(NA) CDL

Greg Bockelman

Greg Bockelman

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Greg Bockelman
Yesterday I got my Class A Commercial Driver's License. In a nutshell, it means I can drive a Semi. It is basically a "Bucket List" sort of thing. Although, my objective was and is to haul grain for the farmers. No real desire to do any sort of long haul stuff.

Anyway, it is another arrow in the quiver if this flying thing does not work out. :D
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Yesterday I got my Class A Commercial Driver's License. In a nutshell, it means I can drive a Semi. It is basically a "Bucket List" sort of thing. Although, my objective was and is to haul grain for the farmers. No real desire to do any sort of long haul stuff.

Anyway, it is another arrow in the quiver if this flying thing does not work out. :D
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You know something about United you're not telling?:D
 
Congrats, Greg!

So, how'd ya do it? Something tells me you didn't go to a CDL driving school... Find a friend?
 
I owned an operated a semi with reefer running mid-west to west coast for a few years in the late 70s. In terms of financial security, especially given the volatility of oil prices, being a truck driver is right up there with flying checks and chicks.
 
jnmeade said:
I owned an operated a semi with reefer running mid-west to west coast for a few years in the late 70s. In terms of financial security, especially given the volatility of oil prices, being a truck driver is right up there with flying checks and chicks.
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These days, it's all about being a company driver. Most places pay $0.90-$1.25/mile to their owner-operators now, and pay for their licenses if they haul enough stuff. But when I looked at becoming an O/O - About 7 years ago, before fuel prices went nuts - Already, me plus fuel cost the company $0.90/mile. So, where's the money to buy and maintain the truck gonna come from? Oh yeah... ME. :nono:
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Yesterday I got my Class A Commercial Driver's License. In a nutshell, it means I can drive a Semi. It is basically a "Bucket List" sort of thing. Although, my objective was and is to haul grain for the farmers. No real desire to do any sort of long haul stuff.

Anyway, it is another arrow in the quiver if this flying thing does not work out. :D
Click to expand...

Congrats... I had my Class B CDL for many years.. and went a round-about way of getting it.

I started driving fire trucks as a volunteer FF when I was 18... and had to get a class B for that.. We were CDL exempt, but in theory had to still take the road test.

I showed up, with the fire truck, and they never even made me take the road test (guess it was because I was FF.. this was when the state troopers still did those tests)... So paid my money and took my CDL home.

Some time later, while expanding my career options as a paramedic, I began working for this safety supply company that did industrial life safety support. So I would haul trailers full of compressed air - horse trailers with 20-30 M Cylinders in them. That required a CDL because of the haz mat (compressed gas) endorsement, but only a Class C..

I talked with the state.. there was no way to have Class C CDL with a class B CDL exempt on it.. so... Again.. I took the fire truck down to the DLO having scheduled a CDL practical exam. And again I showed up and ended up getting issued my upgraded license without ever having taken a CDL road test or having done a CDL "walk around".

That was back around 94-95 or so.. I kept the CDL up for a few more cycles.. but now that I've been in nursing, and its such an open field with so many things to do, I felt safe letting that expensive CDL renewal go.

I still have the class B.. and have to sign a CDL exempt form every renewal... But havent driven a fire truck in 13 years..
 
Doggtyred said:
That was back around 94-95 or so.. I kept the CDL up for a few more cycles.. but now that I've been in nursing, and its such an open field with so many things to do, I felt safe letting that expensive CDL renewal go.

I still have the class B.. and have to sign a CDL exempt form every renewal... But havent driven a fire truck in 13 years..
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You mean "hazmat" in the first paragraph? (You let the CDL renewal go, but you still have the class B?) I let mine go too.

I actually started as a volunteer bus driver for a drum and bugle corps. Class B, P endorsement. Added the class A and became transportation manager. Tried to get a local job, everyone needed endorsements of some sort, so I added 'em all except school bus. ABCD-PNHT. 20 bucks each. $64 renewal every 8 years, not bad at all... But when it came time for renewal (and the required written re-test for the hazmat) I hadn't studied the book, didn't feel like wasting the time for the test (and the DMV was about to close), I was working at a company that didn't do hazmat, and so I decided to let it go.

So, I still have ABCD-PNT and I'm glad to not be using it right now. :D
 
I started out hauling 700 gallons of JetA and xxx gallons of pesticides with a 1-ton pickup and 35' goose-neck trailer when running ground-crew for a cropduster. Surprisingly enough, the part that required me to get a CDL was the fact that our water tank on the trailer was over 1,000 gallons, so I needed a tanker-endorsed CDL. I ended up getting the HazMat while I was at it, because there was a chance that we would carry insecticides in reportable quantities.

It was like pulling teeth trying to explain to the DMV folks that I only needed a Class 'C' (because it was a pickup truck) but still needed a tanker. They went as far as to pull out a book with pictures of the different combinations of vehicles - semi pulling dry trailer, semi pulling tanker, pickup pulling dry trailer, etc. They pointed at the semi and said "See, you need a Class A!". I pointed at the drawing of a pickup pulling a water trailer at the bottom of the page and said "NO! See, I need a class C!". The lady slammed the book and went back into her office. Luckily, the desk jockey that I dealt with was not the one that gave me my driving test (which I took in my personal pickup).

After the cropduster job, I went to running ground application equipment. For that job, our 'nurse' rigs were semi's, so I had to 'upgrade' to a Class A.

After that job, I worked part-time as a bus driver for the city transit system, so I ended up with Class B w/ pax endorsement.

At one point, I had my PP-ASEL-IA + medical, CDL-ABC-Tanker/HazMat + medical, and Commercial Applicator's License (pesticides) with Insecticide, Herbicide, and Fungicide endorsements. I didn't have room in my wallet for money because of all the paper/plastic endorsements I had to keep handy (?luckily? there wasn't much money to keep in there in the first place).

When I got my GA driver's license last year, I kept the Class A/B w/ Tanker, but let the HazMat lapse. You never know when someone will need a load of beer hauled across the country in 2 days... ;)
 
CJones said:
You never know when someone will need a load of beer hauled across the country in 2 days... ;)
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...East bound and down... lol

I still keep my B w/ Pax and School bus, even though I haven't driven the bus in a few years. I too started out with Fire Apparati around 17/18 yrs old, but never had to even do the "official" road test for CDL with them.
 
CJones said:
You never know when someone will need a load of beer hauled across the country in 2 days... ;)
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"The boys are thirsty in Atlanta, and there's beer in Texarkana, we'll get it there no matter what it takes..." (but if that takes you 2 days, you're slow. ;))

 
Both you guys were slow. Post #10 already made the SatB reference.
 
That's cool Greg! Congratulations. I've thought about doing the same thing. No particular reason. Just to drive a big rig.

It would be kinda funny to buy an old Peterbuilt or some-such to cart the kids to school in it. All the soccer moms in their Yukon Denalis and the hedge fund daddys in their Porsches would gaze in shock and awe!
 
flyersfan31 said:
That's cool Greg! Congratulations. I've thought about doing the same thing. No particular reason. Just to drive a big rig.

It would be kinda funny to buy an old Peterbuilt or some-such to cart the kids to school in it. All the soccer moms in their Yukon Denalis and the hedge fund daddys in their Porsches would gaze in shock and awe!
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It would certainly make you stand out in your neighborhood.

Of course, I've though of doing similar. But my Excursion is big enough, and I don't have any kids to cart to school. ;)
 
I think a down-sized hot rod rat rod big rig would be an awesome cruiser!

0711dp+big_rig_rat_rod+medium.jpg
 
denverpilot said:
I can't decide if that thing having Colorado plates is awesome or embarrassing. ;)
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Awesome. Definitely awesome.

'Course, he's probably from that substantial part of Colorado which was, originally, part of Texas.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
"The boys are thirsty in Atlanta, and there's beer in Texarkana, we'll get it there no matter what it takes..." (but if that takes you 2 days, you're slow. ;))

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LOL!!!! One of my favorites! I got my CDL years ago and
spent some time pulling dump trailers and gasoline tankers.
 
I got my Class B with pass end about 15 years ago one summer when I was unemployed for a few months. I was thinking about applying to drive Busses for the Fire Fighters during the fire season. I had been driving the Farm Trucks since I was 15. Drove 5 and 20 Ton dump trucks for the army regularly and of course was flying somewhat regularly. I found the pre-operation inspection odd for the CDL test, because it was the only large vehical I operated that they required you to memorize the inspection. All Army vehicals and of course aircraft had written checklist for it.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
brcase said:
I found the pre-operation inspection odd for the CDL test, because it was the only large vehical I operated that they required you to memorize the inspection. All Army vehicals and of course aircraft had written checklist for it.
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At least here in Wisconsin, you are allowed to use a checklist for the pre-trip inspection on your road test.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
At least here in Wisconsin, you are allowed to use a checklist for the pre-trip inspection on your road test.
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Same in Iowa.

Just go down the checklist item by item, put your hand on or point to the item and say:

"[Item 1], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
"[Item 2], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
"[Item 3], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
....

It's interesting that the lady that did my road test for my Class A didn't have a Class A herself. So exactly how is she supposed to know how to drive a semi if she's never actually done it? She actually told me that I should leave the truck in gear when sitting at a light, so I could "Quickly move out of the way if I saw an emergency vehicle approaching". Uhhh.. Yeah.. Because 80,000lbs and 70' are easy to just 'pull onto the sidewalk.'

Your gov't in action!
 
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CJones said:
Same in Iowa.

Just go down the checklist item by item, put your hand on or point to the item and say:

"[Item 1], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
"[Item 2], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
"[Item 3], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
....

It's interesting that the lady that did my road test for my Class A didn't have a Class A herself. So exactly how is she supposed to know how to drive a semi if she's never actually done it? She actually told me that I should leave the truck in gear when sitting at a light, so I could "Quickly move out of the way if I saw an emergency vehicle approaching". Uhhh.. Yeah.. Because 80,000lbs and 70' are easy to just 'pull onto the sidewalk.'

Your gov't in action!
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i think of you every time i coast to a red light with the clutch in and the shifter in neutral in the subaru
 
CJones said:
It's interesting that the lady that did my road test for my Class A didn't have a Class A herself. So exactly how is she supposed to know how to drive a semi if she's never actually done it? She actually told me that I should leave the truck in gear when sitting at a light, so I could "Quickly move out of the way if I saw an emergency vehicle approaching". Uhhh.. Yeah.. Because 80,000lbs and 70' are easy to just 'pull onto the sidewalk.'

Your gov't in action!
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Guess they don't know what a carrier bearing is or have to pay to replace it...
 
CJones said:
It's interesting that the lady that did my road test for my Class A didn't have a Class A herself. So exactly how is she supposed to know how to drive a semi if she's never actually done it? She actually told me that I should leave the truck in gear when sitting at a light, so I could "Quickly move out of the way if I saw an emergency vehicle approaching". Uhhh.. Yeah.. Because 80,000lbs and 70' are easy to just 'pull onto the sidewalk.'

Your gov't in action!
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Yeah. How 'bout them clutch bearings? Not to mention your left leg wearing out, at which point you'll move your 80,000 pounds right into the car in front of you when it gives out. ;)

Ugh... I don't miss the bad old days of driving a stick-shift semi in Chicago traffic. I'd get out and not be able to walk straight. :crazy:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
At least here in Wisconsin, you are allowed to use a checklist for the pre-trip inspection on your road test.
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I was expecting to have to do a full blown pre trip inspection. All the lady wanted was what was on the card. Made it rather easy, IMO.
 
CJones said:
Same in Iowa.

Just go down the checklist item by item, put your hand on or point to the item and say:

"[Item 1], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
"[Item 2], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
"[Item 3], I am checking for looseness, cracks, leaks."
....
Click to expand...

I didn't get to use a checklist here in Jersey, but the folks I worked for told me the PTI was the big pass/fail for most, which I took as "Learn PTI." The day of the test, the examiner was clearly irritated how long it took to get not even halfway around the bus, and said "Ok ok already, get in lets go."
Piece of cake, but a checklist would certainly have helped jitters.
 
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