Friday, June 6, 2008
HOT Week
This was a great week of school. We all got to drive the road truck a lot. I was in the Pete 3 times for a little over 3 hours of driving covering over 30 miles. I know that does not seem like a lot of time or miles, but when you are in a big rig there is so much to do besides driving. The driver has to constantly look around, watching side streets, keeping a very close eye on what the trailer is doing. It is amazing how much there is involved in driving a big rig. And so very easy to run someone over if the driver is not paying attention.
June 2: I was first up in the road truck today. My shifting was OK, but not great. I really had a tough time down shifting into 5th gear. I am not allowing the truck to slow down enough to be able to get into 5th gear, and I am not using the clutch properly. I will definitely have to work on this at home. I got to drive about 12 miles today. We practiced a lot of left turns today. These turns have to be made pretty wide so that the trailer does not hit anyone or anything. When pulling a trailer the rear wheels don't want to take the same track as the truck wheels. They take a quicker route and can hit other vehicles, telephone poles and other things if the turn is not made wide enough. And, if you don't watch the trailer it is possible to leave an opening for cars to try to squeeze through and possibly cause an accident. After my turn at the controls was complete I was allowed to remain in the truck and observe the next student. I enjoy doing this because I am able to hear what the instructor is telling that student, which may be the same things he told me, but hearing a second and third time helps a lot. I can also think about what I need to do to fix the problems I am having.
This afternoon I was on the backing range. The instructors have changed places. Mr. Bentley started out teaching us how to back the trucks. Mr. Warren was in the road truck with us. Now Mr. Bentley is in the road truck with us and Mr. Warren is teaching backing. Mr. Warren was able to explain the parallel park maneuver to me that finally made sense and I am beginning to get the truck into the space better. I am glad he is teaching backing now.
It is hot today. Up in the 90's. The backing range is covered with gravel and standing out on the range while spotting for the other drivers gets pretty uncomfortable. All of us are drinking lots of water. I am going to be glad to get home and into some air conditioning.
June 3: Today I spent the entire day on the backing range. I am glad because I need a lot of work on the parallel parking. I am doing much better with this maneuver. Our parking tests will require us to do a straight back, off set back, and parallel park. If we can manage not to lose any points on the first two maneuvers then we will have a lot of points to spare for the parallel. But, we all seem to be getting pretty good at all the maneuvers and shouldn't have much trouble passing the test unless our nerves get the best of us.
It was again very hot today. Both yesterday and today were not as bad as they could have been, though, because there was a brisk wind blowing. It was quite dusty out there, but the wind helped keep us a little cool. Ninety degrees is tough, though.
June 4: I was in the road truck again this morning. I was the second driver today. I drove about 15 miles today and got out on Briley Parkway north for a couple miles. I like what the instructors say about driving a truck. We are not really driving the truck, we are driving the trailer. We have to maneuver the truck to keep the trailer in the lane. Everything we do is to keep control of the trailer. And we are getting lots of practice trying to keep the trailer in our lane. We are pulling 48 foot trailers. Most of the trucking companies are using 53 foot trailers. That makes it even more difficult to make turns and keep the trailer in the correct lane. Anyway, we practiced right turns today. Those make left turns seem easy. It takes a lot to make sure the trailer does not hit anything. During our road test we cannot hit a curve or we fail the test. I don't feel I have gotten nearly enough time behind the wheel to be able to pass the test.
I am still having problems down shifting into 5th gear and today that got me into a little trouble. When we go over railroad tracks we are suppose to be in a low gear so we go over the tracks slowly and somewhat softly so the load does not get damaged. We are also not suppose to shift while going over the tracks just in case we miss a gear. You don't want to get hung up on the tracks. Well, I could not get the truck into gear and ended up having to stop the truck on top of the tracks in the middle of an intersection, blocking traffic, trying to get the truck into gear so I could move it. I think they are going to call that intersection Adkins folly for now on. Oh well! I have got to get this problem solved real soon. Not many more days to practice.
It was hot again today and I spent some time standing in the shade and drinking water. I brought a small towel with me and got it wet and put it around my neck. That really felt good and helped keep me cool. Of course we are all drinking lots of water. Backing is coming a long much better. I am really getting good at the parallel park. The other two maneuvers are not a problem. So, my backing tests should go well, unless, like I said before, my nerves get a hold of me. I don't feel nervous right now, so hopefully there will be no nerves on test day.
June 5: I was back in the road truck this morning. I was the third driver today. On previous trips I have used a pillow to get me closer to the foot pedals. I did not think the seat was getting me close enough. But, today I decided not to use the pillow and that made a huge difference. I had no problems shifting at all. I was able to down shift into 5th gear with no problems. I am a very happy camper and I am happy with how I drove today. We drove the test route today and that covers about 17 miles. It takes us out on Briley Parkway twice, and takes us by the Titans practice facility. I am seeing places I haven't seen before. Mr. Bentley was pleased with my progress today and said I should not have any problems passing the road test.
This afternoon I was back out on the HOT backing range. It is nice being in the road truck because we have air conditioning in there. We have air conditioning in the trucks on the backing range, too. But, we don't get to spend much time in them. We do our backing maneuvers and then switch drivers. As a student is doing a backing maneuver the rest of us are out spotting them, making sure they do not hit anything. But, once again the wind was brisk and helped make it not as hot as it really was. By the end of each day I am spent, though. A week ago I was going home and walking to get some exercise. Now I am spending so much time in the hot that I can't even think about walking. We do have shade at the school, but can't spend much time in it.
June 6: I had a "I don't want to be here today" attitude, today. We got out to the truck range after taking a test at the main campus. We got started pretty late because Mr. Warren had to talk to administration about getting the Freightliner fixed. It was OK with me, though, because I did not want to drive today anyway. Well, Mr. Warren finally got there and we started working on our backing again. Three students went out with Mr. Bentley to get their turn in the road truck. The backing was going well, and then I decided to go get some water and take a little break in the shade. It was getting close to lunch time. Mr. Warren came up to me and asked if I could do him a favor. The Pete (the road truck) was broke down and he asked me to go pick up the students who were out with it. I knew the route they were on, so it would not be difficult to find them. So I headed out in my Jeep to rescue them. I got to the Pete at the same time the tow truck got there. I picked up two students and Mr. Bentley and headed back to the truck campus. We got back to the campus and Mr. Warren told the students on the backing range to shut down the trucks. Because the Pete needs to be fixed by Monday, and he needs to go to administration to get the authority to do that, he decided to let us go for the weekend. It was noon by then. What a nice deal. I was going to head for Dover after school today and I got a very nice head start. It was hot today and I just did not want to be there. So getting to leave early was great. I am now home and tomorrow I get to go out and pick up 75 bales of hay, bring them home, and unload them. That will be some good exercise.
June 2: I was first up in the road truck today. My shifting was OK, but not great. I really had a tough time down shifting into 5th gear. I am not allowing the truck to slow down enough to be able to get into 5th gear, and I am not using the clutch properly. I will definitely have to work on this at home. I got to drive about 12 miles today. We practiced a lot of left turns today. These turns have to be made pretty wide so that the trailer does not hit anyone or anything. When pulling a trailer the rear wheels don't want to take the same track as the truck wheels. They take a quicker route and can hit other vehicles, telephone poles and other things if the turn is not made wide enough. And, if you don't watch the trailer it is possible to leave an opening for cars to try to squeeze through and possibly cause an accident. After my turn at the controls was complete I was allowed to remain in the truck and observe the next student. I enjoy doing this because I am able to hear what the instructor is telling that student, which may be the same things he told me, but hearing a second and third time helps a lot. I can also think about what I need to do to fix the problems I am having.
This afternoon I was on the backing range. The instructors have changed places. Mr. Bentley started out teaching us how to back the trucks. Mr. Warren was in the road truck with us. Now Mr. Bentley is in the road truck with us and Mr. Warren is teaching backing. Mr. Warren was able to explain the parallel park maneuver to me that finally made sense and I am beginning to get the truck into the space better. I am glad he is teaching backing now.
It is hot today. Up in the 90's. The backing range is covered with gravel and standing out on the range while spotting for the other drivers gets pretty uncomfortable. All of us are drinking lots of water. I am going to be glad to get home and into some air conditioning.
June 3: Today I spent the entire day on the backing range. I am glad because I need a lot of work on the parallel parking. I am doing much better with this maneuver. Our parking tests will require us to do a straight back, off set back, and parallel park. If we can manage not to lose any points on the first two maneuvers then we will have a lot of points to spare for the parallel. But, we all seem to be getting pretty good at all the maneuvers and shouldn't have much trouble passing the test unless our nerves get the best of us.
It was again very hot today. Both yesterday and today were not as bad as they could have been, though, because there was a brisk wind blowing. It was quite dusty out there, but the wind helped keep us a little cool. Ninety degrees is tough, though.
June 4: I was in the road truck again this morning. I was the second driver today. I drove about 15 miles today and got out on Briley Parkway north for a couple miles. I like what the instructors say about driving a truck. We are not really driving the truck, we are driving the trailer. We have to maneuver the truck to keep the trailer in the lane. Everything we do is to keep control of the trailer. And we are getting lots of practice trying to keep the trailer in our lane. We are pulling 48 foot trailers. Most of the trucking companies are using 53 foot trailers. That makes it even more difficult to make turns and keep the trailer in the correct lane. Anyway, we practiced right turns today. Those make left turns seem easy. It takes a lot to make sure the trailer does not hit anything. During our road test we cannot hit a curve or we fail the test. I don't feel I have gotten nearly enough time behind the wheel to be able to pass the test.
I am still having problems down shifting into 5th gear and today that got me into a little trouble. When we go over railroad tracks we are suppose to be in a low gear so we go over the tracks slowly and somewhat softly so the load does not get damaged. We are also not suppose to shift while going over the tracks just in case we miss a gear. You don't want to get hung up on the tracks. Well, I could not get the truck into gear and ended up having to stop the truck on top of the tracks in the middle of an intersection, blocking traffic, trying to get the truck into gear so I could move it. I think they are going to call that intersection Adkins folly for now on. Oh well! I have got to get this problem solved real soon. Not many more days to practice.
It was hot again today and I spent some time standing in the shade and drinking water. I brought a small towel with me and got it wet and put it around my neck. That really felt good and helped keep me cool. Of course we are all drinking lots of water. Backing is coming a long much better. I am really getting good at the parallel park. The other two maneuvers are not a problem. So, my backing tests should go well, unless, like I said before, my nerves get a hold of me. I don't feel nervous right now, so hopefully there will be no nerves on test day.
June 5: I was back in the road truck this morning. I was the third driver today. On previous trips I have used a pillow to get me closer to the foot pedals. I did not think the seat was getting me close enough. But, today I decided not to use the pillow and that made a huge difference. I had no problems shifting at all. I was able to down shift into 5th gear with no problems. I am a very happy camper and I am happy with how I drove today. We drove the test route today and that covers about 17 miles. It takes us out on Briley Parkway twice, and takes us by the Titans practice facility. I am seeing places I haven't seen before. Mr. Bentley was pleased with my progress today and said I should not have any problems passing the road test.
This afternoon I was back out on the HOT backing range. It is nice being in the road truck because we have air conditioning in there. We have air conditioning in the trucks on the backing range, too. But, we don't get to spend much time in them. We do our backing maneuvers and then switch drivers. As a student is doing a backing maneuver the rest of us are out spotting them, making sure they do not hit anything. But, once again the wind was brisk and helped make it not as hot as it really was. By the end of each day I am spent, though. A week ago I was going home and walking to get some exercise. Now I am spending so much time in the hot that I can't even think about walking. We do have shade at the school, but can't spend much time in it.
June 6: I had a "I don't want to be here today" attitude, today. We got out to the truck range after taking a test at the main campus. We got started pretty late because Mr. Warren had to talk to administration about getting the Freightliner fixed. It was OK with me, though, because I did not want to drive today anyway. Well, Mr. Warren finally got there and we started working on our backing again. Three students went out with Mr. Bentley to get their turn in the road truck. The backing was going well, and then I decided to go get some water and take a little break in the shade. It was getting close to lunch time. Mr. Warren came up to me and asked if I could do him a favor. The Pete (the road truck) was broke down and he asked me to go pick up the students who were out with it. I knew the route they were on, so it would not be difficult to find them. So I headed out in my Jeep to rescue them. I got to the Pete at the same time the tow truck got there. I picked up two students and Mr. Bentley and headed back to the truck campus. We got back to the campus and Mr. Warren told the students on the backing range to shut down the trucks. Because the Pete needs to be fixed by Monday, and he needs to go to administration to get the authority to do that, he decided to let us go for the weekend. It was noon by then. What a nice deal. I was going to head for Dover after school today and I got a very nice head start. It was hot today and I just did not want to be there. So getting to leave early was great. I am now home and tomorrow I get to go out and pick up 75 bales of hay, bring them home, and unload them. That will be some good exercise.
# posted by Jill @ 7:48 PM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
