Crowder College

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Crowder College

Today was an awesome day. The day started with everyone having a lot of anxiety about how they were going to do and wondering whether they would be on a bus home before the end of the day. We left the hotel at 7:00 AM and taken to the college to a class room. We had a couple of quick classes. One was on shifting a 13 speed transmission and the other on logging. Of the fourteen people in class none had driven a 13 speed and most had very little knowledge of logging. Some had none. Most were getting pretty stressed by now. After the classes we had lunch at the college cafeteria paid for by CWTL and then to the driving range. We get three meals a day here on CWTL. This is some driving range. It is an old military base with roads everywhere that no one uses except the school. Lined up was a bunch of KenWorth T2000’s, old (2002-2004) CFI trucks. We had three instructors here. We had had two back at the class room. They went with each of us once around the course showing us how to up shift, down shift, and do gear recoveries then they let us go on our own. We switched off on three trucks driving till 5:00. We always have at least two in the truck in case we need to back excreta. By the end of the day the confidence level has risen tremendous and everyone believed that they would make it. Everyone was happy, working hard and having a good time.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to go out driving on a verbalization drive. What that means is that we talk the whole time we are driving about what is around us, what we see, potential hazards, road signs, excreta. It teaches us to get it into our mind instead of just seeing and forgetting it.

Thursday we are picked up at the hotel in the trucks at 3:30 AM to go driving down town on a night drive and then to breakfast at the college and then more driving.

Friday – Fun Day - We hit the skid pad. They have a large slick concrete pad that they flood with water. We practice skidding out and recovering from the skid. We are all excited about getting to do this.

Saturday driving test: Enough said for now.

Sunday: We do an obstacle course and finish by noon. We have the rest of the day off.

Monday: We go back to Con-Way for our finial orientation and to get with our trainers. We do 7500 miles with the trainer and we drive them all. The trainer does no driving but is their just to train us. After that we come back to get our own truck, KenWorth T600.

This is a great company. We have been treated really great here and the training that they give a new driver is second to none. I am excited about this opportunity to be here. Even if I were not to make it I would highly recommend to any student to come here. This week of training is something that will stay with me forever regardless of whom I might drive for but if I can make it I will be with CWTL.