Hope This Mental Block Goes Away

After being on the road training in CDL school all week, I got some practice backing today. On 5 of the 6 maneuvers I was trying to add difficulty such as not allowing myself a pull-up or alley docking no handed. But after doing a really smooth offset right I tried an offset left and mucked it up horribly about 6 times. I really really need to get that maneuver in for confidence before testing on Thursday. I've done it perfectly several times before and have zero difficulty in doing it the blind-side.

There is enough pressure in school to get things right. Don't add extra pressure by trying no hands alley docking which I think is impossible since you have to go from 45/90 degrees to a straight line backing. Can't be done without turning the wheel.

If the maneuvers are easy then just keep doing them. Just remember when they are easy for you there is always someone else that is struggling. repetition Is how we are programed to learn.

You'll have no problems with it. Sometimes you just get days like that. If you've done it before then you know how to do it. The key at that point is to relax and not over-think it. Clear your mind, relax, and just remain confident. This kind of thing happens to every single person out there. You'll be amazed at what a little time away from the truck and a good night's sleep will do.

It does not matter if you do a pull up on testing. I was thinking kind of like you last week. If I can nail the backs with no pull ups, the tester will be so impressed (or your instructor). Guess what, the tester does not care. He or she is checking boxes on a clipboard and getting paid to do it. They see so many people, they forget you as soon as you walk away. The instructors might brag a little about how good they taught you but once you leave school, they too will not remember you. I have talked to so many other Roehl drivers as I have gone to school at Roehl. They all say, "Hey! Tell instructor so and so I said hi." The first couple of times I did tell the instructors. Each time, I was told, "Tell em Hi back." You could tell they had no clue who you were talking about. They see so many people. You want to know who they remember? The ones that screw up bad! So, I don't want to be remembered! If the instructor says, "Who?" when my name is mentioned after school, I think that is a good thing.

The point is, use you get out and looks and your pull ups. Use them all and more if you need to. The point is to pass your CDL. Nobody other than you will care what the score was. There is nothing wrong with personal pride in what you do. Just don't put to much pressure on yourself to do perfect. That could cause you to get flustered and fail. Read my diary in the CDL training diaries section. It is titled Roehl driver training from start to end. Read this past Friday post about my test. I hope it will give you insight or help!

Yeah I wasnt really trying to show off or achieve a "higher score". I just wanted to make the maneuver more difficult so that I had confidence doing it when I am allowed to use pull-ups and GOAL's. During the actual test you better believe I'm gonna get straightened out and GOAL as much as I'm allowed. You can't take extra points with you. However, no pull-ups are allowed until you get the Icc bar completely into the box. If my offset left ends up like the ones I did yesterday and I have all my points still available, Mr. target cone has had a very bad day.

ROFL! One of the guys in my class did that. He was doing the 90 and got the truck in the hole. He said he was already straight but really tight on that driver side cone. If he pulled up, he was going to get a boundary violation. He said he got out and looked. He got in, released the brakes, put it reverse and crushed that cone that was tight. He got out and looked again to see if the ICC bumper was in the correct space. Looked at the tester and shrugged his shoulders when the tester looked at the crumpled cone. He got back in and tooted the horn and took his two points!