Old guy new to trucking

I had orientation at company HQ Thursday, 2/2. It started off with a driving test, which I did not know about ahead of time. The tester apologized that he did not have the truck he expected and this one was so used. Compared to what I drove in CDL school it was like stepping from a ragged out old heap into a nearly new Caddy! This was my first time with an automatic transmission, which made the whole deal easy by comparison. After the test it was the usual onboarding stuff, which was nicely done. I was impressed with the organization of everything. I was the only new guy that day which streamlined the process. Beyond downloading all the apps needed on my phone the only training was on the Omnitracs system used for electronic logs and communication with dispatch. All well done.

My training officially started Monday, 2/6. My trainer got hung up in the northeast and we got together Wednesday afternoon, 2/9 for the first time. The rest of the day was spent at the terminal learning about the truck, some procedural stuff, pre-trip routine, etc. I went back home for the night since I live just thirty minutes away.

I was back at the terminal (Richmond, VA area) bright and early. My trainer was to do the driving the first few days, and as it turned out I was glad. We picked up a load in Richmond, taking our empty tailer to a remote lot for the shipper and picking up a loaded one.  I had only minimal exposure to coupling and uncoupling in CDL school, so this was my first real world go at it. Nothing particularly new except for bleeding the airbags to lower the fifth wheel for uncoupling. We headed to the Tidewater area to the consignee, in this case Amazon. Here I got my first take at the usual workflow. This consisted of showing paperwork at the guard shack and getting directions as to where to drop off the loaded trailer and pick up an empty one. Lots of little details. Checking of the seal on the load, the guard making sure we left empty, having the Bill of Lading signed, etc. Nothing difficult, but each step necessary.

Right away we encountered a hitch in the plans as the empty trailer had a flat that needed to be replaced. The company has an affiliated shop nearby so we actually were in and out very quickly, but it put us over an hour behind.

We then picked up a load not far away and headed for Connecticut. It was smooth sailing through most of Virginia but we hit the thick of traffic from DC on. This is where I was glad I wasn’t yet driving. The beltway around DC was as expected, then on to Baltimore and through the tunnel. From the NJ Turnpike on was awful, but I really wasn’t ready for the traffic and congestion across the GW bridge in New York and on through the Bronx – and I was just a passenger!

We spent the night north of the city. This was my first night of what will be our month-long PJ party. I have never slept in a bunk bed, let alone with another adult in such tight quarters, but slept okay in the small top bunk and was ready to roll in the morning.

We dropped off the load in Connecticut, picked up another in Rhode Island and headed back to Virginia. I took the wheel for the first time south of DC and drove the rest of the way to Richmond. It sure was different driving 67 mph (governed speed) on I-95 with traffic on one or both sides than it was driving on a 45 mph road with minimal in CDL school! Also my first time night driving. The hardest part was maintaining lane control. I certainly caused the lane departure warning to register its complaint more than I would like to admit. Planning and timing lane changes to avoid slowdowns was also challenging. We got back to the terminal after midnight, and I was happy to call it a day. Next week I will be doing all the driving. Stay tuned.