PAM/Driver Solutions Training

I made it on time again... I spent the day in the sun waiting for the truck to practice. The guy who tests us told me and the girls to stay on that truck since it's the test truck and we'll be testing soon. There were at least 10 of us switching out. There were a few guys who just didn't grasp the concept of waiting in line and kept jumping in front of people. That crap made me mad. I got in the truck 3 times total. The first time, I tried and failed to do an offset. The owner/instructor saw me struggling and came over to share his method. I did what he said and nailed that junk. The next time I got in, I was going to practice offsets, but another instructor saw me and started showing me the alley dock. So, I went with it. I listened and backed in 3 times in a row nearly perfectly. Only 1 pull up the whole time. I don't know how I'll do without him there guiding me, but we'll see. Later on, I jumped back in for more offsets. BAM! Nailed it.

After school, my roomie, my friend/teammate, and I went to Costco, then Aldi, then Lidl, which is another grocery store around here. We had so dang many groceries. It took us 3 trips with all of our arms full. The vegetarian made dinner again and it was delicious. Dude can cook, yo! Then we all had some watermelon. Now it's time for bed!

Keep it up!

So I jumped in that truck this morning ready to roll and effed up that 90 degree backup. I just couldn't get it without guidance. Later on, when I finally had some time with the instructor, I did fine. I just can't figure out the reference points. I definitely need more practice. I did finish my observation hours today.

I found out today I'm probably going to be here a 5th week - all because the people before my class keep failing, so they keep filling up the test schedule with retests. I am not happy about that at all. I'm actually quite upset. I am not sure how my bills will get paid next month. I just gotta keep pounding on and have faith.

Sorry to hear about having extra time added to your schooling. The benefit is more time to learn which will likely improve your chances of passing everything on your first try. I also understand the frustration due to financial reasons.

Don't worry about struggling with backing this morning. After 8 months there's still days I wonder how the heck I passed my test. We all deal with it at times. Once you get have your CDL it doesn't matter how many pull ups you do, as long as you don't hit anything it's successful

Week 3 started off pretty good. I was 3rd in line to do my backing. I nailed it my first time. Then the next 2 tries throughout the day, I got progressively worse. I was all over the dang pad that last time I tried the 90 degree turn.

Other than waiting for the truck and going over the pretrip, it was pretty uneventful. I will test early Monday. So, it's possible I'll get out in 4 after all.

Not a lot to report today. I spent more time in the sun waiting. I did some pretrip studying and found out I need to go over it a bit more. I finally practiced backing right before we all left. Tried twice. First time I had 2 pull ups and the 2nd time I had one. I'll call that a success.

The examiner told me and my girls that he wants us to wipe the floor with the guys in our class. He expects us to excel. So, that's pretty cool.

After school, I went to my friend's room and typed up my own guide to the pretrip. I think its pretty good :)

My roommate is watching the game and yelling very loudly. It's after 10 and I have to wake up at 530. Yay

At this point, I'm just practicing when I can and waiting when I can't. I test Monday for my pretrip and backing on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, my roommate failed out today and I spent the whole evening helping her find a way home. *sigh* drama!

Oh no, did she exceed the number of attempts for a given test? I was watching the game(s) you indicated she was watching and I did drag butt the next day at work. I would hope that if I was in school like she was that I'd turn the set off. Making it through your training is more important than how some sports team performs.

She tested and failed 3 times. She refused to practice anything but the 90 degree, even though she couldn't get past the offset on her tests. And she hardly practiced.

Yesterday was another long day in the sun, but I practiced all 3 backing maneuvers and did really well. My friend took her pretrip test and got a 98. Overall, a good day!

I forgot to post last night. I made a 98 on my pretrip. I forgot the dang horns! My buddy took her backing test and failed on the 90 degree. Otherwise, it was a scorcher out in the sun. I practiced my backing some when I could.

Today, I took my backing at about 820am. I got 7 out of 12 allowable points. All of them were on that dang 90 degree. But hey, I passed. I started driving with a trainer at 3 and went to about 830. We had to come in early because an air line started leaking. Trainer said I was doing really good, but I started stalling when starting from a dead stop. Especially on hills. I had some pretty rough starts :(

I drive with another trainer tomorrow at 1. So.... I get to sleep in! And I'm really like the guy I'll be going out with. I'm having a lot of fun!