in class 7am-6pm, Mon-Thurs, with a 1 hour lunch at noon.  We went through the Permit section of the CDL drivers manual and spent some time on computer courses called eTread.  That was grueling!  Being as tired as I was, sitting there watching videos and answering pop quizzes (you never knew when you'd be quizzed) about put me in a coma!  Worst part was if you got the answer wrong you had to go back through that section again!  In the afternoon we did some practice tests and classroom review for the permit test.  We're to report to DPS in the morning to take our permit tests.  Things sure are moving fast!  Russ is recommending we get there at 6:30am so we can get back to the school early.

Don't Look Before You Leap

Having reached the end of my rope at a dead end job that paid well, I took aleap and quit with 0 offers on the table.  Granted, it took anudge from my boyfriend, who gently encouraged me to do it. I'm almost 50 yearsold with no quantifiable skills or trade to help ensure I could find another decent paying job. I have mad office skills but they're really not worthmuch on the job market. The final deciding moment was when he sent me a pictureof a quote scribbled on a piece of note pad paper: "Whoever says look before you leap will never jump off the cliff". Having spent my formativeyears in a hippie beach town I took this as a sign from the universe. Oh yeah ,the quote was written on a temp agency notepad, in my handwriting, and is one ofmy own quotes.

The idea of driving an 18 wheeler is not a new one. It's come to me a few times over the last few years. The most recent being a few months ago when myboyfriend suggested I get my CDL and we could drive team. He's been driving for 17 years. At first I was hesitant - not sure I could do it. Once I decided Iwanted to I started doing research and came across a disqualifying issue that Ithought closed the trucking door for me. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. Afterhaving a week off to figure out what to do with my life I decided I really didwant to drive a truck. I found a couple of references that indicated I mightnot be disqualified after all. There were a few determining factors though. Ihad to get a letter from my doc and have it approved by the doc at the localdriving school. Answer is: "shouldn't be a problem"! First hurdleover come. Next up I had to get financing. After a week of waiting on otherpeople to decide my future. I got the good news. I got the loan and needed toreport the next 2 days to register and get my physical so I could start thecoming Monday.

Let the journey begin!