Training #20: One step foward, one step back, one step forward

Today was an experience in frustration. I got out onto the yard and did everything for the first time today... and, after the first time, where I learned where to do everything, I started nailing it time after time. I hit four in a row before I went out onto the road... and promptly started to suck. I was missing gears, missing turns, and stalled the truck coming back into the yard. Thankfully, we took lunch, but when we came back, I was doing badly again. The maneuvers I'd nailed all morning I couldn't hit to save my life and had a very hard time correcting. I got slightly better after two or three passes, but I still kept making mistakes.

Finally, at the end of the afternoon, the other instructor took me out on the road and explained every single thing that I was doing wrong and showed me exactly how to fix it all. After he showed me a simpler way of keeping track of gears, I nailed every single shift I had to make for the rest of the trip. I went easily from second to eighth gear, one or two at a time, and back down just as smoothly. We took some tight turns, and though I came a little close, I made them. The shifting technique was very simple, too... when upshifting, start at 1300 on the low side (5th or lower) or 1600 on the high side (6th or higher), just as before. Let the RPMs drop 300 for one gear or 600 for two. The same as before, right? Well, he pointed out one more thing: add 200 RPM if going uphill (to 1500/1800) and subtract 200 RPM going downhill (1100/1400). Also, to simplify downshifting, don't try to bump-and-run by four or five gears at a time, but instead shift only two at a time by starting at 1000 for one downshift, 700 for two, and adding or subtracting for a hill. That does mean that, on a downhill, you're nearly stalling out at 500 RPM, but as long as you bump the RPMs back up it's not too hard. It's much easier, now that I had someone finally take the time to explain everything in detail.

In any case, tomorrow morning at 6AM, I'll be doing a pre-trip inspection and receiving a grade for it. As I mentioned previously, in Florida, there are 104 items to check and naming 83 is passing. However, to be confident in us, the instructors here expect us to get 95 or better. I'm pretty sure I can do that, but before I head to bed this evening, I'm going out to the truck and taking a run at it on my own. Then, once everyone's finished one pre-trip, we'll take a break for breakfast, then spend the rest of the day drilling on maneuvers and driving again and again until all of us can pass the Florida test. Tuesday morning, we'll head down to Marianna, FL to take the test; once I receive my license, I'm free to go where I want while waiting for my training engineer. This afternoon's driving did wonders for my confidence.