Getting Enough Practice Time In Private CDL School

I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how they resolved it: I am just finishing up my first week of CDL school-- it is a private school in CA, I am paying my own way, and when I started I already had my permit and endorsements, so I am mostly concerned with learning the driving skills. So far, after 4 days, I have only gotten about 4 hours of actual practice behind the wheel. Each day of practice/learning lasts only about 3-4 hours and I share that time with 2 other students. My question is, how to improve my driving skills? I am working on straight and off-set backing and am struggling with getting it. Any suggestions with how to improve faster or better? I know I need practice but are there any other resources that people have used? This school does not have simulators.

Hey there Carlos. Great question! This is a typical thing in a lot of the CDL schools. Often time it may feel rushed or that you may not have enough behind the wheel time. These schools are going to just teach you the very basics on passing the skills test to actually obtain your Class A CDL. The real fun begins when you are out with your trainer with whichever company you hire on with.. Then you will get all the behind the wheel time that your heart desires. Also, if you just don't feel comfortable or truly feel like you are not getting the training that you need always speak to the school staff and let them know your concerns. They can't fix a problem if they are unaware there is one. I have seen posts where they let students either stay late or come in on off days to get the extra practice. Good luck to you out there. Stay safe and learn all that you can.

This is the reason I attended Sage Truck Driving School. Their policy is always 1 student 1 truck.

I just finished up at a private school a few weeks ago and didn't feel I had enough time behind the wheel either so I know where you're coming from.

Best pieces of advice for backing I can give you are:

1. GO SLOW

2. ALWAYS stop completely before turning your wheel. That inch or 2 you roll while turning your wheel can end up throwing your trailer off by a foot or so by the time your correction makes it to the back bumper.

3. Steer TOWARDS your problem. If your trailer is close to creeping out of your left boundary, turn your wheel to the left. That will make the back of your trailer stert going to the right and getting you away from the boundary.

4. Anytime you're between the cones, you don't want to turn your wheel more than about 1/4 of a turn in either direction. If you do you might get too big of a bend in your truck and trailer to get it straightened back out without a pull up.

5. When I first started classes I was a perfectionist. I wanted to back it in perfectly the first time every time. I learned quickly though that being perfect is not the point right now. They give you so many points and pull ups for a reason. I don't recommend burning them all but right now all you need to worry about is getting it backed up safely. Take a pull up if you need it and don't sweat it too bad. The goal is safety, not looking good doing it. Looking good will come with time and experience. The only word a rookie (or anyone else) in this industry needs to keep in their vocabulary at all times is SAFETY.

Good luck and keep us posted of how everything is going. If you haven't yet, you should consider starting a training diary in the diaries section.

Guess what...I went company sponsored and drove almost 10,000 miles one on one with an instructor... OTR from AR to MI to GA to CT back to GA etc. Before I tested. And I was nervous too.

Bottom line...I still didn't feel I got enough backing time.

Learn the reference.points.for the backing and get the CDL. Try to understand the angles. Pay close attention to the other students when they do it. Why did they mess up? How did they correct it? What would have been better?

Use their mistakes to your advantage.

The backing will take six.months to really sink in.

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I will try to keep a positive attitude, and will report back on how things are going in my second week. Thanks again to everyone for your input....