Profile For Jimbo

I'm glad my thread was able to help you!

Firstly, keep reminding yourself in your head what year you're in. During my test, I would say what gear I was in to myself as a reminder and that caused me to never get lost.

I don't know how your truck operates but try to memorize what speed you're at in the gears. For example, on my 10 speed I know that 15mph is 6th gear. So if I get slightly lower than 15mph I know to put it into 5th gear.

But the #1 rule to prevent coasting because of a failed shift is to put it back in the gear that you took it out of. The first second you realize you failed to upshift put it back in the gear you took it out of to prevent a failed exam because you coasted too much.

If you tried to upshift and failed but you forgot what gear you took it out of then make your best educated decision. But honestly, practice is also what perfects this skill.

Great advice....especially the part of putting it back into the gear you just came out of. I'll be honest...I was so busy watching traffic today that I never really got the opportunity to really watch my road speed and the gear I was in. I was keeping my eyes on the road and the tach most of the time. I'll be sure to try that tomorrow....thanks Daniel!

Well....I'm starting week 4 of CDL school this week. The first two were dedicated to CDL permit testing. Thanks to this site, I was well prepared and ahead of the curve. With that being said I decided to take ALL the endorsement tests while I was at DMV including New York's Metal Coils endorsement test. Passed them all with flying colors.

The last week or so have been a mix of classroom and yard time. Main focus was on drop/hook, straight line backing, and pre-trip. All fairly basic but like everything else, practice makes perfect. Pre-trip was made alot easier thanks to Daniel B's Pre-Trip inspection thread from awhile back. Gave me some easy terminology to put together which helped with flow and much easier to memorize.

Today was my first road ride. Nervous? Me? Hell yeah I was. You'd think at 54 and having gone around the block a few times I would have been cool as can be. Anyway...it went pretty good for the first one. Granted, I missed some gears a couple times. More due to my lack of timing between the foot and the hand, but nailed quite a few...both up and down. Turns went good too. Considering I was in downtown Buffalo...once I got the feel it was much easier.

I do have one question....what tips can you veteran guys/gals give me on what to do in the event I miss a gear. There was one moment where I had a daydreaming pedestrian cross the street directly in front of me...never even looked up. I had to slow quicly...and once I slowed I completely lost track of what damn gear I was in! Needless to say...recovery was not easy. Sooo...any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I agree.....that pay is pathetic. You could definitely flip burgers and make more than what you're showing. There's plenty of companies out there hiring at a much higher per mile rate than that.

I am starting school in Indianapolis on Monday 12th of January, I will be posting daily updates.

First full day completed. I have no experience of any other trucking schools so I have nothing to compare Celadon with, I have however heard some horror stories about other schools. After my first day here I have to say I am very impressed, the facility is spotless, the people are awesome and the accommodation is first class. Celadon provides FREE accommodation ( the dorms are awesome ) FREE meals 3 times a day, and they even pay for your leaners permit and for your test. If you are looking for a trucking school and a company to work for then from what I am experiencing so far I would say Celadon is the place.

Nice Ian...glad you like it. I'm in week three of a local school here in Buffalo,NY. Soak it up...and don't be afraid to ask questions. Good luck man..

Daniel....that had to be quite the Christmas gift huh? Congrats and enjoy the new job!

Congrats man.....we all make mistakes at some point in our lives. Looks like you got that second chance that alot of people don't get. Good luck!

Great job! I feel your pain on the temperature thing. The bulk of my outdoor time was in January and February. Our instructors set up a straight truck outside and kept it running for us to jump into and get warm. Good luck to you sir I'm sure you'll do great!

Heavy...I've got till around March 5th before I'm done so I'll be dealing with the rest of the winter! You're over this way enough so I know you can feel my pain...lol Thanks man...

How old is old? I'm 48 and I am betting I'll be one of the oldest taking the course.

Like Old School...I'm 53 also...not far away from 54 actually

CDL permit in hand. Spent a little over an hour at the dmv yesterday. Passed Gen. Knowledge, Air Brakes, Combination. Had one wrong answer on the Combination section. Decided to take the Hazmat, Doubles/Triples, and Tanker endorsement tests while I was there. One wrong answer on the Tanker test but aced everything else.

Decided to take the Metal Coils endorsement test on Monday while the rest of the class is taking their permit tests. ( Friday was a day off so I went over on my own). May not ever do flatbed BUT...you never know.

We are supposed to start spending more time in the yard this coming week. All we've done out there so far is some drop/hook practice. Moving along just fine though. Would be nice if the temperature would go up about 10 degrees or so...lol

Well its been two weeks already since I started school. So far it's been a great experience. With the exception of a couple hours in the yard doing drop and hook drills, most of the time has been spent in the classroom. CDL Manual and videos. Loooong days in class then home to eat, read, and sleep.

I'm in a small class of guys and guess what...I'm the old man of the group! Go figure. Good thing is, the other guys are serious minded about the program and learning the ropes which makes for a MUCH better time of it. And getting a jump start here on TT with the testing,etc, has been a huge help.

Tomorrow I'm heading to the DMV to take the permit test tomorrow and I'm going to go after all the endorsements (doubles/triples, tanker, hazmat) with the exception of metal coils.

Best wishes to everyone on here for a happy and healty...and PROSPEROUS 2015!