So my first whole trip. My trainer had picked up a load on the way to pick me up Tuesday morning at the terminal and drove to just over CT line where we took our required 10 hour break. I took over from then on – York, PA to New Holland, PA – Amish country. Beautiful. Load of tobacco. First time backing to a dock to be loaded. Fairly easy going to there. Time to start drinking out of the fire hose.

We went back through York and I 83 to Baltimore and then I 95 through DC at rush hour and south to Nashville, NC. Went through about as bad as it gets traffic around Baltimore and the rest of Maryland due to several crashes. Dropped and picked up empty (that’s the usual routine, then the opposite at next pickup). Overnight there in NC. 460 miles and drove 10+ hours.

Wednesday morning we went to New Bern NC, picked up a load and headed north and spent the night in Martinsburg, WV. 499.6 miles, just missed my first 500 mile day.  It was very challenging driving US17 from Fredricksburg north at night. Heading downhill, with a load, into a turn, when I couldn’t see far enough to tell how sharp or gradual the turn was gave me a tough time. Headed to Shippensbug, PA in the morning, picked up another load in Carlisle, PA and home in the rain. So 1200 miles in three days.

Challenging. Lots to learn. It’s a lot harder to stay perfectly in your lane going downhill into a curve at 67 mph (governed speed) with 40,000 pounds pushing you faster and another semi only three feet away beside you than it was on two lane Route 10 at 45 mph in school!

One big thing CDL school did not teach at all is the backing maneuver that you do about 90% of the time. Not a slam, as DMV test requires three specific backing maneuvers, but not this one. In a yard or a truck stop to back between two other trucks or trailers, you are usually approaching right in front of the row of trucks perpendicular to them, pulling your cab just past the open spot, right turn until your tractor is 90 degrees, then left 45 degrees, then back toward the open box at that angle and hook into the spot. Completely different than offset but into the same width spot, only with hard objects on each side. Almost never enough space to set up able to see the truck or trailer on the blind side until you hook most of the way into the box. Takes several get-out-and-looks unless you have a spotter. Work in process.