Swift Academy Phoenix, AZ
Topic 14098 | Page 2
Flatie C.
Just listen to your instructors, follow directions, and you will do just fine. They are there to help. They will do everything in their power to make sure you pass every phase of the training. I know you have studied your butt off with the High Road and other online resources. I did the same thing and had the same results as you did on my permit tests and endorsements. (I follow your posts too)! Believe me, when you know all of the terminology, air brake components etc. you will sit in class and find it hard to believe no one else does. You are well prepared and will excel at this. I can tell by your determination and attitude that school will be a walk in the park. I will continue to post updates daily, I'm glad you are following.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Day 4- April 28
More Straight Line Backing practice this Morning. Everyone passed their evaluation before lunch. One person BARELY passed. For those of you preparing for school, let me offer a little advice. This maneuver is VERY easy. Adjust your mirrors as instructed and make MINOR corrections on the steering wheel. IF you have the Truck straight before you start to back up, (which they will teach you how to do), the truck will practically back itself all the way through that 80 foot box on its own. The biggest mistakes I saw were students madly turning the steering wheel back and forth. DO NOT DO THAT, you will cause yourself unneeded grief. More Pre-Trip inspection after lunch, including the in cab air brake test. Yes....... all of those things you read about for your CDL air brake test. Air leak down test, Low pressure warning and Spring brakes. The biggest thing you need to learn with the Pre-Trip is the commentary you must do while performing it. Explaining everything out loud as you check it or perform some function can be a little daunting! You MUST say everything as it is printed out for you. The Examiner will not prompt you for explanations. Memorize this as you have memorized all of the words to your favorite songs on the radio.
The last thing we did today was an introduction to Shifting and Double Clutching. The Instructors demonstrated this to us. We will start practicing it tomorrow morning.
I am thoroughly enjoying my experience at the Swift Academy. It is very fast paced! You need to pay attention and take lots of notes.
TM
Pre-trip Inspection:
A pre-trip inspection is a thorough inspection of the truck completed before driving for the first time each day.
Federal and state laws require that drivers inspect their vehicles. Federal and state inspectors also may inspect your vehicles. If they judge a vehicle to be unsafe, they will put it “out of service” until it is repaired.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Double Clutch:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
Double Clutching:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Day 5- April 29th
Today was an introduction to Shifting and Double Clutching. OK......................If you have driven a car with a manual transmission , forget everything you know.......Now! :). That technique does NOT work on these Trucks. Without getting into the technicalities, you must use the clutch TWICE for each shift, BUT, do not push it all the way to the floor. Very unnatural if you have driven a stick shift car before. And to further complicate things, when you downshift, you need to add a tap to the accelerator between these " Double Clutches". To make a long story short, there was a lot of gear grinding and clashing going on with 7 Tractor Trailer Rigs going back and forth on the range. I believe my truck was making the most racket of them all. We practiced for about 3 hours over 2 sessions. It was only in the last 30 minutes or so that i began to get the hang of it. If you have only driven an automatic car, you will probably pick up on this quicker. We continued working on our Pre Trip and had a demonstration of coupling and uncoupling the trailer.
Double Clutch:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
Double Clutching:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
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I'm following your diary tractor man! I can't wait to start my journey as well!
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated