Swift Training @ C1 Indy

Was awesome meeting you today. Sorry if I seemed a bit standoffish. I had no clue who you were at first.

Lol, no worries. I wasn't sure if you were who I thought you were @ first either...Then when I mentioned Trucking Truth I saw the lightbulb go off haha!

If you have any questions I'll either be on the range or room #2 all week. Brad gives you plenty of breaks, don't be shy! Get them air breaks conquered, you can do it! The BMV is open late on Tuesdays & you'll have your first chance then, and another chance each day during school until Friday.

See ya around!

We are gonna test tomorrow. I think we are going to do just fine. And if we blow it the first time, like you said there is always the next day. Not gonna stress about it that is for sure. Thanks for the offer to help, if I have questions I will ask on that you can bank.

Mon-Wed was (mostly) self guided pre-trip study. We got another demo Monday & then were left to our own devices. Alot of students just sat in class eating & chatting. It was written on the board in front of class when the range instructors took lunch & was casually mentioned we could use that time to do live 4-point break checks of we wanted. Myself & 3 others took advantage of that opportunity.

4 of us (the same ones who were on the range during lunches, came in on the weekend's & stayed late) all passed our pre-trip tests today & were pulled from class to start offset backing this afternoon!

The rest of them are watching us through the windows & scratching their heads wondering why we get to drive trucks LOL.

It was fun, but unfortunately I'm @ the mercy of range time & instructor availability now so I gotta soak it up when I can. I got 1 hour in the truck & 3 hours of observing the other 3 students in my class. I was first up so naturally I was the guinea pig & didn't do so hot haha! We all suck but are learning from each others mistakes.

You can tell who has their head on their shoulders & not in the clouds. I'm glad I took the advice of the forum vets and stuck with the right crowd.

Mostly backing practice Thur-Fri. I Got into offset yesterday with 1 GOAL & ZERO pullups! Today I did the 3 backing maneuvers in a row & got to set up the next back without the instructor. I'm happy to say I completed a parallel back today with no instruction! Its all about refrence points & managing your space.

The real thrill of the day was I got to go on the road for an 8 miles run! (my first time driving in anything other than 1st or Reverse). It was so much fun! The instructor called me out on floating the gears LOL. I would use the clutch to go into neutral but would slip it in to the next gear without engaging. I didn't mean to, it just kinda slips in when the RPM's are there.

My only trouble was forgetting what gear I came out of (they have you start in 3rd) so when I shifted up twice I forgot I needed to go back to the left to drop into 6. (there's no more years to the right, what's going on!) LOL.

Also had some hiccups downshifting (nothing major). My mind is having trouble associating hitting the throttle with slowing down. My whole life I've stayed away from the throttle when decreasing speed & I have to fight subconcious urge to just decrease RPM's and drop gear. It doesn't work that away! Haha.

Lots of fun. I'm confident in my backing skills but need to work on memorizing shift recovery speeds for the occasional miss on the downshift.

Don't feel bad about the downshifting! I had to reschedule my DOT test because my downshifting was so horrific. It will come...

Don't feel bad about the downshifting! I had to reschedule my DOT test because my downshifting was so horrific. It will come...

Thanks for the encouragement! Came in on an "off" day today to practice shifting. Expecting another road drill Monday, hopefully with increased dexterity & speed. I have the utmost faith in my resolve. As the old proverb goes, "If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. Of not, you'll find an excuse."

No excuses in sight this week.

Keep up the good work C Mac!

Tested out of range today. Woo-hoo! Now I can spend my remaining time where it's needed...honing my shifting on the road preparing for the state exam.

I did a lot better on the road today. Not missing gears but need to check my mirrors more (at least 3x every intersection). I felt terrific after the road run this morning. Was (what I consider) my 1st solid run. Like everything was finally falling into place.

Then I get back to school & a single instructor came for just me (this was odd). Normally they take student 4 At a time. I go outside & he tells me were gonna do range stuff, but wants to quiz me on pre-trip first (this was also odd) but I rolled with it.

Passed my pre-trip with zero points deducted, awesome. He says were gonna run all 3 backing drills back 2 back. Okay...

Ran all 3 backing drills (three times each). Passed each time easy peasy. Was kinda freaking me out that we were out so long mano-a-mano when there's like 80 students at school and barely a dozen instructors.

I get back to school & my name is in the window of the door to see one of the administrators.

Oh crap...

I found the lady & asked her what's up. She said she needed my signature on a piece of paper. "Okay no worries, what's this for?" She tells me I'm scheduled to test out at State tommorow! What?! I'm only 2 weeks (+3 days) into the program!

She tells me apparently "someone" thinks I'm ready. I sure wish that someone was me. I'm confident of my pre-trip & range skills, but the road has my concerned. I'm shifting okay, but points add up quickly on the road. Checking mirrors 3x at intersections, stalling out at a stop. Little things got me frazzled.

I'm floored right now. I wasn't expecting an attempt to test out this early AT ALL

I wish they would have waited till atleast Friday. My confidence has improved tremendously in the last 48 hours, but I'm as nervous as the only pig invited to a luau... shaking in my boots.

You got this man! Nobody is truly "ready" to test. The testers EXPECT you to screw up sometimes. Miss a few gears, etc.

Just remember to BREATHE! Somebody thinks you have mad skills, so believe in that!