Written Feb 22 and just
posted today!
First week of truck driving school
is done. Driving to Albany OR each day, a little over an hour each way. I have
to be there by 7 AM, so the mornings are still dark. Motoring through the pouring rain a few
mornings was pretty crazy! Very nice
ride in the afternoons tho! We’ve been doing lots of reading, videos and
testing. Some of it review from my bus days. I passed all of my DMV written
tests, including the Haz Mat, the first try! I was sweating that one! Next week we start working with the truck. Probably
several days of learning pre-trip, engine and brake parts, attaching trailers, etc…
before we actually get to drive. I’m having fun learning new stuff and am
looking forward to actually moving the truck around the lot soon! I’m guessing
that we will do a lot of backing up practice and learning how to turn corners
without running over stuff before they let us on the road.
Our class consists of 6
students and a great instructor. Herold is a kick in the pa-toot! Old trucker fart that tells great stories
while he shares his infinite wisdom with us.
The three young fellas, that usually sit in the front, have all been in
a truck a time or two. Three of us old farts, sit in the back row mostly. One
is a vet that drove a while ago and is back for a refresher. The other is fairly
new to big rigs. Then there’s me the ‘token’ Newbie Woman! We’ll see how it all
shakes down when we take to the road. It will be interesting to see how they
split up the teams. Three students in a truck, with one instructor comprise
each team.
It’s almost time to choose a
training carrier. After school, students work for a training carrier that
actually gives them driving experience. I am finding that due to sexual
harassment lawsuits many of the training carriers will only send women students
with women trainers. There are so few women trainers that a gal might have to
wait for 3-4 months before she can get a trainer. Men on the other hand can
start driving in a week or two. To me this seems like discrimination. I have
heard at least one company has gone thru the courts on this issue too. I guess
the truck companies are stuck in a hard place between the two types of
lawsuits. I think gender should not be an issue for any of this stuff. I for
one, don’t care what gender my trainer is. I just want them to be respectful, and
be a good driver! And I don’t want to wait!!!
I have had a conversation with my top choice of training carriers and am
hopeful that they will put me on a truck in a timely fashion. The recruiter for that company will be at
school next week and I will ask about that again!
Time to hit the books. Looking
forward to sharing my thoughts with you again soon!
PS BarkClay says
‘Boooowowoowww’
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