AJ's Truck Driving Journey

Better day driving. Shifting is improving and I have moved on to the final stage of the backing lessons - the "Alley Dock" ... I am about caught up with the rest of the class at this point as the Alley Dock is where everyone struggles. There is only one guy who mastered it quickly. He has been backing work trailers his entire life. He's a natural.

A couple more failed the final today on the class ahead of me. (I'm seeing about a 50% failure rate on the initial try - most are successful on the next attempt a week later) They give many opportunities to retake the tests. One fellow has been swinging the bat since August!! lol ...

It all seems overwhelming to get accomplished within the initial 3 week period.

I passed my fake Pre-Trip inspection / in Cab and air brakes section. If I can get a little better with the backing by next Thursday maybe I can pass that section and get to the Road test. With a little luck there, with no Auto-Fails, I should have a CDL-A...

What an amazingly difficult venture I have gotten myself into. :)

We had a guy that was there for a few weeks before I hit the range. He kept failing on backing. You know, I think he was still there as my class graduated (100% graduation rate).

What an amazingly difficult venture I have gotten myself into. :)

That is what we try to stress here like crazy at TruckingTruth - getting your trucking career underway is hard!!! Really hard! But it's totally doable. Pretty much anyone can learn the basics well enough to pass the CDL exam. If a person fails when trying to get their trucking career underway it's almost always because of the wrong attitude, not enough motivation, or they simply don't have the personality for the job. It's almost never because they couldn't learn the basics of shifting, backing, and driving.

Just keep learning every day and stay confident. The learning process for anything challenging is always clumsy. It's even worse in trucking because they try to push everyone through as quickly as possible. But don't sweat it. Don't overthink it. Just enjoy the learning process and know with confidence that you'll have it down before long just like everyone else.

The things I worry about is being screwed by the company its self. Like keeping me long enough to tie me into a contract where I owe a bunch of money then cutting me loose.

Never waste your time with that thought ever again. That's not anything to be concerned about. These companies are bringing you in with the hope you'll turn out to be a safe, hard working, reliable professional driver for their company. If they're really lucky you'll stick around for a year or more. That's what they consider a successful, worthwhile investment in you. They'll invest the time, money, trainers, equipment, and risk to help you get your trucking career started if you'll agree to give it your very best and work for the company for one year. I mean, what a sweet deal! What other industry in this country does that?

[....hears crickets chirpin'...]

Listen to what they're teaching you. Be patient with the process and expect there to be ups and downs. You just have to stay positive, work hard, get along well with everyone, and stay the course. Believe me....they want you to succeed. They need people to succeed in order to keep drivers in the trucks they're making payments on. If those wheels aren't turning they're losing a lot of money.

You can be sure they're not bringing in students for the joy of teaching. Believe me, they're running their own schools in spite of the cost, risk, and frustration they endure. It's no picnic for them either. If you think it's hard learning how to drive, try teaching a few dozen people to do it that have never done it before. OMG!

Mz. Snapper this next thing applies to you because you're getting ready to start school in a couple of weeks and you haven't used our High Road Program....

Everyone that's getting ready to start school has two extremely important things you should complete before ever setting foot in a classroom:

1) Go through our entire Truck Driver's Career Guide from beginning to end and follow all of the links you come across. There is a mountain of information you'll need to know about this industry in order to make the right choices and be prepared for a great start to your career. This is essential reading.

2) Go through as much of our High Road Training Program as you possibly can. This will prepare you for the written CDL permit exams, all of the endorsement exams, and many of the everyday things you'll need like the logbook rules, how to load cargo properly, how to move the weight between axles, calculating fuel consumption and weight burn-off, etc.

Here's how the various sections of the High Road Program break down:

To Get Your CDL Permit:

• Rules & Regulations
• Driving Safely
• Transporting Cargo Safely
• Air Brakes
• Combination Vehicles
• Pre-Trip Inspection
• Driving Exam

To get your CDL endorsements which are optional but we highly recommend you get:

• Transporting Passengers
• Doubles And Triples
• Tankers
• Hazardous Materials

And two sections we've built ourselves with info you'll need for everyday life on the road but the manual doesn't really cover it:

• Logbook
• Weight & Balance

Now listen....you guys and gals are getting ready to drive big rigs for the first time and I have to share the road with you. To be honest, I'm scared. So I'm insisting that you go through our Career Guide and High Road Program because I haven't come this far in life just to have some rookie run my *ss over! Now get to work!

End of week two.

Brett, thanks for the advice and input :)

It all fell in place yesterday. My shifting could still use some improving, but -

a.) I know what gear I am looking for at a particular speed and / or circumstance. It's just getting the dang thing home. (I have put my 5.0 , 5 speed mustang in semi retirement so I can focus completely on the truck shifting !! lol )

b.) I'm keeping the truck in the lane well, making sure to keep an eye on those mirrors and cheating to the outside of the curves to allow for the trailer offset to the inside.

c.) On the backing range, I finally have command of the back of the rig. I threw out the little sayings and tricks out the window and finally realized that the only thing that is going to work is knowing that steering right goes left and left goes right and then knowing when to keep the wheels straight when the tractor is already at the proper angle to put the rig in the hole.

The alley dock is settling in nicely on my second day of working it. I would just sit for a few minutes when I was in the critical first pull up stage and picture in my mind how the trailer needs to move to get in alley slot. I have 3 more days of practice before the first final test attempt. It all seems doable now.

d.) Taking corners is becoming more 2nd nature. I think "wide".

I am going to have my wife check off the steps of the Air Brake Check as I list them off. ( Many times ) (if any step is missed, it is an auto-fail ... Better luck tomorrow) I have the pre-trip outside and in-cab firmly in hand , and will go over that checklist about half as much. I can see the entire rig in my mind's eye at this point, but also took some photo's.

3 more days of practice before CDL A exam attempt #1.

At least it seems possible now ! lol ;)

AJ D., Glad to hear some of this, it sounds like you've figured out what works for you, and that is what's important.

I think everybody processes that backing information differently. I watched a girl who just couldn't get it no matter what for three days, and then the owner of the school decided to put here with a different instructor. Somehow they were able to say just a little something that kind of clicked for her and next thing we know she was putting it right where it needed to go.

I would just sit for a few minutes when I was in the critical first pull up stage and picture in my mind how the trailer needs to move to get in alley slot.

That sounds real good - that time of getting set up for a backing maneuver is the most important step you can take. If you don't get yourself set-up in a position to make a good start you may never get to the desired destination.

Great job - keep it up! You will encounter many ups and downs and frustrations along the way in school, but perseverance is your best friend at the beginning.

AJ D., Glad to hear some of this, it sounds like you've figured out what works for you, and that is what's important.

I think everybody processes that backing information differently. I watched a girl who just couldn't get it no matter what for three days, and then the owner of the school decided to put here with a different instructor. Somehow they were able to say just a little something that kind of clicked for her and next thing we know she was putting it right where it needed to go.

I would just sit for a few minutes when I was in the critical first pull up stage and picture in my mind how the trailer needs to move to get in alley slot.

That sounds real good - that time of getting set up for a backing maneuver is the most important step you can take. If you don't get yourself set-up in a position to make a good start you may never get to the desired destination.

Great job - keep it up! You will encounter many ups and downs and frustrations along the way in school, but perseverance is your best friend at the beginning.

Thank you, my friend, for all the pointers and time spent. :)

OK buddy, waiting on another update. How's the job search coming along? You'll have your CDL A soon and before you know it you'll be in training with your first company. It all happens SO FAST.

OK buddy, waiting on another update. How's the job search coming along? You'll have your CDL A soon and before you know it you'll be in training with your first company. It all happens SO FAST.

Yes, I'm still alive. lol

I hit the stress wall over last weekend into Monday and circled the psychological wagons and withdrew in a bit. I studied as hard as I could. I recited the pre trip routine to myself constantly when not driving. ( I received more than one, " Are you OK?" ) I must have seemed like a nut case walking around muttering to myself.

Monday the backing all fell together and I started feeling confident there.

Tuesday was the night drive so we drove all day and into the night. I got better with my shifting. (Still much more work there)

Wednesday was Test Day eve nerves. I had butterflies for 30 hours straight. I had good fortune, in that, I was first up at 730am the following day. We were able to run on the test course for the first time and also, drive the test trucks for the first time. The trucks felt a little different, as they were tighter. The convex mirrors where different , which affected my offset parking.

Thursday was the big day and I felt quite ill until test time when I made myself calm down, focus and get the job done. The Pre trip went well - Auto Fail air brakes portion and all. (You can't miss anything in the air brakes test or you Auto Fail)

The backing was a bit more difficult for me. The straight line was perfect. The offset was not set up well as I was trapped by the different mirrors again and straightened the truck up too early getting into the next lane. I was too steep and could barely see the inside cone. After a couple of blind backing adjustments to get the trailer somewhat in the hole, I pulled all the way up for my first of two free pull ups. I backed a little further in the hole , then pulled all the way back out again for an easy straight line backing move.

Then it was on to the mighty Alley dock. I entered this maneuver with zero points against which is where you want to be. First setup was way too high. I completely reset with a full pull up. Second setup was better and got it into the hole well. I took several pull ups to wrangle the beast over but finally got it in. I used 6 points. You can accumulate 12. You also have two free pull ups and two free get out and looks.

Off to the road course.

I definitely felt like the heat was off. The over the road went smoothly.

I passed.

I was the only one. All four of my classmates failed.

Folks. I've heard it before and I will now repeat it.

This is the hardest thing I have ever gone through. Three weeks is the bare minimum for comprehension. While other guys were watching football games and shooting the shi$ in the hotel room, I was studying.

You must use every second you are not eating or sleeping for comprehension and utter mastery of the mountains of data and maneuvers. I feel this is the only way you can recall it when you are scared half to death on test day.

That was a great stress test and many lessons were learned about the industry and myself.

I move on with confidence and a sound feeling of satisfaction.

On to phase 2 - Let's get a job. :)

That was a great stress test and many lessons were learned about the industry and myself.

Great Job Man!

I loved what you said above. That is the way to look at it. You will find that this job is very challenging. Everyday there is a new situation that you will encounter, you will always be learning and adjusting to the circumstances at hand. The dedicated folks who are prepared mentally for what ever they may face are the ones who come out on top. So far you've proven yourself with the right approach. Congratulations!

First step accomplished - many more to come, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and it's getting brighter!

Congrats AJ!

I am shocked to hear some failed. Oh well, you didn't! You are on your way now to real deal. You will do great wherever you go man.

CONGRATS AJ! we had your back all the way thru. Super job on the posts