This Saturday, I'll be completing class and range work at school. After that, I'll head back to PA from Richmond, VA to go on the road for a week and learn to drive that rig in traffic.
Since my last entry, I took and failed my pre-trip inspection (PTI) yesterday and passed today. I failed the Airbrake portion as I forgot to drift test the service brake. So I took it again with James and passed. Then James and I sat in the truck and BSed about the trucking industry in general and specifically Swift and their place in the world.
I also worked on the 45degree backing excercise. I did ok with that, but it's still kicking my ass. I'm trying to do it without taking my pull-up, but I'm only getting it in there 3/6 times. I am doing better on the testing truck than the others though, which is good.
We also worked today on shifting. I actually did pretty well. I managed to get it up the gearbox without grinding, but coming back down was a bit more difficult. I ground a couple gears, but managed it fairly well. I wish Dorothy (normal shifting instructor) had been there to see it.
I'll post more soon, but for now, I need to get some sleep. 4:30AM comes pretty early...
Russ
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Remember how I said that I wasn't going to post every day? Well, here I am backing up that statement. Speaking of backing up, backing up SUCKS! (More on that later....)
Now that we're in the swing of things here, I'll tell you a little about what goes on. Johnny (my roommate) and I wake up at 4:30AM. At 5:15 we're outside waiting for the "Rusty Bus", which is an old Bluebird cabover school bus painted white witht the Swift logos on it. At 6AM, school is in session and they take role. Then we either go to the range, or stay in the class room. The range is where the school's trucks live. They live there permanantly as they wouldn't probably stand up to being on the road anymore. They all have more than 600K miles and have various bits and pieces bent broken cracked or missing. The big thing is that they still start and pull the trailers we get. All of the trailers are 53' trailers and are out of road service for some reason. Usually holes, patches and other assorted damage.
On the range, we do pre-trip inspections every day. The PTI involves checking about 180 parts of the tractor and trailer for items that are bent broken cracked or missing, or hoses / air lines that are frayed leaking or bulging. I won't go into details about what's what, as I might lose you and it'd be REALLY boring, but there are 5 airbrake parts on each end of each axle that have to be checked every day. Once your ground checks are done, you get into the cab and do your air checks and electric system checks... Boring huh? Yeah, and lots to remember.
Once those are completed, we drive! Well, we drive around the lot. To get a CDL in PA, you have to be able to perform certain manuvers. In PA, it's the "straight line back", the "45 degree alley dock", and the dreaded "parallel park".
Straight line backing is fairly easy. It is, as it's name implys, backing the truck in a straight line using only the mirrors to keep the truck and trailer in a lane 3 feet wider than the units. Easy you say? Keep in mind that it's 3 feet total, not on each side and the trailer is constantly trying to go it's own way and if you over compensate for it, the tractor will be outside the lines. If that happens...FAIL
Parallel parking is exactly what it is in cars, but with 70' of truck and trailer.
The 45 degree is the one that gets me. I can't seem to do it. Think of parking a car in a garage in reverse. Now think of doing the same thing with a T/T in the same kind of space. You must have the trailer in the box without crossing the cones (called encroaching), or going more than 1 foot past the last cone (Instant FAIL) You get 5 points to use for mistakes. Each time you pull up to try it again, that's one point. Each time you encroach the cone line, that's also 1 point, so they add up quickly.
I'll fill you all in on more later. Tomorrow is mapping and Haz-Mat, so it'll be interesting.
Russ
Now that we're in the swing of things here, I'll tell you a little about what goes on. Johnny (my roommate) and I wake up at 4:30AM. At 5:15 we're outside waiting for the "Rusty Bus", which is an old Bluebird cabover school bus painted white witht the Swift logos on it. At 6AM, school is in session and they take role. Then we either go to the range, or stay in the class room. The range is where the school's trucks live. They live there permanantly as they wouldn't probably stand up to being on the road anymore. They all have more than 600K miles and have various bits and pieces bent broken cracked or missing. The big thing is that they still start and pull the trailers we get. All of the trailers are 53' trailers and are out of road service for some reason. Usually holes, patches and other assorted damage.
On the range, we do pre-trip inspections every day. The PTI involves checking about 180 parts of the tractor and trailer for items that are bent broken cracked or missing, or hoses / air lines that are frayed leaking or bulging. I won't go into details about what's what, as I might lose you and it'd be REALLY boring, but there are 5 airbrake parts on each end of each axle that have to be checked every day. Once your ground checks are done, you get into the cab and do your air checks and electric system checks... Boring huh? Yeah, and lots to remember.
Once those are completed, we drive! Well, we drive around the lot. To get a CDL in PA, you have to be able to perform certain manuvers. In PA, it's the "straight line back", the "45 degree alley dock", and the dreaded "parallel park".
Straight line backing is fairly easy. It is, as it's name implys, backing the truck in a straight line using only the mirrors to keep the truck and trailer in a lane 3 feet wider than the units. Easy you say? Keep in mind that it's 3 feet total, not on each side and the trailer is constantly trying to go it's own way and if you over compensate for it, the tractor will be outside the lines. If that happens...FAIL
Parallel parking is exactly what it is in cars, but with 70' of truck and trailer.
The 45 degree is the one that gets me. I can't seem to do it. Think of parking a car in a garage in reverse. Now think of doing the same thing with a T/T in the same kind of space. You must have the trailer in the box without crossing the cones (called encroaching), or going more than 1 foot past the last cone (Instant FAIL) You get 5 points to use for mistakes. Each time you pull up to try it again, that's one point. Each time you encroach the cone line, that's also 1 point, so they add up quickly.
I'll fill you all in on more later. Tomorrow is mapping and Haz-Mat, so it'll be interesting.
Russ
Monday, November 10, 2008
Day 1....again....
Don't be fooled, I'm not going to post every day, but I wanted to cover whats gone on the last week. Last Monday I got sent home from school because my blood pressure was too high. I drove the 255 miles home and went to the doctors. Now, I'm on Diovan and Sunday I drove the 255 miles back down here and today, everything was great! I passed the Workwell tests and qualified for flatbed ops. That's good as I would get paid more for flatbed when I do it. They co-mingle FB and dry van drivers (they don't have a specific division).
Today after the tests, we waited at the training center (4 of our 12 classmembers) while the other 8 went to the clinic to re-do their physicals. Most went to unapproved locations, while others had theirs go past 30 days. (Glad I screwed around on that one...) The 4 of us worked on our homework (5 chapters in the book and have to be ready for a general skills test tomorrow). Tomorrow after the test, we work on mapping and trip planning/log books. I don't think this will be too bad. I know how to use a map and log books aren't too bad. I'll keep you updated!
Russ
Don't be fooled, I'm not going to post every day, but I wanted to cover whats gone on the last week. Last Monday I got sent home from school because my blood pressure was too high. I drove the 255 miles home and went to the doctors. Now, I'm on Diovan and Sunday I drove the 255 miles back down here and today, everything was great! I passed the Workwell tests and qualified for flatbed ops. That's good as I would get paid more for flatbed when I do it. They co-mingle FB and dry van drivers (they don't have a specific division).
Today after the tests, we waited at the training center (4 of our 12 classmembers) while the other 8 went to the clinic to re-do their physicals. Most went to unapproved locations, while others had theirs go past 30 days. (Glad I screwed around on that one...) The 4 of us worked on our homework (5 chapters in the book and have to be ready for a general skills test tomorrow). Tomorrow after the test, we work on mapping and trip planning/log books. I don't think this will be too bad. I know how to use a map and log books aren't too bad. I'll keep you updated!
Russ
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Stage 1...
Today, I arrived in Richmond, VA at the Candlewood Suites. (Yeah, Swift paid for suites! Way to go Swift!) When I arrived, I was standing in the lobby talking to a couple other students and someone from Swift and one of the guys checking in commented that he snored, I joking commented that I did too and the front desk chick put us in the same room. Boy, I'll tell ya what, I thought Thor was my carbon copy...This guy is almost better! He's got the same haircut, same likes and dislikes, he even has a boxer as a pet! (It's kinda scary, actually). But he's a nice dude from North Carolina. We start school tomorrow and have to be outside at 5:30AM (ugh...) for the shuttle bus to school. I will be interested to see what tomorrow brings. According to the paperwork we got at the hotel, tomorrow will be strength and other tests. I don't think I'll have any problem,but it's always good to go prepaired for anything.
More updates to come!
More updates to come!
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