Monday, January 09, 2006
The day off was nice...
...but I had to get back to training. Two days in a row with out any serious driving makes one forget things...LIKE CORNERING! I did something today that I was so proud of not doing for the duration of my course...I RAN OVER A CURB!!! Twice, even! Grrrrr! You know what? It's an automatic fail if you run over a curb, or anything else for that matter; curbs, pylons, shitzus! It doesn't matter! You fail! So I got a little flusterred today, but when we got back to the yard, I proceeded to do my back-ups, straight line, driver's side and blind side, and they went well. As if I had been doing them for months. Yay me! For those of you who don't know what these are, and I checked the net for pictures and couldn't really find them, here's a brief overview of each type of backing:
1. Straight line backing - backing up in a straight line....DUUUUUUUH! Easy right? Wrong! You're 53ft long, man! Any little bump in the road makes your trailer want to go places that you don't want it to go. Like, for instance, to 7-11 when you want to go to Mac's.
2. Driver's side backing - this is used to dock into a docking bay when not being able to approach the bay from a straight line (see 1.). Therefore, you approch at an angle with the driver's side closest to the target area, steering the truck in the with this is mind: the trailer will go in the opposite direction you steer. This is the penultimate square peg in a round whole except it actually works. Everything is done via the driver's side mirrors, and no mistakes are allowed. That stuff's expensive!
3. Blind side backing - it is exactly like 2. except you have lost the advantage of most of your sight. You are approaching with the passenger's side closer to the target area, and you, like all other back-ups, blast the horn to warn every one that several tonnes of equepment are heading their way, and the driver has little chance of seeing you if you don't move.
Those are the back-ups! No, they're not easy! They just get easier, that's all.
So, now for some interesting news. I was dropped off by one of the other students. His name is Warren, and we sort of buddy up. He come's for the ride along to watch me make mistakes and I go with him to see the interesting shade of green he turns when he gets behind the wheel. Driving Mabel get's him so nervous that he is almost physically ill. So he drops me off today, and just before he does, he tells me that while I was unhooking the trailer from Mabel to finish off the day that Willy told him that the trucking school had been sold and that Willy may not be there tomorrow. There may be a new instructor! What?!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Now that I have all of Willy's little idiosyncrasies built into my driving a new guy is going to come along an teach me his way? I HOPE NOT! I sure hope Willy's there in the morning! I only have a day and a half left of instructional.
Oh, boy!
1. Straight line backing - backing up in a straight line....DUUUUUUUH! Easy right? Wrong! You're 53ft long, man! Any little bump in the road makes your trailer want to go places that you don't want it to go. Like, for instance, to 7-11 when you want to go to Mac's.
2. Driver's side backing - this is used to dock into a docking bay when not being able to approach the bay from a straight line (see 1.). Therefore, you approch at an angle with the driver's side closest to the target area, steering the truck in the with this is mind: the trailer will go in the opposite direction you steer. This is the penultimate square peg in a round whole except it actually works. Everything is done via the driver's side mirrors, and no mistakes are allowed. That stuff's expensive!
3. Blind side backing - it is exactly like 2. except you have lost the advantage of most of your sight. You are approaching with the passenger's side closer to the target area, and you, like all other back-ups, blast the horn to warn every one that several tonnes of equepment are heading their way, and the driver has little chance of seeing you if you don't move.
Those are the back-ups! No, they're not easy! They just get easier, that's all.
So, now for some interesting news. I was dropped off by one of the other students. His name is Warren, and we sort of buddy up. He come's for the ride along to watch me make mistakes and I go with him to see the interesting shade of green he turns when he gets behind the wheel. Driving Mabel get's him so nervous that he is almost physically ill. So he drops me off today, and just before he does, he tells me that while I was unhooking the trailer from Mabel to finish off the day that Willy told him that the trucking school had been sold and that Willy may not be there tomorrow. There may be a new instructor! What?!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Now that I have all of Willy's little idiosyncrasies built into my driving a new guy is going to come along an teach me his way? I HOPE NOT! I sure hope Willy's there in the morning! I only have a day and a half left of instructional.
Oh, boy!
