Truck Driving School, Monday, Week 4 (I got no rhythm)

Beginning of Week 4

Today was my 4th session driving a truck; the previous three were spent on the range practicing backing, whereas today the Peterbilt's gears were in serious peril as I ground my way around the outskirts of Billings, MT. I never thought I'd say this, but I actually feel more comfortable backing up right now than I do driving forward. As with backing, I expect to get better with practice. The morning started with about 20 laps around the two blocks near the school, as I repeatedly worked up through the gears and then back down before heading out onto the interstate and to a rural country road that featured some nice curves as well as several long ascents and descents. I did well checking the mirrors, bringing the truck to a smooth stop, accelerating from a stop through intersections, handling my first long descent using the jake brake, and keeping good spacing around the truck while on the interstate, but holy cow, my shifting leaves an awful lot to be desired. I got no rhythm! That seems to be the crux of my problem. My left leg isn't working well with my right arm and right leg. I've never had any rhythm; I could never dance well, could never carry a tune, but that's not going to excuse me from learning how to shift in the truck.

I'll be back at it tomorrow afternoon; I imagine my instructor is working on his 5th bottle of Pepto Bismol right now. He has the patience of a saint. He's giving me first-class instruction, I'm just not putting it to good use. Tomorrow I'll do better. A good learning opportunity occurred while I was pre-tripping the tractor & trailer... the outside tire on the rear driver's side trailer tandems was very low, requiring air before we could leave the lot. We pulled an air hose from the tools compartment, connected it to the glad hands, and filled the tire on-the-spot. I don't know what truckers keep as standard equipment in their tool box compartment, but I would think an air hose that reaches all tires on the tractor trailer with the air valve connection on one end and a glad hand connector on the other end should be a standard piece of equipment.

"Happy to be of some motivational help. I wish we could have grabbed a cup of coffee over Easter... I'd love to pick your brain about school but I'm in Ohio. Haha

Keep with it and keep us posted."   -Han Solo Cup