Sage Truck Driving School - Phox

Oh and I took 2 of my 3 written tests I need for CDL. the general knowledge and pre trip. passed both of them, got 7 out of 50 wrong on gen knowledge and only 1 out of 30 wrong on pre trip.

Now I just need air brakes and I'll have all the written tests done.

So this morning I got a call from my trucking school, they have scheduled me for my first 4 hour drive for this Thursday 10am - 2 pm. The trainer I will be with (which by the way during the drives it's 1 trainer 1 student) I have not met so I'm hopping he's good and has the patience for me to learn the whole shifting thing.

1 trainer 1 student, during driving is great. Good luck!

Indeed, especially if any of your class mates have big mouths and don't shut up... he might not get a chance to drive if he was in the truck with me while I'm trying to learn... if you get my drift.

I talked to US Xpress this morning, the recruiter was supposed to be out of the office till Jan 4th but she was there for a little bit today and returned my voicemail from yesterday. for some reason my tablet didn't ring but computer did (I use google voice cause my phone is a tablet), so I called her right back. Once I know my school graduation date she'll get me set up for orientation.

I was able to get some questions answered though, stuff that may not be up to date here and or wasn't listed on their website:

They will install an inverter for you if you have one once you're in your own truck Training is 175 hours ( i assume that's driving time not on duty) and isn't team I would primarily be driving eastern half of usa once solo, but during training time could be anywhere in lower 48 1 cat or 1 dog allowed with $500 non refundable deposit passengers allowed once you're in your own truck hometime is accrued 1 day for every 7 days out and can be used every 2 weeks with the general standard being 5 days used at most but I might be able to work something out with dispatch for special circumstances (such as the fact my sister is having a baby in July) Their fleet is about 70% auto transmission, 30% manual, she could not say what I will get as it's based on what's available but chances are good for an auto. Last but not least, pay rate is 31 CPM once you go solo, then 32cpm after 3 months, 35 cpm after 6 months, 36 comp after 9 months and finally after a year 37cpm. Not sure what happens after a year but 37cpm ain't too shabby.

There were a couple other questions I needed to ask but I forgot. gonna talk to my school when I go to do my first drive on thursday and see if they can give me a better time frame on graduation date then When I call recruiter on Monday I'll let her know and ask more questions.

I'm going to take my last written test tomorrow when I'm done helping out with Meals on Wheels (my work study job during school semester, volunteer only during break). All I will have to do after the air brake test is finish my drives and taking driving test. so close to that cdl I can taste it... or maybe that's just my permit in my wallet i'm tasting :P

Nice, Keep up the great work. My wife has a lot of say in the company I am looking for, Which right now TMC is at the top. US Express would probably be up in the running, if I were single. They are a really good company. .37cpm is pretty good to start your second year, and it will only go up from there! I am 99% sure I will go with the percentage pay, at TMC, they start you out at 27% of the load.

looking forward to hearing about your day on the road.

Stay safe

Thanks

I took my air brakes written test today. Missed 2 questions out of 25, so I passed (Was allowed to miss 5). One of them I was clueless on so just made a guess the other didn't make sense

What should you do before engaging the parking brake. I forget what all the answer choices were but the correct one was rlease the air from the tank or something like that... why the heck would you empty the air tank to engage a parking brake on an air brake system? would that not prevent the parking brake from working? doesn't matter I still passed.

So now I just need to do my drives with the school and taking the driving exam... first drive is tomorrow 10a-2p

Thanks

I took my air brakes written test today. Missed 2 questions out of 25, so I passed (Was allowed to miss 5). One of them I was clueless on so just made a guess the other didn't make sense

What should you do before engaging the parking brake. I forget what all the answer choices were but the correct one was rlease the air from the tank or something like that... why the heck would you empty the air tank to engage a parking brake on an air brake system? would that not prevent the parking brake from working? doesn't matter I still passed.

So now I just need to do my drives with the school and taking the driving exam... first drive is tomorrow 10a-2p

If I'm not mistaken, the parking brakes are spring brakes. In other words, they only engage when there is no air pressure in their air lines. They are what will stop you if there is a catastrophic air pressure failure in the truck.

So the answer you were confused about is correct. If your parking brakes are working properly, they cannot be engaged if their lines have air pressure.

Thanks

I took my air brakes written test today. Missed 2 questions out of 25, so I passed (Was allowed to miss 5). One of them I was clueless on so just made a guess the other didn't make sense

What should you do before engaging the parking brake. I forget what all the answer choices were but the correct one was rlease the air from the tank or something like that... why the heck would you empty the air tank to engage a parking brake on an air brake system? would that not prevent the parking brake from working? doesn't matter I still passed.

So now I just need to do my drives with the school and taking the driving exam... first drive is tomorrow 10a-2p

If I'm not mistaken, the parking brakes are spring brakes. In other words, they only engage when there is no air pressure in their air lines. They are what will stop you if there is a catastrophic air pressure failure in the truck.

So the answer you were confused about is correct. If your parking brakes are working properly, they cannot be engaged if their lines have air pressure.

That's exactly how they work. When Phox learns the in-cab air brake check this will become apparent.

I thought the spring brakes were the emergency brakes and parking were air powered... hmmm.

I thought the spring brakes were the emergency brakes and parking were air powered... hmmm.

You seem skeptical. The tractor parking brakes are air powered, but opposite of how you believe they operate. You might want to go back over the Texas drivers manual, there should be adequate text and diagrams describing how the air brake systems operate.

Think about it in this way:

Once completing my route I park my tractor sans the trailer back at my DC. I pull the yellow knob on the dash to set the parking brake. Many times I will then proceed to drain the air from the air tanks. When that process is completed, there is zero air pressure in the system. If your initial understanding were correct, the truck would not be secure and could possibly move from the parking spot. The opposite is true, there is no air to hold back the spring, thus enabling the parking brake.

Good luck on your drive today.

I thought the spring brakes were the emergency brakes and parking were air powered... hmmm.

When you design safety equipment, it's usually designed to work when there is a failure - because that's when you REALLY need it.

In this case, when everything is working normally, the spring brakes are forced OFF the drums by air pressure of a functional air brake system. This is why you won't go anywhere before building up air pressure in your truck.

When there is a loss of air pressure, whether on purpose (pulling the brake toggle) or due to a failure (broken lines) the air pressure is no longer holding the spring compressed, and the brake shoes engage the drums.

The normal braking system works by applying air pressure. The emergency/parking brake system works by losing air pressure.