Training Week 2 and 3

Indiana corn fields

We are done with Weeks 2 and 3! I have been from South Carolina to Maryland, and Wisconsin to Kentucky, and Don has been all the way out to California. It has been incredibly stressful, mostly because of everything besides driving. Driving is fun - construction zones, mountains, and bad weather are exhausting, and mechanical issues, miscommunications, and rude people make the job much more difficult. But when my honey and I are back together to deal with all the frustrations, it will be so much better.

The hardest part, of course, is being apart from each other. I miss my sweetheart so much it aches. But I am thankful for long phone calls, sweet text messages, and random selfies. I keep reminding myself that it's not permanent, it's only for a couple more weeks, it's so much better than deployment, it will be amazing when we're back together. And actually it has been good for us - it has helped us strengthen our communication and get back to the basics of our relationship. It has been a good thing...but we're both ready for it to be over.

Colorado trees beginning to change colors

As for our trainers, they are both very nice people. However, they are people who are used to working alone and doing things their own way. And of course some disagreements and misunderstandings are inevitable when two complete strangers are locked into a space the size of a walk-in closet and forced to work together. In addition, unlike most jobs, you can't go home at night and come back refreshed the next day. Sleeping in the berth certainly isn't uncomfortable, but if the other person makes any movement, the whole truck moves. Suffice to say that we are getting very, very ready to be out of training and back together.

Nebraska clouds

Once we have our own truck, we will be able to find our own way of doing things. We will be able to agree on where to place our belongings in the truck, and figure out a schedule that works for us. There will still be difficult days but at least we will be able to face them together.

In the meantime, we are simply doing our best to get through one day at a time. We have learned so much about trucking - picking up loads and delivering them, and everything in between. It's difficult right now, but in the long term it will be a good thing. We just have to make it till then!

Good morning!

It's a good day to have a good day. It's a new start, it's a precious gift, it's a good morning.

Training Week 1

Wow! It has been a crazy few days! I'm currently somewhere in Maryland, and Don is somewhere in Kansas. We met up with our trainers (whom, incidentally, are both very nice people!), and have been learning a lot every day.

Sunset in South Carolina

My first day, I experienced driving with and without a trailer, as well as with an empty and with a full trailer. I drove in rain and over hills, and saw the aftermath of 2 major vehicle accidents as well as witnessed a trailer drop (falling off the truck due to being improperly hooked up). I successfully picked up and/or delivered two loads over short distances and picked up a trailer for the next day before calling it a night.

My second day was even crazier - we had to wait most of the day for repairs to be made, then when we finally got rolling we ended up in terrible weather - lightning, rolling thunder, and torrential downpours, the kind that force you to drive 20 mph in a 70mph zone because you can't see the car in front of you! It finally cleared up near sunset and I got to experience some night driving before the weather turned nasty again. In a short period of time, there was so much water on the road and the lights were gleaming off of it in just the right way that I couldn't see where my lane lines were. To make it worse, my trailer tires were slipping in the water on the road. Let's just say I was a little stressed out! I called it a night and my trainer finished driving the load in, and we got it to its destination on time the next morning.

Don's driving so far hasn't been quite so bad, but he has spent more time waiting around for loads, or waiting to drop loads off due to paperwork errors (the company's fault, not his), or waiting around for the service department to come fix a flat tire! He too has experienced some bad weather and less than ideal driving conditions.

Clouds before the storm

Backing is still difficult for me but I'm getting better with daily practice. I've learned how to deal with hills, narrow roads, and bad directions! I've been cut off by cars as well as by other truck drivers, and nearly run off the road because of drivers not paying attention.

However, in the course of the last few days, we have seen some beautiful country. We've seen sunrises and sunsets, thunderstorms and rainbows. We've seen trees and lakes and clouds and flowers and people picnicking. And driving is fun. Driving down an open road, enjoying beautiful scenery and getting the job done is fun.

This training period is not easy. Being apart from each other is difficult. Learning the ins and outs and details of driving is stressful. But when we are back together, in our own truck, it will be worth it. Until then, we will "embrace the suck"* and stay positive. This isn't forever, this too shall pass. And then I'll be back with the love of my life, doing something that we enjoy and making money at the same time! Doesn't that sound great!


*military term meaning to deal with things you don't like and keep a good attitude

Hurry Up and Wait

Three days of orientation done, and we are OFFICIALLY HIRED!!!! Feels good to have a job again!

Now we are waiting to get on the road with our trainers. Once we are with our trainers, it will be 3-4 weeks of driving with them before we can upgrade to our own truck and be back together. Unfortunately, however, we are going into a holiday weekend and the majority of experienced drivers are taking home time right now. So now it's a waiting game, dealing with doing nothing, setting us back that much farther. It's frustrating right now.

Buuuuuuuut it will all be worth it when it's over and we're back together! So in the meantime, we enjoy a few more days together and try to relax before the real fun starts...

Get Ready, Get Set...

I passed the CDL test! We both got our CDLs - and we both passed the hazardous materials tests too, so now we each have the hazmat endorsement (which means more money).

Now that the tests are done, it's like a huge dark cloud hovering over us just left. Now we can focus on getting everything packed up and put in storage over the next few days. It's all the stress of moving, but almost worse because, instead of going from one house to another, we are putting everything in storage for the next few years.

A few days ago, we took a few photos together, just to commemorate the ending of this chapter in our lives and the beginning of the next. It's been a good chapter, full of memories... Now we're ready for the next chapter.

This weekend we are getting on a bus and heading to orientation with our new company. We will have a few days of orientation, then we will each go on the road with a trainer for a few weeks (about a month depending on how fast we get through the driving time). After that, we'll be back together, on our own, and in our own truck!

We're not looking forward to being apart for awhile, but it's a necessary step in the training process, and it's a short time in the grand scheme of things. And there are always phone calls, and pictures, and possibly even a weekend together somewhere in the process. And after that - well, after that, we never have to be apart again unless we choose to.

In fact, we'll literally be together the entire time. It's definitely going to test our relationship, and a lot of couples don't make it as a team because they can't deal with being crammed together, in the space of a walk-in closet, all day every day. However, we work well together as a team, and I'm confident that with a good deal of patience, love, and understanding, the building blocks of teamwork, we will be just fine. After all, when we first started out together, we lived in a tent (it's a long story). We've been through difficult times together and it always makes us stronger.

Here's to the next chapter in life. The adventure is beginning!

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...

One Week Down!

Whew... One week of driving training down, two weeks to go! It's been a stressful week but we have learned SO much.

Out to dinner to celebrate our first week

Unfortunately, I woke up with a head cold on Monday morning, which made me miserable for the first few days of class. Monday we spent the first half of the day filling out paperwork and then began learning from the CDL manual. Tuesday morning was more learning from the manual and quizzes on what we had learned. Then by Tuesday afternoon, we headed to the DMV to take the written tests for our driving permits! With three tests to take (general knowledge, air brakes, and combination vehicles), and less than two days of learning the information, it was a stressful time. But praise God, hubby and I both passed the tests and obtained our CDL permits.

First time driving a semi, and first time backing up!

The next few days have been continued classroom learning on things that we need to know before hitting the road - log books, hours of service limits, parts of the trucks and trailers, trip planning, map reading, turning safely, and a lot more information!

However, the thing most intimidating to me is learning to shift in a ten-speed manual transmission. Or maybe I should say...learning to shift in any manual transmission! Yeah, I've never driven a manual before...which meant I had a hard time understanding the concepts of shifting. Thankfully my sweet husband took the time to explain it all to me and reassure me that I would be able to pick it all up. My instructors were also patient with me and took me out in a bobtail (tractor without a trailer) to do laps around the parking lot practicing shifting.

Hubby smiling from the cab

We also got to start practicing straight backing yesterday - which is exactly what it sounds like, going backward and forward in a straight line within the confines of a very narrow lane of cones. For the next two weeks we will practice straight backing, offset backing (backing in a S-shape), and parallel parking. We will also be practicing the pre-trip inspection that must be done every time before driving a truck, since this is also on the CDL test. And finally we will get out on the road and actually drive!

We still have a long way to go, but we've already received offers from five different trucking companies. We've pretty sure we've narrowed it down to the one we want to hire on with, but please keep us in prayer as this is a big decision. In the meantime, please continue to keep us in prayer as we continue learning to drive!