School update: I am not the Menace of the Public Highway

[jmowreader]

This is the week of my truck driving school I learn to drive a tractor-trailer. We spent two days in the truck yard learning to steer and back the truck. Yesterday we went out by an oil field and practiced shifting--in the yard you put it in first and idle around; the yard isn't very big. Today we went to a congested industrial park and drove in traffic. So far I know how to make a right turn from a two-lane road onto a two-lane road that's got a car sitting at the stop sign and how to start a loaded truck on a hill--the two maneuvers that worried me the most. I also drove thirty miles on the Interstate, which is very easy--put it in top gear, run the engine at 1500rpm, then keep white lines in both fender mirrors and watch out for people trying to cut you off.

Next week I will get my CDL, and the week after that I go to Arkansas and start working.

[Dappleganger]

1. Congratulations and good luck.

And most of all, be safe!

[Critters2]

2. Oh, sure you are. Don't sell yourself short!

Congratulations!

[jmowreader]

3. Oh, trust me: I can pull out LOTS of Menaces of the Public Highway...

and many of those people already have CDLs.

[flvegan]

4. I can do that two-lane to two-lane maneuver.

Shame I run over the car each time.

No seriously, I have lots of respect for the big rig drivers. I can barely drive a car towing a boat trailer.

[jmowreader]

5. How to NOT run over the car every time...

This will work with your boat trailer too: put your left-side tires right against the stripe in the middle of the road. Put the car in the lowest gear you can muster. Drive very slowly until your front tires are in the middle of the lane you want to be in, and turn the wheel hard right. You'll go right in. (It does help to know where your front tires are--lots of people don't. On the Freightliner I'm learning in, if it looks like the front edge of your hood is aligned with the centerline on the road you're turning into, you're in the right place.)

[flvegan]

6. Yeah, but where's the fun in that?

Nah, I kid. Congrats on your new line of work, though!

[jmowreader]

7. What I learned today was even worse...

How to parallel park a 70-foot-long vehicle that bends in the middle. I did it, but it ain't easy.