I'm About To Become A 'newbie'....again! Lol

Well.....

Mission accomplished! Passed my test on Wednesday. Made 100 on the Pre-trip and 'In cab' inspection.... received 0 points on the yard maneuvers; 2 points on the road test for two minor 'gear crunches' whilst downshifting. I apologised to the examiner at the time they happened and her reply, as she laughed, was, "An excellent test....i don't really care about the crunches - it's not my truck!" lol

Overall; I have to say that I'm pretty 'chuffed ! 😀

So now then; it's off to The big 'D' on Sunday 19th November for Orientation and training.

More 'learning curves' to come methinks! 👍

After a considerable amount of pondering.... I'm going to try team driving for a few months (weeks ......days lol). Basically, after all the unofficial coaching, mentoring and emotional encouragement, I'm sick of the sound of my own voice! 😜

I believe that It will be good to have someone else to shoot the breeze with.....at least for a while! l may end up reconsidering but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Hopefully, we'll at least be able to keep it 'turning and burning ' in order to raise the old revenue stream for a bit.

At 57 years old, it's actually kinda nice to be quite excited about something.....

lol

I will let y'all know what transpires and how it all goes. 👍

Until then; many thanks for the kind comments - I truly appreciate it.

Keep 'er safe!

Cheers,

Simon

Well done!

Love those bananas! Lol And thanks guys.👍

The most interesting part of this week for me was watching the emotional responses of the guys n gals as they tested.

Pre-test nerves were readily on show, in abundance.... everything from pacing around like a Father awaiting the birth of a child, to tears and self doubts....

And that was just me! Lol

Seriously tho, on the day, I was mainly impatient to just get it done. Nerves for myself were barely noticeable.....maybe from 20+ years of 6 monthly flight checks and Type-rating tests whilst flying...maybe 'coz I knew deep down that I was ready 😜

My nervousness came to the fore during the 6 hours I spent at the test centre, surreptitiously watching my classmates test from an out of sight area (i didn't want to unnerve them even more lol)...

My heart bled for them as they wiggled around through the maneuvers...i was coaching from the side lines big time! "please stop...stop...stop" and "straighten it out.... no turn the other way....pull forward....further forward!" ,were constantly coming out of my mouth as I paced around! I must have looked and sounded demented!

But the joy when they finished the yard test!!! Wow..... how emotional did I get!?? Suffice it to say that I wore my shades even tho it was overcast and raining! Lol

One young lass... 23 years old.. to whom I had given lots and lots of encouragement, literally jumped up and down, with her arms raised, yelling, "I did it!", reminiscent of Rocky Balboa 🤣. She then gave me a big double thumbs up...I guess I hadn't been as 'surreptitious ' as i thought! lol

Boy did I feel like a proud 'Grandpa' then! I was busting with pride and happiness for her!

Of the 5 of us that tested that day, 4 passed👍The 5th didn't make it on the 'alley dock' (he got gimself into the 'death angle' situation and 'breached the line' one too many times). He was pretty much inconsolable at the time and rode back to the school with one of our instructors in their personal vehicle....he obviously didn't want to talk at that point; so we all respected his needs and gave him some space. However, he happened to be one of my apartment mates and spoke at length with me later. He made me laugh, once we got past the comiseration and reconciliation point, by saying that he could hear my voice in his head using a phrase that sorta became our catchphrase in the yard at school...."stop.....stop...FFS stop!!!" He said, "But I choose to ignore it and tried to squeeze it around" He went on to add, "I knew it was wrong but did it anyway".....seems to me that that there is probably some sort of 'life lesson' in there somwhere? lol

Arriving back at school and also the next day, during the almost inevitable post-game analysis; I watched them all re-living their experience with the guys scheduled to test in the next 2 days. They reminded me so, so much of groups of pilots chatting to each other....flying their hands around their wrists, demonstrating..."And then this happened, so I did this"...."I got into such and such a position, so i took a pull-up".... etc., etc. The pride in their faces was a pure joy to see!!

The single most heartwarming thing to see were the reactions from the other students....including those that had already passed, those that had just missed and those that were yet to test..

Without exception; and I mean none, there were hugs, back slaps, high fives, knuckle bumps and some very complicated (to me anyway) handshakes!! Everbody seemed to genuinely delighted for their fellow student trucker; regardless of age, sex, race, nationality or any of the other miscellaneous divisive societal labels!

What a feeling!! 😍

So; despite many of them coming to me saying things like "Thank you so much; I couldn't have done it without you " and, "You taught me so much!"......which, to be honest, got a little embarrasing.... I would like to express my gratitude to all of our actual instructors at CTDS... Woody, Brian, Percy (Gimme some...Gimme some!) Jimbo (OORAH!!!), Adam, Harold and Derick (Where the h*'ll do.you think you're going!?).....you guys made it happen and 'got 'er done'!! Thank you so much!

They may or may not read this, although I have turned everyone onto this fab website...so they may just ! 👍

To all my fellow students, whom I know for a fact are now lurking on this site.... Congrats and my biggest wish for you is that this job, calling, career, vocation....call it what you will..... brings you all that you hope for. Some of your 'dreams/wishes/expectations may be a little 'overboard', but i fervently hope that they all come to pass!

Live long and prosper 👍

Before I bring this long ramble to a close; I would like to add one other thing that I have re-learned over the last 4 weeks....i had forgotten, from my days as a flight instructor, just how much i love to teach. Should i make it through the next few months and years and gain the necessary road experience, i believe that i have got to spend at least a year as an instructor. It does my heart good!!

As ever; to those of you regulars on here that ploughed through this long old post.....Thanks for letting me ramble on....

I feel great! Can you tell? 😜

See ya out there somewhere... til then...keep on keepin' on and stay safe!

Cheers,

(Proud Grandpa) Simon

Awesome!

Simon, welcome and thanks for the great posts! At 57 I just started driving this year - for Werner. I've had many similar experiences as you, being the old guy and not having too much difficulty backing (thanks to many years of backing boats). Anyhow I think your attitude of helping others and encouraging others to do the same is a breath of fresh air. Paying it forward really goes a long way out on the road