Even on Super Bowl Sunday, I work

Today is Sunday, February 5, 2012, and it is Super Bowl Sunday, so you might think I would give myself a day off to relax and enjoy something. But no. I just returned from spending a couple of hours doing a pretrip inspection, or PTI, on the tractor and trailer in the West Michigan CDL parking lot because nobody is there, the weather is wonderful - 42 degrees and sunny - and the only deficiency I have found in training so far is the instructors did not do a step-by-step, item-by-item PTI early in the week. For those of us who didn't tear cars apart and rebuild them as teenagers, learning the difference between the air conditioning compressor and the air compressor and water pump is challenging, especially since the engine compartment of a commercial motor vehicle is packed with large, sturdy pieces of metal, hoses, and electrical wiring.

Fortunately, there is YouTube and there are examples from other CDL schools that point out each item, so I spent time doing that then validating the pieces on our own equipment.

I also have a take-home test to complete and must spend some time visualizing the shift pattern of this 10-speed transmission, especially downshifting and shifting from 7th to 5th, the turning gear. As I have written, this whole truck driving experience is very complex and I'm having a bit of difficulty managing the myriad tasks that come quickly to me when I am:

• Planning far enough ahead to make that turn up there, while
• Getting into the right lane to turn without hitting the curb and without leaving enough room for a 4-wheeler to squeeze to my right (which almost happened once, which is a VERY exciting experience, I can tell you) while
• Slowing down well ahead of the stop line, and
• Downshifting from 8th or 9th to 7th 
• So I can be in 5th gear before the turn.
• If the light stays green,
• I must be in 5th before the turn, so I can
• Make the right turn at a very slow speed, while
• Driving as far as I can into the left or on-coming traffic lane, so I can
• Complete the turn without hitting anything or running the rear tandems of the trailer over the curb.
• Oh. And I must remember to put the right blinker on and turn it off. A truck blinker is not automatic.

So, dear reader, the next time you make a right turn in your 4-wheeler, think about the myriad tasks you are completing without consciously thinking about any of them - you just do each of them to perfection and adjust to anything out of the ordinary, also without consciously thinking about it. If you can, try to remember what you were like when you were learning to drive and making right turns was not a natural, well-practived task. That is where I am in truck driving.

Then again, I have only been at it for one week and I have two more. I am pleased with my progress, dear reader, and thank YOU for reading and staying with me.