Houston Community College CDL School

Ok so here's some diagram I made up where he had a student listen to him to make this turn. There's construction on the far side of the street, so we're only two lanes. The blue line is the line where cars moving towards the left should stop. Some of the other instructors told us that we're not making that turn when practicing driving out because it'd be too hard, but the one I had the other day had the student make it successfully.

I don't know if this diagram helps, but here's a pre-construction streetview. That left side is all tore up now, and the right side is pretty bad as well. I also thought there was three lanes going straight instead of the two that there were, but it doesn't make a difference to the turn.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7845575,-95.264396,3a,75y,60.19h,79.08t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sY_UN6hvtIfgnehdjTWSY_A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DY_UN6hvtIfgnehdjTWSY_A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D164.81917%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Okay I didn't know it cut off links that large.

And another thing G-town while I'm here on a Friday (practicing pre trip then whatever else is availible), is that the instructor said that we're not truck drivers, but trailer drivers. If that helps to know his mentality.

I think that's a fine statement.

That link worked for me...I can see on the street view where the road is a bit wider, which trucks can use to there benefit when making a sweeping right turn. Normally they don't have oncoming traffic in the far lane, but them stopping further back makes the wide turn possible.

That can't be right because every instructor has us watch the end of the trailer and those wheels when we make our turn, and his instruction was clearly meant to be different.

It's different, I'll give you that. (Scratches head)

And another thing G-town while I'm here on a Friday (practicing pre trip then whatever else is availible), is that the instructor said that we're not truck drivers, but trailer drivers. If that helps to know his mentality.

I think that's a fine statement.

And another thing? Is that really necessary? I'm trying to help you.

I agree you drive trailer. Totally. And that is a fine statement, think about it all the time.

Beyond that? Your diagram...I still cannot see how watching your tandems as you approach and begin to go through to set-up for your RH turn is helpful? As you begin to make the right, yes "look" to make sure you've got the clearance necessary to get through the intersection without curbing it. And yes looking in the mirrors to make sure no other vehicle has encroached on your space. Yes, yes, yes.

I make turns like your described (drew) hundreds of times. I've never set up for one at an intersection by watching my tandems. Once I am ready to and begin to make the turn, then yes my focus goes to the mirror on the side I am turning into, alternating between that and what's in front of me.

Not arguing or debating, at least in this case and most I've experienced, watching the tandems is if no relevant value. And it's quite possible he is right and my understanding of your explanation is lacking. That's okay.

Bottom line if you understand what he is instructing you to do, it works for you and is helpful. Then by all mans, that's more important than anything else.

I had a dream about doing the PTI last night for the test. I was doing the entire truck, and it was actually fairly detailed with all the parts. When I got to the trailer, the dream ended and I had woke up. It's kind of weird.

Also I forgot to tell this story, but when I was parking the truck in the yard one day, with one other student, I had turned left way too close. I saw that trailer was about to hit the next railer because I had turned too early and I immediately stopped. It was really scary - that's how accidents at truck stops happen.

The other student helped me back up and put it back into proper position. I just wanted to let you know I made that mistake, but we fixed it and nothing bad happened! Watch the mirrors!

I saw that trailer was about to hit the next railer because I had turned too early and I immediately stopped. It was really scary - that's how accidents at truck stops happen.

Yuuyo, that's actually a good experience to have. That whole visual effect of actually seeing this happen while you're at the wheel will help you learn the consequences of turning too early. I promise you that you'll be more in tune with how that trailer is going to respond to your actions at the wheel after seeing that in your mirror.

It's been fun reading your diary. It sounds like you're doing real well.

Yuuyo, it took me a few minutes of reading to catch up on everything, but now that I am, it sounds like you're progressing very nicely. One thing I found is that (amongst the instructors we had) there were about 30 different opinions among 7 different instructors on something as simple as turning a corner. Whatever any of then tell you, find the advice that helps you make the turn safely and smoothly and run with that. No idea what that one instructor was trying to tell you, but I'm just getting started, so what do I know? 😳

And I think it's awesome you had the PTI dream! That seemed to be a phenomenona that many people (including myself) experienced when I was in training. Its weird, but neat, right?

It's been great reading up on your progress. Keep after it and you're gonna be number 1 in your class!

Today I did parallel parking. First I did blind side, which I did perfectly twice in a row. Then after lunch I tried it again but this time in a different vehicle, and it was so much harder because of the 53 foot trailer I thought something was wrong with me. But the original truck I was using has a similar length to the test truck, and I did the passenger side perfectly twice in a row.

Tomorrow while people test I'm going to need to practice some offset, pretrip, and hopefully get to drive maybe out one last time.

Also, there's something odd I noticed. On I-45 southbound near the Be Someone Sign heading into downtown, there's LOTS of signs that say WARNING LOW CLEARANCE BRIDGES. But when you get to all the bridges, they're all 14'6 and higher. Even the warning sign says that. Why do they bother saying that if the maximum (non oversize) height limit in texas is 14 feet?