You ask, “Do you think I’d be any good driving a truck?” and I’ll answer, “Can you take a joke?” If you can take a joke, we’ll go on with this discussion. If not, go home and forget it. You don’t have what it takes.

You need to be able to think on your feet, make quick decisions and know for yourself, what’s what. So take that attitude from the get-go.

You need to understand all road signs, be able to read a street sign (even in the dark) and you need to know what’s it’s like to haul around an extra 200 pounds on your own ass. That’s called remembering your size and how to manipulate it.

Now on to trucking school. Not that I agree with the need for those schools, but today it’s almost mandatory, so we’ll talk about it.

Don’t even go with a half assed attitude. Go with the intent of seeing that first paycheck, regardless of what it takes. Then you’re ready to start. If it’s too cold, forget about it. If it’s too hot, forget about it. If you’re the only female, forget about it. You’re there for a reason and a good one, or you wouldn’t be there. Am I right?

That first week or so, in the classroom is just like school and not so very different, except the subject. If you pay attention, ask questions when you need to and tend to business, you should be just fine.

Now onto the field. You feel a truck under you for the first time. So maybe you have it all wrong? Maybe it’s not bigger, you’re just smaller. Ya think? Hey, it’s just a truck. It’s not a train or a house, it’s just a truck. To put it in more precise terms, it’s a tractor.

This is your tool. This is going to be your best friend. Without it, you can’t do your job. Now first, get this into your head and you’ll be way ahead.

If all you did was drive a truck, you wouldn’t be making any money. The real job is hauling a trailer. You’d be better called a ‘trailer hauler’ than a ‘truck driver’ because all you’re doing is using a truck to do your real job = hauling a trailer.

So first, your tool. They are going to teach you double clutching. Don’t stare at that stick shift. Looking at it is not going to teach you a thing. Feel it, while watching where you’re going. So you jam gears a couple times. Feel it even closer. They will teach you to use the tachometer. Not a bad idea. ha Let that tack do your teaching and feel the gears. Just to help you out, when you look at the shifting diagram remember that those middle gears is where your stick will rest right in the middle. You actually have to push to the left or right to find the others. So if you get lost, pop into neutral and you’ll know where you are.

Learning the geers is an ‘inprint’ learning. You can stare at it all day and not know a thing. Practice, practice until it comes naturally.

Out on the backing field, if you don’t understand something – ask. If it’s just not getting into your head, inform the instructor. Let him know, you’ve missed a gear. If something happens and you don’t get a turn, make sure you do. Most likely there will be several students to a truck and you can get lost in the crowd. Don’t just expect the instructor to remember. Open your mouth. Good money is paying for this.

And just remember that while backing, everything you do in your car is the opposite for this truck and trailer combo.

I once helped a lady ‘get it’ by telling her to turn the wheel in the direction of the trailer, she wanted to see disappear.  Funny, the things that help sometimes.

Always remember you have brakes for lots of reasons. You don’t have to rush. While you’re learning, you can go 2′ and stop and think about the next move. It’s not going to kill anybody and remember, it’s your new career at stake.

Like I said, whatever it takes, between you and that first paycheck, will happen and you will like it. Right? Determination to go forward.