A Manic 3 Weeks

Well it is finally FRIDAY!!!!!!!! Yea!!!! And I did promise you all a update as to the week, and I am sorry I couldn't always post as much as I wanted to when I wanted to. However, I needed my sleep as I sure you all can understand. With that said on to todays events and a recap of the week.

Today was all classroom, we were given a review of the CDL exam and testing procedures. We covered things like how we would be graded, what the tester will be looking for, and what the automatic fails are. So what do we have. Well the CDL test is in 3 parts. Part 1 is the pre-trip (vehicle inspection). There are 318 points in a full inspection, however for time saving we are only required to do approximately 112 items. We basically don't have to check redundant items like tires, once we check 1 we get credit for all 18 tires and this is the same for all component's that are duplicated or the same on one side of the truck to the other. Of those 112 or so items we can only miss, 12! However, we do get to use a memory aid (A.K.A. cheat sheet) so it really isn't too bad.

The second part the of the CDL test is the 2 backing maneuvers. Straight line and Alley Dock. We get one shot at doing it right or it is a automatic fail. For the Alley Dock Backing test we are allowed 1 pull-up (meaning pulling forward to correct the position of the trailer/truck), we do not get a pull-up on the Straight Line Backing test. This is a pass or fail test.

The third and last part of the test is the driving/road test. In all areas we are tested on the following: Traffic checks (constantly!), Proper lane position, proper speed, proper gear (being in the right gear at the right speed at the right time), shifting (not missing a shift, grinding gears, clashing gears), and rollbacks (just that rolling backwards from a stop, rolling backwards more than 24" is a automatic fail). We are also tested on making 4 right and 4 left hand turns, Stopping and crossing intersections, driving in Urban and rural areas, knowing bridge weights and overpass heights and clearances, driving around curves, railroad crossings, expressway driving, roadside stop/start, driving on mountain grades (as we don't have a mountain nearby, we have to tell the instructor step by step what we would do if we were going up and down a mountain grade) as well as our general driving behavior.
The 3 items that will constitute and automatic fail are:
Accident-Involved in any accident the driver could have prevented or contacts ANY fixed object or pedestrian.
Dangerous Act- Driver almost causes an accident. This includes forcing someone else to take immediate action, examiner had to take action to avoid and accident, backing up because he/she took a turn too short, drives over a curb in an uncontrolled manner, not checking traffic and not slowing down when going through an uncontrolled intersection, rolls back more than 24 inches, or having both hands off the steering wheel for an extended period of time.
Law Violations- Violation ANY traffic law. This includes, but is not limited to, speeding, failing to stop for a stop sign or traffic signal, making one turn entirely from the wrong lane, turning into the wrong lane (two times) at the completion of a turn.

So that is the CDL test, ohhh yea, there are approximately 300 areas to get points taken away, multiple infractions (like not doing "proper" traffic checks nearly all the time) that meet or exceed 5 will be doubled after 5. So if you got 5 points taken off for traffic checks you get docked 5 points for that plus another 5 points for a total of 10 points just in that one area.
Ooops, almost forgot, you can only get 25 points or you fail. Boy do I need allot more practice before I even consider taking that test.

Yesterday I had another road test that didn't go as well as I had hoped. It seemed like I improved in one area yet everything else that I did good on the day before went right out the window. And yes, I am being overly hard on myself. It is just frustrating to get so far, only to realize you have so much further to go and that just when you thought you were really getting it all down pat, the reality hits you like a ton of bricks that No, NO you don't! Ohhh Well, that is why I am in school, to learn.

As I mentioned yesterday, we have all next week off till the following Wensday. At first I wasn't to thrilled about that, but now I am thankful. Gives my poor brain a chance to rest a bit, the body time to catch up on lost sleep, and get some other things taken care of.
One of those things is my Veterans Retraining Grant. I finally received a letter about it, and it says that my tax return that I provided does not prove that I was self-employed. WTF!! It says RIGHT ON IT that I was. Damn people must be blind! And of course when I tried to call today to get this straighted out EVERYONE that has anything to do with the VA all took the day off, literally! When I called the local and the regional offices I was informed that NO ONE came in to work today! SOAB, figures, when I need something done everyone decides to take the day off work, but be damned if they want to talk to me I had better make sure I am home to take their call or I can forget about them doing anything for at least a few weeks. OK, I am done ranting, but anyway, I will just have to call them on Monday and try and get everything straighted out. If I don't get that money VERY soon, well lets just say things are going to get real interesting around here, like no lights, no phone, no car (already almost a month behind), no apartment, yea you get the idea.

So I going to end this mile long post, and will continue the recap of what I have learned the past 3 weeks tomorrow. See ya then!