The Long Way

I think the point of this post will be to communicate the fact that it would probably be a good idea to take your CDL test in a place where you are comfortable driving. That place is probably not Phoenix. It can be very difficult getting around in a car much less a 72 foot-long car. If I had it to do over again I would probably pick a driving school somewhere that doesn’t have a very large automobile population. Like some place in remote Montana or maybe in south east Pennsylvania where the Amish people live??

That might not be realistic so I will have to continue here where I started. This was the end of day three leaving only two days driving with an instructor before the test next week. Today took us to Tucson again, that’s three straight trips in as many days. It’s kind of nice knowing where your going and all but I think that we need a little more city driving (I can’t believe I just wrote that). The interstate portion is really pretty easy and enjoyable its just getting to I-10 in Phoenix and Tucson that’s frustrating! Why is everyone in such a hurry? Aren’t most people going to work? I could understand if I was holding you back from going on vacation or maybe speeding home to meet the lottery prize patrol….but you are going to work! Just get behind me and wait I’ll cover for you with your boss and you will be waiting if you are behind me because I can’t seem to find where I put 7th gear.

Speaking of which—shifting was much easier today, well up shifting is moving along fine but there is still some trouble with downshifting. I have got the turns down pretty well so that leaves the pre-trip inspection, 7step air-brake test and shifting as areas of concern for me this weekend. I'm not too worried about the skills portion because we spent all last week covering those maneuvers.

The guy I carpool with almost got in big trouble today during his city-driving portion as he left a gap on his right side as he was making a right turn and a car squeezed in but he caught him in the mirror before he added a rather large hood emblem to that other guy’s car!

It seems that tomorrow will bring a new instructor for our group as our current instructor is taking a few days off because of family business. Hopefully it will be someone suffering from laryngitis or maybe a former librarian. Shhhhhhh!

Category: General