S1B1: Trucker Gal Diaries - False Start
Everything has a start and sometimes a false start. Originally written May 31st, 2020
On my way to that first trucking class, I remembered my parents teaching me to drive when I turned 16. We had a stick shift. I learned to drive in a Volkswagen bug. My father said, “Before you get your license, driving has to be like breathing.” My mother would take me out, teach me and then when I thought I was ready, Dad would take me out on the road and at the first un-smooth shift say, “Well, it’s not like breathing yet. You will have to keep working on it.” What that meant was having to beg my mother to take me out more. My father didn’t have the patience for watching or teaching a teenager to drive - but in our patriarchal home, he had the final say.
Now his words echo forward from my youthful past and I realize I’ll be learning some “New Shit”! Double Clutching with many more gears than a four-speed Volkswagen bug, and learning to maneuver a giant rig with a trailer into itty bitty little spots. My trucker friend told me that you’re basically paid to maneuver, “If you can’t maneuver, you’re useless”, and remembering my father’s words - it will need to be “just like breathing”. I find myself remembering the same feelings I had as a sixteen-year-old, learning something familiar yet new. Some of my friends registered surprise that I would even consider it. Those closest to me knew I had dreamt about this for years. BTW, seven percent of truck drivers are women – it’s a growing field for women. If you feel the urge, come on in!
I arrived at the school thirty minutes early, eager to get started. I didn’t want to be late for my first day. The parking lot was empty, except for one other car with a young gentleman that I assumed was another student. So I waited thinking, “I’m really early, no big deal.” 7:45 am rolls around and no one but the two of us was there. Then at last someone from the school showed up and she informed us that the governor had shut the state down for COVID-19 and the school would have to hold off for a week before re-opening. That week turned into a month-long lockdown.
But this Girl was not going to be detoured. I got to studying and went to the BMV and took my CDL learners permit - general knowledge, air brakes, and combo vehicles tests. I was confident, I had studied for two and a half weeks. Granted, there is a lot of knowledge one needs to drive one of these big rigs - far more than I had any idea of. Brakes – specifically air brakes are one of the most important things to know as a trucker. Knowing how to brake, how not to break, how to use engine braking, and how to use low gears in combination with air brakes is a matter of life and death! Who knew? There is some scary shit there!
I’m practicing up on my swearing as I’ve learned there is a whole other language in the trucking industry. LOL
I went to the BMV that was only open for CDL testing and I took the three tests. General Knowledge – PASS, Combination Vehicles – PASS, Airbrakes - I Fucking Failed the air brakes test! The one I had not reviewed that morning thinking I had it down. I went home and studied more. I began to really understand the whole air brakes thing, spring brakes, emergency brakes, engine brakes, stab braking, etc. I watched the air brakes and spring brakes portion of a YouTube Video by Robert (Bob) Sherman on the pre-trip inspection test multiple times and I went back to the BMV the next day to take the air brakes test over again. Aced it! Kind of pissed me off that once I had answered enough questions to the point where I could not fail the test, I was not allowed to finish answering because I had passed. Damn it! I wanted to ace it completely. But I guess it’s simply a pass-fail thing. To be honest, I did miss one question out of the first 25 questions.