Almost There...

Who would've thought that getting a CDL would be this hard????

Hubby at the wheel of a school truck

Before we made this decision, we talked to several truckers and did our research. We heard a lot about different companies, training programs, driving in multiple states, and anxiety on your first solo run. We had no idea that actually obtaining a CDL would prove a little challenging.

In the great state of Indiana, the commercial drivers license test is comprised of three parts:

Demonstrating parallel park

1. The pre-trip inspection, involving naming over 100 parts of the truck, trailer, and inside the cab, and informing the examiner what should be checked on each of those parts to ensure safe operation of the vehicle, as well as actually checking the function of key parts like the brake system.

2. The skills test, which means three backing maneuvers: a straight line back up, an off-set back up to the right side, and a parallel park. These three maneuvers are boxed by lines with cones over them. Touching any of these lines or their cones, or pulling ahead too many times, mean points against you; too many points, or getting out of the truck too many times, means you fail.

3. The road test. If you get this far, you're still not in the clear because simply hitting a curb or taking both of your hands off the wheel are automatic fails. Shifting on railroad tracks, driving a mile faster than the speed limit in a school zone, or impeding traffic are also automatic fails. Points against you can be given for grinding gears, crossing lines, turning to wide or too narrow, driving too fast or too slow, or any other issues.

Keep in mind that at this point, we have been in school for 3 weeks. We have each driven between a half hour and an hour most days of the 2nd and 3rd weeks, logging about 4-5 hours of driving time altogether. We have spent several more hours on the practice range in the school parking lot learning the backing maneuvers, and practicing the pre-trip inspection and brake check on school trucks. It's not a lot of time to learn everything needed to pass the test.

Honestly, we both failed the test the first time around. Don did not fail through any fault of his own - the truck broke down at an intersection and he was unable to complete the test. Me...well I failed the parallel backing - mostly because I was nervous and set up incorrectly, then got frustrated and upset when I couldn't get it in the box.

Don took his test again two days later and passed with flying colors! Half of the Davis team now has a CDL. I will re-take the test on Tuesday. Believe me, I have been busting my butt on the practice range, figuring out what I did wrong and how to make sure it does not happen again. I am nervous about the re-test but strangely not as nervous as the first time I took it. Please keep us in prayer as we spend all our spare time this week getting everything packed and put in storage! The adventure is about to begin...

It's hard to tell, but I'm smiling...