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!