CRST Company-Sponsored Training - The Adventure Begins

I completely understand where you're coming from Kolibri. I'm usually the fastest learner and hardest worker. I am on my last week in CDL school. I struggle with things that I haven't struggled with since I started this. Then I nail everything and I feel like I've got it down. Then I'll come back in the next week and I become an utter failure. i know people have good days and bad days, but this is getting a little ridiculous. All I can do is keep my head up, keep a good attitude, and keep on striving. I still love being behind the wheel of the truck though, no matter if I have a good OR bad day. Best of luck on your CDL testing. Be safe

Day Twenty-Four

Had three practice drives before lunch, with noticeable improvement on each one. First drive, I was doing very well with my up-shifts, but couldn’t buy a gear going down.

Second drive, I was better, more relaxed and made more good down-shifts than bad, and when I did make mistakes, I recovered quickly and without becoming ‘flustered’.

Third drive, the instructor said he didn’t know why I was failing. Test was sometime after lunch.

Test failed for ignorance. I was under the impression that we had to take all turns in 5th gear or lower. I was going quite slow enough in sixth to take the turn safely, but when I tried to get into (what I thought was required) 5th for the turn, I wound up having to stop and reset to third with traffic behind me; Auto-fail for “impeding traffic”. I continued the course as if I was still being tested, and when we got back the examiner told me: 1. There is no DOT requirement to be in any gear for a turn, only that turns must be smooth and safe, and 2. Had I simply left it in 6th, I would have accrued a single point over the entire course - I had a left turn followed by a lane change, for which I failed to cancel my turn signal in between (“improper use of signal”). I am looking very much forward to tomorrow’s attempt.

Thank you very much for the kind words, Captain. I am sorry I didn't notice your post until just after I made mine, else I would have responded to you first, before posting my daily. Keep at it, brother! And I wish you every success!

Not a problem. Sounds to me like you're having testing anxiety. It's fine if you miss a gear here and there, but you did correct it, and that matters. As far as turns, I was told by my instructors that 6th is fine for a turn. I've read some post on here, though, and other instructors have told their students to make turns in 5th. That just seems a little too risky for me. With us being newbies, and downshifting in new, having to worry about flipping down and finding 5th as well just doesn't make much sense to me. Adding too much pressure, when clearly 6th is fine to turn with. I took to shifting pretty well though. I've had several vehicles that were manual. That's probably not the best thing, because I am starting out with some bad habits from that, but I also already knew where the lower gears were. Didn't take long to get used to stacking another set on top of them. I listen for the rpm when I'm shifting now. I try to shift at least a little lower than what I'm supposed to. It seems to help with the grinding and the jumping of the cab. Take it slow. Try not to think about it and just feel it. When you hop into that truck, it is an extension of you. That truck becomes a part of you and you move that truck through shear force of will. Just like you would an arm or a leg. That's how I've always felt when I got into any vehicle. Yeah, it took a couple of weeks to get used to such a big truck, but I did. The issue that I am having is that every instructor has their own way of doing things. This past weekend was horrible. We've had an instructor gone since the first weeks of our training to get certified to be a CDL examiner. He came back last week and started trying to re-teach us. Doing it HIS way. Which is fine, and does seem a little better than the others, but I've already got my foundation set up. I was on my way to discovering MY own style of driving. Just screwed me all up. At one time, I stopped the truck in mid back, put the brakes on and walked away. I had to step away. I was so frustrated because I was making mistakes that I had not made since I tried to back in my first week. Just made me wonder if I was actually gaining skill, or if I'm just getting lucky here and there. Good or bad days. Who knows. Anyway, sorry to steal your thread there. Good luck on your next try. Get in, take a deep breath, and just enjoy the ride.

Day Twenty-Six

Congratulations!

Congratulations Kolibri! :)

Congrats!!!! I take my test August 2nd. Then I'm off to my Orientation with Comcar (CT Transportation)

Now the fun begins... Keep us updated on your time with your trainer.

Looks like he's having too much fun to have time to post! 😆😆 On another note, I'm going to be done with my lead driver by the 31st and still no luck finding a "sane" co-driver. Point me in the right direction and I'd appreciate it.....BTW I'm with "CURST" as well☝🏽️😩

Now the fun begins... Keep us updated on your time with your trainer.