Saturday, 1PM: This ... sucks. There's really no other way of putting it. We're at an operating center that doesn't have any kind of Internet access at all, and we won't have another load until 7AM tomorrow, giving me lots of extra time and almost nothing to do with it. Driving up here was rather uneventful, though I can understand the hatred some of the locals have for PennDOT, since we spent more time in construction than on open roads. Unless something special happens, though, I've sixteen hours and almost nothing to fill that time with.
Saturday, 8PM: Well, since I can now be absolutely certain that I can't post this until well after we deliver the load, I'm going to start typing in details. We're at the Mahoopeny, PA "operating center" for the night. I put OC in quotes because this place is nothing more than a trailer with truck parking. At 8AM, we're going to a yard just up the road to pick up a trailer, then driving down into Stuart Mills, VA to drop it. We'll be staying the night tomorrow at a Pilot truck stop just up the road from there, at I-81 exit 213. In the time that we've been waiting here, I've finished the written part of the SQT (Skills Qualification Test), done a trip plan for tomorrow, and rode with the trainer down to Wal-Mart in the truck to pick up a few items. A few people did a double-take when they saw the tractor pulling into the lot. :)
During dinner, we talked about things. The only problems I have are my lane control and backing. Backing is quite simply a problem because I haven't done it done, so that's obvious. But for some reason, I'm still having a hard time keeping the truck centered; it has a tendency to drift one way or the other. Now, I don't drift when there are cars next to me - I'm conscious enough of where other vehicles are to not get too close to them - but when I'm not right next to someone I somehow keep going over one line or the other. It's not consistent, either; sometimes I'll go 20 miles without a problem, while other times I'll be struggling just to hold the thing on the road. While I am fairly sure that the truck is pulling slightly to the right, my car does the same thing and I've never had this much of a problem with it. Though, on the other hand, the truck is eight feet wide and lanes are only 10 to 12 feet wide, giving me a much smaller margin of error than I have in the Nissan. I have to figure out what the problem is and stop doing it or I'm not going to pass the test. It's really that simple. x_x
Sunday, 7PM: I wish I had some good news here. Instead, though, I just keep getting worse and worse. Today, twice, I came rather close to hitting another vehicle. Now, one was not my fault, despite what the instructor says; because of the way he was sitting, I could not see another vehicle in my mirror as I was trying to change lanes. But the other one was, and it was not a lane change; I was in the left lane going around a curve and went too far to the right.
So, instead of continuing on and being within a few days of getting my own truck, I'll probably be kicked back to Charlotte tomorrow and have to take a basic skills test, focusing heavily on lane control. If I pass, I'll be given a couple hours of coaching specifically on that problem and get assigned another training engineer for my second week of training, such that I have one last chance. If not, then I'm fired. I'm already down to my last chance with this job. I can't afford to lose it...
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