DBK
New Member
Posts: 20
|
Post by DBK on Oct 20, 2003 19:29:27 GMT -5
WhoooooooHooooooo, today was my first day in school! I'm so happy. Wish I'd done this 30 years ago. I love it. Two weeks before we actually get to drive, but this is wonderful! ;D
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Oct 22, 2003 12:33:45 GMT -5
"Two weeks before we actually get to drive, but this is wonderful!"
I take it you are now it the classroom? Most people hate the classroom. I hate the classroom, I'd much rather be out with the students, tormenting them. Making them drive in down town traffic making right hand turns. LOL!
Watch out now, you'll get hooked. Next you'll be wearing a chain drive wallet and liking Country music. I have to give all my students CB handles before they leave school. One of mine is named Okeke, he's from Nigeria and hates it there because of all the corruption. I have named him "Okie Dokie". Last week I named one "Rocket Arm" because of his shifting was way too fast.
Yesterday my students were talking to another schools students. Ours has choices between about 7 different companies from flatbed to Reefer and all offer tuition reimbursement. These other poor fellows HAVE to go to work for 2 years driving for the Big Gold company, and they say at 17 cents a mile! Just about all of our students start out at at least 24 cents a mile. Dang!
|
|
DBK
New Member
Posts: 20
|
Post by DBK on Oct 22, 2003 18:53:38 GMT -5
;D Yepper, I'm now in school and I love even the classroom stuff. Today I got my CDL permit (Colorado) - passed all 6 tests on the first try, despite the Hispanic man who stood next to me and read his entire test out LOUD in Spanish almost the entire time I was trying to concentrate on my 6. It was a big pain to try and tune out that idiot --- I missed a few more than I'd like to have, but hey, I passed all of them. I already have a handle. I've had a CB in my car since the 70's. I wonder if our teacher will ask everyone to get one??? I'll have to ask her. I already have 2 prehires - Werner and Central Refrigerated. Waiting on some more to come through. We did get to pre-trip a truck yesterday, that was cool. And, fortunately I already like some country music. I gave away my chain wallet to a roommate years ago because it didn't fit in my pocket. Think I'll go with something else - I also ride motorcycles and have used a small one for years; I'll have to find it and get it out...
|
|
|
Post by flyboy2610 on Oct 22, 2003 19:17:23 GMT -5
If you only have those two pre-hires to pick from: Go with Werner! The equipment is better, the trucks run faster, and they will get you home on a regular basis. Central is just D**k Simon under another name. And forget the chain wallet. They have been know to get stuck in the seat brackets.
|
|
|
Post by Arcflash on Oct 22, 2003 19:19:16 GMT -5
"Making them drive in down town traffic making right hand turns. LOL!"
How soon would you make a student do that? Let me explain the situation, and tell you how I see things. Maybe you can shed some light on the instructors side before I flip the hell out.
Day 1: Drove 12 miles total. It was all on a four lane, with four on and off ramps, and two stop signs. One on an upgrade and one on a downgrade. Minimal coasting, and not too terrible on the shifting. Had the gear pattern down and can downshift fairly smoothly without looking at the tach. Some grinding and a little clashing during shifting from moving too slow.
Day 2. Drove the same 12 miles. Shifting was much better. No grinding at all, and just a few clicks here and there while downshifting. Missed a gear while avoiding a collision though, and sort of lost concentration after that.
Day 3. Different instructor, different roads. This is my favorite instructor too. The guy has helped me more than I can even tell you. I absorb information from him just being around him. He challenged me hard today, busted my cubes a little, and made me feel less than satisfied with my performance today.
I was on back country roads for a short 7 mile jaunt. Some turns were so sharp that the trailer was in the grass on one side and the tractor was on the other side. Some very steep grades too... One of them 9%. Instructor did alot of barking, and clowned around a little. I came down one steep grade in sixth and he challenged me to go to fifth. I took it as an order instead of a challenge and did it with just a slight grind. Then he challenged me to downshift through three more gears! I declined as there was only 60-65 feet between me and the stop sign at the bottom of the hill.
After that I made a right into heavy traffic and climbed a long steep grade in 7th. The speed limit was 45 so I stayed in seventh after I crested the hill and downshifted to 6th to make a left turn onto another back country road. There was no opposing traffic so I didn't intend to stop. There was also no cars sitting at the intersection so I brought my right front to the edge of the road I was turning onto instead of going onto the soft shoulder. He told me "Well you wouldn't have squashed him but, If there was a car there you would have rubbed your trailer tires across the corner of their bumper". I replied "If there was a car there I would have stopped and let them go before I made the turn."
I thought that this would have been a reasonable thing to do and that he would agree that it would be the best course of action. Keep in mind this is a narrow country road. Instead he basically said "Fine teach yourself then", and propped his feet up and ignored me for the next mile or two.
I told him that I wasn't that confident and that I would rather not take risks at this point but he still seemed to take it as an insult. It wasn't long until he stopped his pouting routine though and started to screw with me. First I was rolling along in seventh gear just over 30. He grabs the shifter and somehow floats it to 10th. I grab it and put it back. A few seconds later I am preparing to round a bend that conceals a stop sign. I knew it was there and as I got down to 20mph I shifted to sixth. He reaches over and knocks it out of gear! I am 15 frickin feet from the stop sign and out of gear. I am thinking do I just coast or put it back. I put it back and ended up stopping short.
I pulled through the intersection and went about another 8th mile to the next one. Downshifted to sixth and stopped again. Put it in third and made the left, climbed a short grade and ended up approaching the school in seventh. No traffic so I could of made the turn in but for some reason I wanted 6th. That shift just didn't go too well and never did get it... I coasted about 12 feet while trying to get it in. He knocked it back into seventh and had me pull into the back and park on the pad.
I am feeling like sh*t now and pretty freaked out. He asked me if I had that sort of trouble the previous days and I said no. He asked why and I told him that I didn't have sharp turns, steep grades, sudden stops, and crazy-assed back road motorists to deal with. He said "Oh so you're distracted by all of those". I replied that I was, and he said "Good we're going downtown on Friday" and jumped out and slammed the door.
WTF? I feel like sh*t after today. I think it's the worst day that I have had at school to date, and now he is threatening to toss me into the mix downtown. Pittsburgh is a nightmare in a car, let along in a Semi that I have driven a whopping 32 miles thus far. I read the comments he left in my training folder. They said "Work on double clutching and preparing to stop". What? He thinks I don't stop well and he is going to put me in metro traffic. Maybe he thinks I am a wise-ass that needs humbled, I don't know. I feel like he is stabbing my water wings with a rambo knife and chucking me into the deep end of the Pirhanna pong though.
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Oct 23, 2003 14:38:32 GMT -5
Let's start by saying there are alot of driving instructors that are not very secure with them selves. They feel that if a student is doing well, they take it as a personal threat to their manhood. Some feel students are privates in the army that must be humbled before they can be taught. One thing you have to remember, you are paying for this! You are filling the instructors paycheck. If you have a problem with your instructor, ask for the one you like. If you get the same treatment from the schools boss man, ask for the number of the state agency that gave them their certificate. They have to answer to the state, there is a code of conduct they are to go by.
How can you be expected to come to a proper stop when the instructor is kicking the gearshift out of gear? The left turn you describe sounds like he was saying if there were a car there, you would have clipped his front bumper. Have you been taught to set the truck up for a turn yet? Getting the set up right is a big part of it. 6 inches farther away from the curb in a turn can be the difference between hitting the curb and going around it. If you start in the left hand turn lane up against the line on the left side of the truck, you will have to go out farther to miss cars in the 90 degree left hand turn lane.
Let me know how it goes, I have had the pleasure of getting a few instructors like that fired. You are the customer, not the servant. But every day is supposed to be harder than the last. Been throught the Fort Pitt tunnel yet? LOL! duck your head when you do.
BTW, I have given driving tests to drivers trying to become instructors and have had them run all over a curb and think nothing of it. I've seen them not be able to parrelell park, and they are supposed to be teaching this stuff. There are very few drivers that make good instructors and there are some lousey ones out there. And I have taken students downtown on the first day before, it all depends on the student. Some can handle the pressure, some need more time. How are your classmates doing, as good worse or better than you?
|
|
|
Post by Arcflash on Oct 23, 2003 17:06:25 GMT -5
Two days ago I was shifting flawlessly. Not so much as a peep could be heard from the gearbox when I shifted. I was shifting totally by feel too... I didn't need to look at the road speed or the tach anymore. I just knew what the engine was supposed to sound like, and how fast I should feel like I was going for a particular gear.
Then I had that near collision with the runaway pickup truck. I missed that gear, and ever since then I have been totally psyched out. I just can't shift now... I am too slow on the move and my timing on the clutch is shot to hell.
I am right with the other students now. All three of us are grinding gears, going into the wrong gears, and sometimes even getting locked out and coasting. My backing still seems a bit better, but when it comes time to hit the road I am a menace to the gearbox.
It seems to me that the near collision psyched me out and the next day the obnoxious game the instructor was playing with me kept me from getting back on the horse right. If I find out I am going out with him tomorrow I am going to pull him aside and talk to him about the situation. I mean I don't mind him joking around with me, but I don't think he knows fully what happened with the runaway pickup truck and how it affected me.
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Oct 26, 2003 14:40:10 GMT -5
So you were shifting like a dream and one little thing has effected you that badly? Sounds like you are being too careful now, doubting every move before you make it and overthinking.
|
|
|
Post by Arcflash on Oct 26, 2003 15:03:27 GMT -5
That's exactly what I was doing. It threw me off for two days. I just couldn't downshift worth a squat after that. Friday I had another close call getting off an exit. I signaled pulled into the turn lane, and a car that was behind me decided I was going too slow. He swung out passed me, and went into the dirt to cut in front of me. This time there was no surprise, I saw him coming and was able to slow even more to let him get in before the gaurd rail. My problems went away... The rest of the day I was shifting fine.
Instructor kept jerking my chain though. Every time I would make a right hand turn he'd yell "Your trailer is going off the road!". I don't know what mirror he was looking at though as all three of the ones on the right showed that I had a reasonable distance between my rear tandems and the white line.
|
|
|
Post by fmartin650 on Oct 28, 2003 18:36:34 GMT -5
just wondering if its possible to secure funds for truck driving school if your credit rating is less than perfect.
|
|
DBK
New Member
Posts: 20
|
Post by DBK on Oct 28, 2003 19:12:13 GMT -5
The money that I got (from WIA - Workforce Investment Act) had nothing to do at all with my credit rating (which is abysmal). It isn't a loan and it doesn't have to be paid back! All you have to do is report quarterly for a year to let them know how it is going! It rocks!
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Oct 28, 2003 22:22:35 GMT -5
The recruiter from KTL came by today and said that the tuition reimbursement could be assignable to the credit institution you have your loan at, or if you paid cash, to you. $100 a month with a max of 50 months? Man, that is a pretty good deal for a student! $50 extra a month toward the loan could knock alot of the intrest out of it.
The trainers get their mileage for every mile the truck runs while training plus 2 cents a mile extra. It is flat bed though, I have done it before but it has been a decade or so.
|
|
|
Post by Phantom56 on Oct 29, 2003 3:51:36 GMT -5
just wondering if its possible to secure funds for truck driving school if your credit rating is less than perfect. You'll need to get someone to co-sign for your student loan. Most schools work through the CCA (Career College Association) loan program with SunTrust and Wells Fargo Banks being the preferred lenders they deal with. I'm having to go that route right now, since our credit is wrecked beyond belief thanks to my extended unemployment. Just make sure that your co-signer has good credit so the student loan operations will view the application favorably. But before you do go for a student loan, do look to see if you're eligible for the Workforce Investment Act program like DBK said. It can't hurt and if you eligible are they usually pay for all the fees involved in getting your CDL.
|
|
|
Post by Sparks on Nov 22, 2003 8:51:13 GMT -5
. . . . Instructor kept jerking my chain though. . . . . This may or may not be intentional. Mine talks a lot, at what I consider 'bad' times, but I've wrote it off that he's 'testing' me in how I can handle confusion (he really does seem to be concerned that I be able to handle the rig rather than simply pass the test). What I've always done in situations of 'information overload' is to ignore the least important information. If he gives me three traffic instructions (go to the second light, make a left, then a right at the next light) I ignore him if I'm busy with shifting and traffic, then ask for a repeat once I have the time. At least in my situation, I really do think the guy is going above and beyond the call of basic CDL duty. When I came upon an RV, too close on the freeway, he commented that I was following too close. I agreed, had already checked my mirrors, and flipped on the left turn signal and passed the vehcile. That worked for him
|
|
DaveW
New Member
Posts: 7
|
Post by DaveW on Nov 27, 2003 11:23:47 GMT -5
Hello, I'm new to trucking and live near Raleigh, NC. I have been conditionally hired by Schneider, background and physical/drug test remain. I'm just overwhelmed by options and choices. First, it sounds nice to have Schneider put me through their school but it doesn't feel right having the year committment when I'm new to the industry and when your continued employment is at the mercy of others. Should I go to a private school? Next, I want to make the right choice and stay, how do I choose a carrier? I'm sure there's good and bad in all, but there has to be some top performers..... I guess?.?.? I'm married with kids. And like I mentioned I live in NC. I wouldn't mind getting a student loan for school. The way I see it you pay anyway, there's no free lunch. Any advice or comments would be appreciated. (I hope this post is OK in this thread.) Thanks in advance. Dave
|
|