Friday, November 09, 2007

Trucking school update: Five days down, seven to go. I drove a lot today and yesterday. Trucks are a whole different beast when it comes to shifting. I'm starting to get the hang of it, finally. Backing up is tricky business, too, but I'm pretty sure I'll have that down before long. The thing that kills me, as I mentioned a couple days ago, is what's called the "pre-trip inspection," where you're required to know what every part on the tractor and trailer is and what it does and if it's damaged or not.

This amounts to hundreds of items: s cams, glad hands, sand pads, slack adjusters, wet tanks, bulkheads, torque rods, lock jaws, leaf springs, the pitman arm, the drag link, the kingpin, all the gauges on the instrument panel, all the filters, hoses, clamps, wheels, fan belts, all parts of the engine and drive line and braking system, all the steering components, the light circuitry, and also every last cotter pin, castle nut, and type of lubrication used to keep the thing rolling safely down the highway.

I hate that part very much.

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