Profile For James P.

Starcar, don't take this the wrong way... But I kinda don't believe you haha. Seeing as how drivers are I just cannot fathom them doing those things that you mentioned. I know what you're saying is true, it's just difficult to picture it. The best a driver does for another driver right now is hold the door for them at the truck stops.

I guess that's just how much if a big difference it was. But I simply cannot imagine truckers being that nice. I suppose that says a lot about how everything is these days.

Daniel, let me tell ya, Starcar is telling the truth.. I come from a trucking background..my father, my brother, 3 cousins, 3 uncles and myself have all driven truck..( mine was all offroad until recently ).. anyway, I can remember riding with my dad when I was a youngster (back in the 70's & early 80's) and have seen truckers stopped many many times beside the road just to help a fellow trucker out.. maybe they were changing a tire, or one had forgotten to fuel up and was bumming a few gallons of fuel to get to the next stop.. there was always fellowship and comraderie.. none of this " pee on you " attitude or all the ranting raving cussing crap that you hear on the cb radio nowdays... at least, it was this way in my area ( eastern ky ).. Starcar is 100% right on

Kip, what I listen to differs each day and it really depends on my mood.. Some days I listen to country, some, I listen to classics rock, bluegrass, r & b, grunge, ....I just like all different kinds.. but mostly I like country, rock, and heavy metal.. not that spitting, sputtering, screaming, hate rock but more like Godsmack, Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, Pearl Jam, and so on..it seems that I like a song or two by almost every artist, no matter the genre of the music

No, I was not given a citation or ticket.. the lead policeman asked me if I needed medical attention and if I or my family had a history of heart attack ( I was pretty torn up ) and he also told me that there was nothing that I could have done to prevent this crash.. As for counseling, this happened 1 month ago.. Also, I have worked plenty of crashes/accidents with my local fire department and ambulance service, so I have no problem with the mental aspect.. I was just curious as to the after effects, namely future employers.. thanks for your response, james

Ok, here's a story for you guys, followed by a question.. On my 3rd day at school, I was out on a road drive with my instructor.. We had been out in the country and then had come back thru town on the way back to the school lot.. We had already come thru the main city and were going thru the industrial district..I had just made a right turn at a stop sign, crossed a pretty rough railroad crossing, and had just crested 25 mph in a 35 mile mph zone..I was going by the entrance road between 2 industrial complexes when I see a guy on a crotch rocket coming down the entrance road toward me.. Being a biker myself, I instantly knew there was no way this guy could stop in time .. I also knew that I didn't have the time to speed up to avoid the bike, nor could I stop as I was already completely blocking the entrance road..so the guy on the bike hits me.. I watch as the bike hits my passenger side trailer tandems, and as soon as the bike touches the tires I let up off the brakes.. (I knew if the guy went under the tandems that he was dead, and I was thinking that if the tires are still sliding then he would be ground up like so much hamburger.. So, maybe if I let the tires just roll over , then maybe there will still be enough of the body to have an open casket funeral and the family wont have to suffer thru a closed casket funeral ).. when I let the tires roll, I moved forward just enough so that the guy actually hit the tires instead of going under them..The guy wound up with a nasty case of road rash, a HUGE chunk of his left arm missing, and a broken leg... I learned later that the guy had slid 178 feet before he laid the bike down and slid another 38 feet (blowing the stop sign) and hit my tires.. I also learned that he told the police and the paramedics that his throttle was stuck wide open.. My response was, " im not going to dispute his story because I do not know, but he had to have the throttle open to be stuck, and this is not the right place to have the throttle cranked wide open.. ) I have the newspaper report, and I also have the official police report..

Now for my question.. how will this affect me in the event that I wish to change jobs in the future ? any and all responses are appreciated, thanks, james

Sorry I haven't been on here much. just haven't had internet service, im old school ( no net on my phone).. anyway, the school is actually a very small school ( no more than 4 students at a time ) so you get lots of hands on.. they actually have you train on fairly new trucks, not old worn out junk.. our training truck was a 2013 freightliner Cascadia with 160k on the speedo.. school is 2 weeks, they pay you each week.. pay for your hotel room each week.. then when you make the cdl, its 2-3 weeks with a trainer, also paid each week.. the entire schooling is paid, with no contract.. was the only option for a poor, broke hillbilly like me.. the instructor was actually pretty laid back.. he just showed me what to do, told me what he expected, then left me to practice ( after he watched for awhile ).. and my trainer ? wow !! I don't think anyone could have picked a better trainer for me ! so far all of my runs have been east coast.. pitston , pa.. Towanda, pa.. Baltimore, md.. berlin, md.. Findlay. oh.. grand rapids, mich.. this sunday, my trainer took me to grand rapids for the second time.. put me in a 2012 Cascadia, and set me up on the qc.. the company sent me the load info and I was on my way..took me 2 1/2 days to get from grand rapids to Lebanon, tn due to the 70 hour limit.. took the paper test for the company and was told to go get some lunch and then come back for my next load assignment.. I had to wait for 4-5 hours for the load to get there, and it was a load to get me home.. a dispatcher called me on the way home and told me " my name is so and so, and im your new dispatcher. welcome to the team ! " and once again, thanks for your site.. it helped me so very very much !

Britton, I had the same problem..i had driven for years off-road, and always floated gears..my school wanted us to double clutch.. of course, I was grinding every gear.. then my instructor explained it to me like this.. "the transmission on a big rig has a clutch brake.. when you press the clutch pedal all the way down (like you would in a civilian vehicle) it activates the clutch brake brake and actually stops the gears from turning.. only press the clutch pedal down about halfway.. it works much better ".. also, it is a timing issue..my instructor told us to count.. one, two.. one, two.. just like you would normally count one, two, three..no pause between numbers.. one, clutch and pull shifter into neutral.. two, clutch again and pull shifter into next gear.. using his advice, after 4 days on the road im actually missing/grinding very few gears.. until the downshifting part, but im getting better..im starting to learn my rpm/shift curves... hope this helps you, It did me..

Yes Brett, I have... signed on with R E West Transport in Ashland, Tn...start 8am Monday morning..

I just want to say thanks Brett, for making this site and test...it has helped me tremendously..i just passed all three of the permit sections, general knowledge / combination vehicles / air brakes, on the first try...with a 96%...best of all, I never turned the first page in the cdl book...strictly High Road CDL Training Program only ! thanks again, james