April 7, 2007: Day 8

Oh my… so many days to catch up!  Since I have been busy and not updating as regularly as I had hoped, some of this is starting to run together and becoming a bit of a blur in my foggy, addled mind.  So please bear with me and I’ll do my best to fill you in.

Wednesday, April 4:

Got to the STA a little before 7 a.m. and met John, my driving instructor. Headed out to the truck, did our checks and then to the highway.  Guess what?  I am still making mistakes.  But I am improving!  Finding the gears a lot easier, getting a little better at setting up turns (but still need to get that bump and run in earlier!).   Since I seem to be doing better, and John is affirming and helpful, it helps me relax.  And i discover that when I am relaxed, I do things much more smoothly.  Of course I suppose it’s only normal that the first time behind the wheel one would be a bit tense.

Most of our driving is not far from the STA, in an industrial park area that nearly all the streets are legal for big trucks.  I did manage to screw up one right turn in a royal way (no one was hurt, relax!!).  Heading down the street, John tells me to take the next right.  Since I was trying to look far down the road, I noticed a sign for a “T” intersection about a quarter of a mile ahead.  As we get closer, John starts saying “You’ll want to be getting your bump and run in pretty soon!”  I wondered what he was dreaming about as we still had quite a way to the intersection ( bump and run puts you into at least two gears lower than you had been running, ergo, a slow speed).  All of a sudden John says “Where are you going?” – in a kind and gentle way.  That’s when I noticed the street to my right.   Yup, that’s the one he meant, I hadn’t seen it and drove right past it.  ARRRGGGHHH!  C’mon Dennis, pay attention to EVERYTHING.   Feeling sheepish, John just laughed and asked if I know what went wrong.  Yeah, I did.  So we drive around a bit, eventually coming back down the same street, and John says, “OK, the next right.”  I chuckled and asked “You mean the one I missed before?”  He laughed and said, “That’s the one!”  Made the turn, far from perfect, but once again, no one was hurt.

It seems a couple of my more critical issues are not getting that “B-N-R” done early enough, not setting up the proper distance from the curb on right hand turns.  Four feet is the desired space from the curb as you set up for the turn – that gives you room to get that big ol’ trailer around the corner, yet doesn’t open your right side up too wide to allow other cars to slide up inside you on the right.   Since I am on the topic, you have all noticed the signs on the back of many trucks that say “CAUTION: WIDE RIGHT TURNS”  We mean it!  It takes a lot of room to ease that 80,000 pound,  70′ long hunk of macho metal around a corner.  Some of you may have noticed this as you were sitting in the left turn lane when you look up and see this 100′ high grill on a semi bearing down on you as the driver works around that corner to your left.   Remember – we’re bigger, it might hurt.  But relax, the professional drivers will be safe and cautious, taking time to make that turn properly to avoid damage to anything.  But please, that doesn’t mean it is ok to ignore them; just because they are doing their utmost to be safe, doesn’t mean any of us can relax either.

We head out on the highway and do a bit of highway work where traffic is moving a lot faster and cars zipping around us.  We turn down a few side roads then loop back around, and before I know it, our morning is nearly done and time to head back home.  Once at the range, we practice a couple of backing maneuvers.  Oh yeah.  Lots of learning opportunities there!

Back at the STA, after finishing a tasty lunch.  Well, after finishing lunch. it’s back to the classroom for me, Dan’s going out with John.  They split us up and send half to the sim lab where we work on slow maneuvering.  My simulation is inside a big warehouse where I have to “drive” the “truck” around forklifts, crates, other vehicles parked in there and silly people who walk right in front of a moving truck.  That really wasn’t too bad; it’s good practice for paying attention to close quarters maneuvers.  My only gripe with it is that the front depth perception is completely non-existent.  When you are looking out your windshield and thinking you’re about to smack something, in reality you might have another 6 or 8 feet.  That part of it doesn’t feel at all like driving a truck.

Sim class is over, then a couple of different instructors take us outside to start teaching us how to do pre-trip inspections.  Did I mention we’re in Green Bay, Wisconsin?  It’s COLD!  And the wind is blowing!  Well, actually it’s only about 30°, but the wind is whipping at a steady 10 – 15 mph with occasional 25 mph gusts.   My long johns are back at the hotel – a heck of a lot of good they are doing there.

About the pre-trip.  There’s an incredible amount of things on a truck that we have to check.  And since it is part of the CDL exam we’ll be taking when we leave here, we have to know it.  And to make matters even more fun, in Ohio (where I am from) you are not allowed to use a crib sheet when demonstrating your pre-trip to the examiner.  You have to have it memorized, you have to touch or point to each object as you explain what you are inspecting, there are certainspecific terminologies the are used, and you have to properly identify and explain 67 of 90 items to pass.  This will be a challenge, but I am confident I’ll get it by the time I need to.  Just study a little bit each night – kind of like an actor learning his lines (no comments from the peanut gallery in Sandusky!).

Finally, this long, cold day is done.  Time for the hotel, a warm room and dinner.  But I get to get in the truck again in the morning!

Thursday, April 5:

To the truck!  We head out to terrorize the motoring citizens of Green Bay again, and before long, John looks at me and asks me where in the world I have been practicing – he tells me my skills are showing a marked improvement over yesterday, especially when it comes to smooth shifting.  That really made me feel good!  Of course, I proceed to make mistakes, and I STILL need to get my bump and runs in quicker and set up better for right turns.   Today he takes me around to start teaching me the buttonhook turn, to be used when a right turn is a bit too tight to handle in the normal way.  He talksme through the setup as we approach the intersection, then talks me through step-by-step.  Not pretty, but I don’t get discouraged, I learned something new and with practice I’ll get better and better.   After more of the surface street driving it’s back to the more open roads and he talks me through skip-shifting, i.e., skipping over a gear as you upshift – shifting from 2nd to 4th, from 4th to 6th etc.  Wow.  That was pretty darn easy and it’s not long until I am skip shifting about every time I pull out from an intersection. 

What I am beginning to notice is a type of “layering” in my learning.  Tuesday, I was a bit nervous and was trying to remember a million things at once.  Now as I gain more confidence in my basic skills I have less to fret over and the next layer of learning is added on top of what I am comfortably progressing at.  Even though there is a lot they throw at us and it gets intense, it is a good feeling knowing that the parts are falling into place.   John chuckles and says “You are really liking that skip shifting aren’t you?”  Well heck yeah!  It cuts out two times I gotta double clutch to get into 6th gear.  What’s not to like?!

As we’re driving down the road, John says “Let off the accelerator.”  I am wondering what is up? My speed was fine – when the next thing I know, John is popping the gearshift and taking the transmission out of gear.  As he is doing so, he says, “Now grab your gear.”  Boy I am glad I have been studying my gear recovery speeds [each gear on a truck corresponds with a certain speed and vice versa.  For example, at normal engine RPMs, 20 mph is 6th gear, 10 mph is 4th, 25 is 7th, 30 is 8th, 8 mph is 3rd)  I think I surprised him -  and myself! – because I immediately recovered my gear.  About 20 minutes later, after having done this to me for the 4th time, John says, “I’ll bet you’re wanting to tell me to leave your gearshift alone, you S.O.B!”  I am telling you, John sure knows how to keep it light and relaxed.

After driving (and another culinary delight) we head to more sim training and then to container training.  You’ve seen the “containers” – the big boxes that are stacked in ships, then on to rail cars, then onto a truck chassis.  They are not the same as a regular van type trailer and there are even more things we have to be on the lookout for when hauling these things.  Naturally, we’re outside again in the cold and wind.  But today is different.  Today I feel better.  First, because John had complimented me nicely on my improvements this morning, and secondly – I remembered to wear my thermies!   After the container training, it’s time to stay outside and practice on our pre-trip inspections.   I felt pretty good when I ran through mine.  Even though we only started yesterday, I was getting quite a bit of it.  Much more to polish with it, but it’s coming along.

Nevertheless, I am so glad to hop on that bus heading back to the hotel.  But tonight with some homework assignments, and feeling cold and a little tired, I forego the chilly walk down the street to Hardee’s and instead call for a pizza.  Boy, was that ever good!

Tomorrow – more morning drive time, some practice with backing and afternoon classes, sims and pre-trip practice. 

Am I boring you yet?