Post by Tinman on Jan 26, 2005 19:16:35 GMT -5
well... i just finished my 3 weeks in Newport Arkansas at Arkansas State University...
right off the top, if i was rating this school for their driver training on a scale from 1 *the lowest score* to 10 *the highest score*, id give this school a 9...
im about to go through my 3 weeks *yeah, it might be a long post* but for anyone that might be considering this school, this might help you in your decision...
also, at the end of this post there will be some pics of the school, the trucks *range and road* and the range itself...
this is a three week program, very intensive, 7days aweek, NO DAYS OFF... most of your days will begin in class at 6am and will end anywhere from 2pm to 5pm... depending on the day of the week and the instructor...
*note... im working for SRT out of Ashdown Arkansas, some of the things that the USA, PAM, and STAR guys had to do, i did not... mainly because i did it all before i went to school... example- paper work, drugscreens, and orientation at the end of the course*
here we go...
Jan 5th Wednesday- arrived in Newport at 12:00pm *noon* signed into the housing *apartments off campus that ASU ownes*
i was housed with three other guys *1 SRT, 2 USA* became some of my best friends...
Jan 6th Thursday- 1st day of class... 7am
met the director of the Driving School Dale Martin *very funny guy... just an old country boy that has been trucking for most of his life... a great guy and instructor*...
on this day we had our class orientation... we started with 25 students *by the end of our 3 weeks we only had about 20 students* all PAM, USA, and STAR students had their drugscreens done this day...
they gave us our study material for our written tests... *they actually give you the test to complete, then will go over it in class before you go to take the REAL written tests*
Jan 7th Friday- 2nd day of class... 6am
review our written tests *General Knowledge, Combination Vehicals, Air Brakes, and Hazmat* (you will take your written tests on Monday, the 5th day)
review backing the tractor trailer
review the shifting patterns
after lunch we head out for our first day on the range... we will spend the next few days in the 300' straight line back...
they have 28 training trucks on the range...
Jan 8th Saturday- 3rd day of class... 6am
in the classroom to review the tests again till 7am...
7am- out to the range to work on 300' straight line backing
learn to drop and hook the tractor trailer
learn to pre-trip tractor trailer
Jan 9th Sunday- 4th day of class... 6am
in the classroom to review the written tests again...
review shifting patterns again...
talk about our progress in the 300' straight line backing...
7am... on the range... 300' straight line backing...
on this day the instructors evaluate each student on their 300' backing... *hitting barrels, pull-ups, etc...*
Jan 10th Monday- 5th day of class... 7am
review tests till 8am...
take written CDL tests at 8am...
after the tests you go out to the range and the instructors walk you though the range course *100' straight line backing, right hand turn, 45degree docking*
Jan 11th Tuesday- 6th day of class... 6am
classroom till 7am... review range course...
some students will start going on the road with instructors... usually two students with 1 instructor... this works very well...
this was my first road trip... alittle bit of interstate driving... more small two lane hwys and mountians that interstate though...
one thing about this school... they believe in putting the students to the test... they will test your skill on all sorts of hwys and city driving...
after LUNCH most students will be in the classroom to learn other skills... *logbooks, maps, etc*
Jan 12th Wednesday- 7th day of class... 6am
in class till 7am... review range course and road driving... review right hand turns, left hand turns, and all things in road driving...
7am range course practice and some students on road...
1:00pm classroom for a lesson on the Smith System *road knowledge*
Jan 13th Thursday- 8th day of class... 6am
review range and road till 7am... if you are having any trouble on any part of the range or road they will verbally go through it between 6am and 7am in the classroom...
7am range course and road time...
1pm classroom... intro to log books
Jan 14th Friday- 9th day of class... 6am
introduced to the serpentine backing during the morning class... some students catch on to this manuver faster than others... but by the end of the class, with the help of the instructors, YOU WILL GET IT... its not as hard as it looks... BUT YOU GOTTA KNOW HOW TO STRAIGHT LINE BACK... thats why they have you do the 300' backing manuver... its the foundation for just about all the backing you will do...
along with all the other range things *100' back, right hand turn, 45degree dock* you will start doing the serpentine backing on this day...
1:00pm class room to learn more about log books...
Jan 15th Saturday- 10th day of class... 6am
review in classroom till 7am...
7am range work, and practice pre-trip till 2pm
Jan 16th Sunday- 11th day of class... 6am
review in classroom till 7am...
7am range work, and practice pre-trip till 2pm
Jan 17th Monday- 12th day of class... 6am
discuss range work... any questions on any of the manuvers the instructors will help you and verbally walk you though any of the range manuvers...
7am... range work and road time...
1:00pm... classroom to learn maps, reading a map, and ploting a route...
Jan 18th Tuesday- 13th day of class... 6am
review range work and road time...
7am... practice on the range and road time...
1:00pm more map work and intergrate maps and log books...
Jan 19th Wednesday- 14th day of class... 6am
discuss range time, road time, map reading and log booking...
7am range work, road work, pre-trip...
1:00pm... maps and log books...
Jan 20th Thursday- 15th day of class... 6am
classroom review pre-trip, brake checks...
7am on the range and the road...
1pm class room maps and log books, working on a worksheet, planning a trip in our maps...
Jan 21st Friday- 16th day of class... 6am
review shifting patterns, pre-trip, brake checks
7am range work and on the road...
1pm classroom... more work on maps and log books...
Jan 22nd Saturday- 17th day of class... 6am
review pretrip
7am... range work till 2pm...
Jan 23rd Sunday- 18th day of class... 6am
review pre-trip...
7am- 2pm...on this day they may start testing a few students...
i tested on my pre-trip and my range skills on this day...
some may be tested this day, others will keep practicing...
Jan 24th Monday... 19th day of class... 6am
MY LAST DAY OF CLASS...
i road tested this day and was given my certificates and my CDL lic... i left this day to go home...
if you are a USA, PAM, or STAR student, then today you will test out on pre-trip, range skills, and road skills...
after lunch you will be in the classroom to start your orientation...
what happens after this i dont really know... i was gone a day earlier than all the other studens...
this is an awesome school... its very quick and very enlightening...
I RECOMMEND THIS SCHOOL TO ANYONE LOOKING FOR A GOOD SCHOOL TO GET YOUR CDL...
the apartment...
the classroom...
the range...
right off the top, if i was rating this school for their driver training on a scale from 1 *the lowest score* to 10 *the highest score*, id give this school a 9...
im about to go through my 3 weeks *yeah, it might be a long post* but for anyone that might be considering this school, this might help you in your decision...
also, at the end of this post there will be some pics of the school, the trucks *range and road* and the range itself...
this is a three week program, very intensive, 7days aweek, NO DAYS OFF... most of your days will begin in class at 6am and will end anywhere from 2pm to 5pm... depending on the day of the week and the instructor...
*note... im working for SRT out of Ashdown Arkansas, some of the things that the USA, PAM, and STAR guys had to do, i did not... mainly because i did it all before i went to school... example- paper work, drugscreens, and orientation at the end of the course*
here we go...
Jan 5th Wednesday- arrived in Newport at 12:00pm *noon* signed into the housing *apartments off campus that ASU ownes*
i was housed with three other guys *1 SRT, 2 USA* became some of my best friends...
Jan 6th Thursday- 1st day of class... 7am
met the director of the Driving School Dale Martin *very funny guy... just an old country boy that has been trucking for most of his life... a great guy and instructor*...
on this day we had our class orientation... we started with 25 students *by the end of our 3 weeks we only had about 20 students* all PAM, USA, and STAR students had their drugscreens done this day...
they gave us our study material for our written tests... *they actually give you the test to complete, then will go over it in class before you go to take the REAL written tests*
Jan 7th Friday- 2nd day of class... 6am
review our written tests *General Knowledge, Combination Vehicals, Air Brakes, and Hazmat* (you will take your written tests on Monday, the 5th day)
review backing the tractor trailer
review the shifting patterns
after lunch we head out for our first day on the range... we will spend the next few days in the 300' straight line back...
they have 28 training trucks on the range...
Jan 8th Saturday- 3rd day of class... 6am
in the classroom to review the tests again till 7am...
7am- out to the range to work on 300' straight line backing
learn to drop and hook the tractor trailer
learn to pre-trip tractor trailer
Jan 9th Sunday- 4th day of class... 6am
in the classroom to review the written tests again...
review shifting patterns again...
talk about our progress in the 300' straight line backing...
7am... on the range... 300' straight line backing...
on this day the instructors evaluate each student on their 300' backing... *hitting barrels, pull-ups, etc...*
Jan 10th Monday- 5th day of class... 7am
review tests till 8am...
take written CDL tests at 8am...
after the tests you go out to the range and the instructors walk you though the range course *100' straight line backing, right hand turn, 45degree docking*
Jan 11th Tuesday- 6th day of class... 6am
classroom till 7am... review range course...
some students will start going on the road with instructors... usually two students with 1 instructor... this works very well...
this was my first road trip... alittle bit of interstate driving... more small two lane hwys and mountians that interstate though...
one thing about this school... they believe in putting the students to the test... they will test your skill on all sorts of hwys and city driving...
after LUNCH most students will be in the classroom to learn other skills... *logbooks, maps, etc*
Jan 12th Wednesday- 7th day of class... 6am
in class till 7am... review range course and road driving... review right hand turns, left hand turns, and all things in road driving...
7am range course practice and some students on road...
1:00pm classroom for a lesson on the Smith System *road knowledge*
Jan 13th Thursday- 8th day of class... 6am
review range and road till 7am... if you are having any trouble on any part of the range or road they will verbally go through it between 6am and 7am in the classroom...
7am range course and road time...
1pm classroom... intro to log books
Jan 14th Friday- 9th day of class... 6am
introduced to the serpentine backing during the morning class... some students catch on to this manuver faster than others... but by the end of the class, with the help of the instructors, YOU WILL GET IT... its not as hard as it looks... BUT YOU GOTTA KNOW HOW TO STRAIGHT LINE BACK... thats why they have you do the 300' backing manuver... its the foundation for just about all the backing you will do...
along with all the other range things *100' back, right hand turn, 45degree dock* you will start doing the serpentine backing on this day...
1:00pm class room to learn more about log books...
Jan 15th Saturday- 10th day of class... 6am
review in classroom till 7am...
7am range work, and practice pre-trip till 2pm
Jan 16th Sunday- 11th day of class... 6am
review in classroom till 7am...
7am range work, and practice pre-trip till 2pm
Jan 17th Monday- 12th day of class... 6am
discuss range work... any questions on any of the manuvers the instructors will help you and verbally walk you though any of the range manuvers...
7am... range work and road time...
1:00pm... classroom to learn maps, reading a map, and ploting a route...
Jan 18th Tuesday- 13th day of class... 6am
review range work and road time...
7am... practice on the range and road time...
1:00pm more map work and intergrate maps and log books...
Jan 19th Wednesday- 14th day of class... 6am
discuss range time, road time, map reading and log booking...
7am range work, road work, pre-trip...
1:00pm... maps and log books...
Jan 20th Thursday- 15th day of class... 6am
classroom review pre-trip, brake checks...
7am on the range and the road...
1pm class room maps and log books, working on a worksheet, planning a trip in our maps...
Jan 21st Friday- 16th day of class... 6am
review shifting patterns, pre-trip, brake checks
7am range work and on the road...
1pm classroom... more work on maps and log books...
Jan 22nd Saturday- 17th day of class... 6am
review pretrip
7am... range work till 2pm...
Jan 23rd Sunday- 18th day of class... 6am
review pre-trip...
7am- 2pm...on this day they may start testing a few students...
i tested on my pre-trip and my range skills on this day...
some may be tested this day, others will keep practicing...
Jan 24th Monday... 19th day of class... 6am
MY LAST DAY OF CLASS...
i road tested this day and was given my certificates and my CDL lic... i left this day to go home...
if you are a USA, PAM, or STAR student, then today you will test out on pre-trip, range skills, and road skills...
after lunch you will be in the classroom to start your orientation...
what happens after this i dont really know... i was gone a day earlier than all the other studens...
this is an awesome school... its very quick and very enlightening...
I RECOMMEND THIS SCHOOL TO ANYONE LOOKING FOR A GOOD SCHOOL TO GET YOUR CDL...
the apartment...
the classroom...
the range...