First Week Driving....

Monday 21st --- nothing moving, waiting on truck assignment.

Tuesday 22nd --- assigned truck, did a thorough check on it and put it in the shop for repairs. The two biggest things were a new windshield and a seal leak in a drive axel. Then was able to do five rounds from the local GM transmission plant to a CLI, a shipper that combines loads of parts for GM assembly plants.

Wednesday 23rd --- I did one round the same as yesterday, then was able to get a run to Texas from Romulus. This is empty dunnage and racks on the way down and parts bound for Canada on the way back up.

Thursday 24th-- Covered a lot of ground on my way down to Texas. In Tennessee I was treated to the sight of a beautiful sunset, all pastel pink shades. I also got to see a true hillbilly type driving an old station wagon almost as dirty as his kids were in the back seat. He was truely god fearing, with a cross hanging from his mirror and a dusty bible on the dash.

Friday 25th -- Arkansas, which is where the above bad picture was taken. It is a little rough getting the camera to focus correctly through the windshield some times. But it is of a rice paddy, in Arkansas.

Saturday 26th -- Laredo, ended up doing a drop and hook in the drop yard there due to timing and hour issues. Unfortunitly the work I did prior to this run ended up messing me up a little for this run. Anyway I was able to get a bit north before stopping for the night.

Safety and Skills Center (SSC)

The past week was spent in West Middlesex, PA. This is basically a week long final exam testing everything we were supposed to have learned the past few weeks of training. It makes complete sense to make certain that every person that comes through here knows what they need to before setting them loose on their own in trucks.

Over all when compared to the training I got from Werner back in 2000, there really is no comparison. They truly do want you to knowledgeable about everything to do about their operation. There were about seven people from my original orientation class at this session at SSC. Which is a good indication of how well we all performed. I even got my original roommate from orientation, we both figured that at least we knew how each other was so why not do it again.

I got to know another driver a bit better as well, we had gone a few places in Gary, to get out of the hotel, and here it wasn't much different. Even gave him a ride to Toledo to get him home a day earlier than Greyhound from there would have taken. Also made sure that he tried out Tony Packo's before catching his bus, you just can't visit Toledo and not try the original Packo's Hungarian Hot Dogs.

One place we ate at twice was Quaker Steak and Lube. My roommate had mentioned them in orientation, and told us that the original was near where we were staying. They had an excellent all you can eat wing buffet on Wednesday. We all over ate, it was so good. Then Thursday it was a discount on ribs, those were really good as well, but I wouldn't have wanted to pay the full price, they weren't that good.

Our entire group was passed through with flying colors, we were told that we were one of the better groups they have had. Which I am sure they have said before, but might actually have been true this time. At least no one hit anything or killed a truck, cones on the other hand we killed a plenty.

Last Week with a Trainer

This past week I was lucky enough to work locally again. We did several local runs up to the Detroit area to pick up and Twinsburg, OH to deliver. Since he is a trainer he still had a road truck, but it only had a single bunk for when a trainee from out of town needed to spend the night.

Monday his dedicated run was cancelled so we did a lot of short local moves, repositioning equipment for service. This was my first day trying out an automatic. Fortunitly a bit of the video we watched in Orientation stuck with me, so getting it moving wasn't a problem. It felt really odd not having to shift or use a clutch, but it did free the mind to other driving problems while driving, especially when turning.

The trainer shortage is still happening. There was another training class here in the terminal with four guys in it. I felt a little bad for two of them since they were in my group last week. However they should have very few problems backing once they are done due to the amount of practice they are getting. A small consolation, but it is likely to serve them well once they are out on their own.

Next week for me it is off to West Middlesex , PA for the final week of training. It is a course called SSC, Safety and Skills Center. Again I will be driving myself just to keep clear of the dreaded Greyhoud bus. That and keep my options open for dinner and other activities after class is over for the day.

The Week of the Fourth

This was a week of working in the yard, backing skills mostly. We also had time to work on the giant homework project that was given to us in orientation. This project basically an exercise in trip planning, logging and filling out the correct paperwork for a load. It would have been a bear to have to do in a truck. It was much easier being able to spread it out all over a table or the floor to work on it.

So I was really able to refine my backing skills, well blow the rust off them the rest of the way in a more realistic fashion than what we did in classes. Next week it sounds like I will be with my final trainer than off to my final week of training and evaluation. So two more weeks and I will be out on my own.