Day 13 - CDL Test Day - I PASSED. I took my CDL test today. I was the second one from my group of four to take the test. There are three parts to the test. You have to pass each part before you can move on to the next part. The first part is the pre-trip inspection, the second part is the backing test, which consists of three backing maneuvers and the third part is the road test. The examiner called my name at about 1000. He told me the computer had assigned me to pre-trip the engine, the coupling system, inside the cab and do an air brake check. If I passed the pre-trip, I would then move to the backing test. The computer assigned me to do back in a straight line, back into an off-set location and to parallel park. If I passed the backing test, I would then move to the road test, which consisted of taking a driving test through Green Cove Springs.
I went through the pre-trip inspection by naming everything I could see. The examiner took one point off for missing an item, which was the windshield. Dumb!!! I then moved to the backing test. I started out with backing in a straight line, this one was easy, I then moved to backing into an offset location. This one was more difficult. I had to pull up three times, you are allowed two free pull-ups, before I got the trailer in the box. I then moved to the parallel parking maneuver. Now you have to understand that during the last two weeks of backing practice, I had a very difficult time completing the parallel parking maneuver. When the examiner told me I had to parallel park, I told myself that I was going to nail it.......And I did. I parked the truck and trailer in the box with one pull-up. I then moved to the road test. We left the school grounds and went into downtown Green Cove Springs. We made a few turns and looped back to the school. We were out for about 45 minutes. Before we got back to the school the examiner asked me if I wanted the good news or bad news. I said good news, he told me I had passed the exam. He told me the bad news was that I was going to have to go to work. I told him that was good news also.
Day14 - I spent most of today standing around. I'd passed the most important test yesterday, and today I had to take the coupling and uncoupling test. My turn came around after lunch. It took me about 10 minutes to complete the exam. The examiner told me I had passed and then I had to stand around some more. It was a boring day. Tomorrow is graduation. Yea!!!!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Day 11 and Day 12
Day 11 - We are scheduled to do a night drive today, we did not have to report to school until 1130. The first half of the day was spent practicing our shifting on the track. We began our night drive at 1800. We went to Palatka and worked on our turns and trying to watch our trailer in the dark. It's not easy to see the end of the trailer when it is dark, so you have to make sure you make the turn correctly or you will run over a curb. I did pretty well, tonight. I did not run over any curbs. We arrived back at the school at about 2145.
Day 12 - This morning we practiced our coupling and uncoupling. We spent this afternoon practicing our backing maneuvers. I still have trouble with a couple of the maneuvers, but by the end of the afternoon I was getting better. Well, today was the last day of practice. Tomorrow we take our CLD test.
Day 12 - This morning we practiced our coupling and uncoupling. We spent this afternoon practicing our backing maneuvers. I still have trouble with a couple of the maneuvers, but by the end of the afternoon I was getting better. Well, today was the last day of practice. Tomorrow we take our CLD test.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Day 10
Today was pretty much the same. We practiced our coupling and uncoupling and pre trip inspections this morning and practiced backing up this afternoon. I am still having trouble with a couple of the back up maneuvers. I have one more day to practice before the test. I will be able to do all the maneuvers by test day.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
CDL Training
To begin, I lost my job last November due to "Corporate Restructuring." I have applied for over 100 positions and have had one interview. So I've decided to take my career into my own hands. I have always been interested in driving an 18 wheeler and thought this would be a good time to learn and hopefully get a job quickly. I will use this blog to keep track of my trucking experiences starting with CDL school and going forward from there.
I signed up with a CDL school located in Green Cove Springs. The course is three weeks long and will provide me training to pass the Florida CDL test. I first had to complete a 33 lesson home study course. After completing the home study course, I was enrolled in the residence training course. The residence training course will teach me how to actually drive an 18 wheeler. The residence training course dates are February 10th through February 27th.
February 10, 2009
The Beginning:
Day 1 - Today is my first day at CDL school. The class started at 0700 with a two hour orientation. The class has 30 students. During orientation, the instructor teamed me with three classmates and assigned us truck. After orientation, we were told to go to our truck and to get in. We are driving a Freightliner that has had the sleeper modified with three seats. The instructor got in the drivers seat and took us out on the shifting track. The shifting track is almost two miles long. He showed us the proper way to upshift and downshift the truck. He then let each one of use take a lap around the track and try shifting. The instructor was in the passenger seat giving us help with our shifting. When all of us had finished, the instructor left the truck and told us to have fun. We spent the rest of the day working on shifting. I'm sure the maintenance department at the school had to replace the gears that night. Class ended at about 1700.
February 11, 2009
Day 2 - Today we continued our shifting practice until lunch. After lunch our instructor told us we were going on the road. Boy were we shocked, we never thought we would be going out on the road so early in training. After lunch the instructor drove the truck out of the school parking lot to a pull off location down the road. The instructor then told one of us to start driving. I volunteered to be the first to take the drivers seat. I drove from Green Cove Springs to downtown Palatka, making a few turns and grinding a few gears. Overall, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. We spent about three hours on the road traveling from Palatka through rural St. Johns county and back to the school.
February 12, 2009
Day 3 - Today was not quite as exciting as yesterday. We spent the first half of the day learning how to couple and uncouple the tractor from the trailer and then learned the proper way to do a pre-trip inspection. We practiced these activities over and over until lunch. After lunch we went to the backing pad to start learning how to back up. We spent the rest of the day practicing backing up in a straight line. This is backing maneuver was easy.
February 13, 2009
Day 4 - Today started out just like yesterday, we practiced the couple and uncouple as well as the pre-trip inspection until lunch. After lunch we went to the backing pad and learned how to back into an alley dock. This is accomplished by setting the truck up perpendicular to the dock and then backing into the dock by turning the truck almost 90 degrees. This one was difficult and by the end of the day I had a pretty good idea of what I was supposed to do, but I was still having some trouble getting it right. We spent the rest of the day practicing the alley dock maneuver and the straight line maneuver.
February 14, 2009
Day 5 - Today we spent the morning on the shifting track. We did this until lunch. After lunch the instructor told us we were going on the road again. The trip today took us from Green Cove to a truck stop at I-95 and State Road 206 and back. Part of the trip had us driving on I-95. I did some gear grinding again today, mostly on the downshift.
February 16, 2009
Day 6 - This morning was spent practicing coupling and uncoupling and pre-trip inspection. We spent the afternoon on the backing pad learning how to parallel park. I bet you didn't know that you can parallel park an 18 wheeler. This is the toughest backing maneuver to learn. I have the basic concept, but could not get it right without help. I just need more practice.
February 17, 2009
Day 7 - This morning our instructor told us we would be going on the road to Jacksonville. One of my teammates started out driving up Hwy 17 through Green Cove Springs to Orange Park during rush hour, there was a lot of stop and go traffic, this was perfect for shift practice. I had my shift practice traveling up Southside Blvd., over the Dames Point Bridge to Heckshire Drive. We stopped at a trucking company off Heckshire Drive to switch drivers. We then traced the route backwards back to Green Cove Springs. I did much better today, however I still have some problems downshifting. We arrived back at the school at lunch time. After lunch we spent the rest of the day on the shifting track.
February 18, 2009
Day 8 - This morning was spent practicing our coupling and uncoupling and pre-trip inspections. We spent the afternoon practicing all of the back up maneuvers. I can do all of the maneuvers pretty well, except parallel parking. This one is going to take some work. I have a few more days to practice parallel parking before I have to take the CDL test.
February 19, 2009
Day 9 - I spent this morning on the shifting track working on my downshift. After lunch we began our road trip to Palatka to learn how to make turns at intersections. I drove around downtown Palatka making left and right hand turns. I think I completed 10 turns. My downshifts we much better, thanks to the practice this morning.
I signed up with a CDL school located in Green Cove Springs. The course is three weeks long and will provide me training to pass the Florida CDL test. I first had to complete a 33 lesson home study course. After completing the home study course, I was enrolled in the residence training course. The residence training course will teach me how to actually drive an 18 wheeler. The residence training course dates are February 10th through February 27th.
February 10, 2009
The Beginning:
Day 1 - Today is my first day at CDL school. The class started at 0700 with a two hour orientation. The class has 30 students. During orientation, the instructor teamed me with three classmates and assigned us truck. After orientation, we were told to go to our truck and to get in. We are driving a Freightliner that has had the sleeper modified with three seats. The instructor got in the drivers seat and took us out on the shifting track. The shifting track is almost two miles long. He showed us the proper way to upshift and downshift the truck. He then let each one of use take a lap around the track and try shifting. The instructor was in the passenger seat giving us help with our shifting. When all of us had finished, the instructor left the truck and told us to have fun. We spent the rest of the day working on shifting. I'm sure the maintenance department at the school had to replace the gears that night. Class ended at about 1700.
February 11, 2009
Day 2 - Today we continued our shifting practice until lunch. After lunch our instructor told us we were going on the road. Boy were we shocked, we never thought we would be going out on the road so early in training. After lunch the instructor drove the truck out of the school parking lot to a pull off location down the road. The instructor then told one of us to start driving. I volunteered to be the first to take the drivers seat. I drove from Green Cove Springs to downtown Palatka, making a few turns and grinding a few gears. Overall, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. We spent about three hours on the road traveling from Palatka through rural St. Johns county and back to the school.
February 12, 2009
Day 3 - Today was not quite as exciting as yesterday. We spent the first half of the day learning how to couple and uncouple the tractor from the trailer and then learned the proper way to do a pre-trip inspection. We practiced these activities over and over until lunch. After lunch we went to the backing pad to start learning how to back up. We spent the rest of the day practicing backing up in a straight line. This is backing maneuver was easy.
February 13, 2009
Day 4 - Today started out just like yesterday, we practiced the couple and uncouple as well as the pre-trip inspection until lunch. After lunch we went to the backing pad and learned how to back into an alley dock. This is accomplished by setting the truck up perpendicular to the dock and then backing into the dock by turning the truck almost 90 degrees. This one was difficult and by the end of the day I had a pretty good idea of what I was supposed to do, but I was still having some trouble getting it right. We spent the rest of the day practicing the alley dock maneuver and the straight line maneuver.
February 14, 2009
Day 5 - Today we spent the morning on the shifting track. We did this until lunch. After lunch the instructor told us we were going on the road again. The trip today took us from Green Cove to a truck stop at I-95 and State Road 206 and back. Part of the trip had us driving on I-95. I did some gear grinding again today, mostly on the downshift.
February 16, 2009
Day 6 - This morning was spent practicing coupling and uncoupling and pre-trip inspection. We spent the afternoon on the backing pad learning how to parallel park. I bet you didn't know that you can parallel park an 18 wheeler. This is the toughest backing maneuver to learn. I have the basic concept, but could not get it right without help. I just need more practice.
February 17, 2009
Day 7 - This morning our instructor told us we would be going on the road to Jacksonville. One of my teammates started out driving up Hwy 17 through Green Cove Springs to Orange Park during rush hour, there was a lot of stop and go traffic, this was perfect for shift practice. I had my shift practice traveling up Southside Blvd., over the Dames Point Bridge to Heckshire Drive. We stopped at a trucking company off Heckshire Drive to switch drivers. We then traced the route backwards back to Green Cove Springs. I did much better today, however I still have some problems downshifting. We arrived back at the school at lunch time. After lunch we spent the rest of the day on the shifting track.
February 18, 2009
Day 8 - This morning was spent practicing our coupling and uncoupling and pre-trip inspections. We spent the afternoon practicing all of the back up maneuvers. I can do all of the maneuvers pretty well, except parallel parking. This one is going to take some work. I have a few more days to practice parallel parking before I have to take the CDL test.
February 19, 2009
Day 9 - I spent this morning on the shifting track working on my downshift. After lunch we began our road trip to Palatka to learn how to make turns at intersections. I drove around downtown Palatka making left and right hand turns. I think I completed 10 turns. My downshifts we much better, thanks to the practice this morning.
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