DAY ONE is finally here. After getting to the motel lobby for the shuttle that is supposed to leave at 5:45am, we are told that US Truck Driving School (where I'm attending training) will send a bus that will be here at 6:10. Ok, not a problem. We rode to the school in a full-size tour bus that they use for bus driver training.
Not a bad trip. The music was good (oldies). We arrived at the USTDS school in Rialto, CA about 6:30am. Class didn't start until 7 so we had time to stand around and stare at each other like the strangers we were. There are 14 of us in class. Two women and 12 men. Three or four of us have either been to a school in the past or have some driving experience in the past.
Just before 7am, the instructor unlocked the door and we all filed in. We started the process to becoming a "truck driver." Paperwork, introductions, schedules, etc. After a couple of hours of that, he passed out our driver handbooks and started on Mechanical stuff. We spent two hours working our way through Mechanical Operations and Logging. We'll finish both of these up tomorrow...hopefully.
Off to the Operating Center for lunch. We are told that the Fontana Operating Center (OC) probably has the best cafeteria/catering contractors, compared to the other 10 OCs. That remains to be seen. Would you prefer grease, grease or grease with your grease? We tracked down the head honcho for training and received our little meal tickets. These are good for $5 worth of food (one coupon per visit per person) and we have enough to last us through the 11 days.
After an interesting lunch, we are introduced to our driver instructors. The school breaks the class down so that each instructor has two students in the truck. This makes for a lot of drive time. However, one of the instructors had been rear-ended (in his POV) that morning so we had to take one of his students. His other student went with another instructor. We were "taken" to an industrial park area directly under the flight path for Ontario International Airport. There we learned/relearned shifting and basic truck operations...sans trailer. I'm very happy that I remembered as much as I did and I didn't grind the gears much at all. (Very little, according to the instructor.)
Not a bad trip. The music was good (oldies). We arrived at the USTDS school in Rialto, CA about 6:30am. Class didn't start until 7 so we had time to stand around and stare at each other like the strangers we were. There are 14 of us in class. Two women and 12 men. Three or four of us have either been to a school in the past or have some driving experience in the past.
Just before 7am, the instructor unlocked the door and we all filed in. We started the process to becoming a "truck driver." Paperwork, introductions, schedules, etc. After a couple of hours of that, he passed out our driver handbooks and started on Mechanical stuff. We spent two hours working our way through Mechanical Operations and Logging. We'll finish both of these up tomorrow...hopefully.
Off to the Operating Center for lunch. We are told that the Fontana Operating Center (OC) probably has the best cafeteria/catering contractors, compared to the other 10 OCs. That remains to be seen. Would you prefer grease, grease or grease with your grease? We tracked down the head honcho for training and received our little meal tickets. These are good for $5 worth of food (one coupon per visit per person) and we have enough to last us through the 11 days.
After an interesting lunch, we are introduced to our driver instructors. The school breaks the class down so that each instructor has two students in the truck. This makes for a lot of drive time. However, one of the instructors had been rear-ended (in his POV) that morning so we had to take one of his students. His other student went with another instructor. We were "taken" to an industrial park area directly under the flight path for Ontario International Airport. There we learned/relearned shifting and basic truck operations...sans trailer. I'm very happy that I remembered as much as I did and I didn't grind the gears much at all. (Very little, according to the instructor.)
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