Things I Learned in CDL School

It gets cold in Montana - when I arrived on Oct. 12th the temperature was in the teens! Burr!

Not all truckers swear and smoke -- besides myself I met two who didn't smoke and only one who didn't swear (and that doesn't include me who let out a four letter word when I knocked off the antenna of my instructor's truck on a tree limb.) I don't need to tell most of you that I'm not perfect by any means.

The majority of truckers are the nicest people you will ever meet.

The majority of truckers are generous, lean heavily to the political "right," don't suffer fools or stupid drivers well (stupid driver is anyone who is driving different than they are), and they seem to really enjoy EATING!

You can consistently grind all 10 gears at any time on any day - right up through the end of your 30 days of school and beyond!

It is still possible to get homesick when you are 56 years old.

The instructors at Watkins-Shepard are the best. They know their stuff and I am thankful for the patience of Dick and Kelby. Dick likes to affectionately call his students, "dumb a__" when they do something wrong and I told my daughter-in-law about it. The next day I got an email from my 5 year old granddaughter, Ashley, with the message, "Grandma, I'm praying that your teacher will quit calling you names." I laughed until I cried.

The Lord provided me with a fabulous friend to go through school with. Matt, a 27 year old guy from Colorado, became my buddy, study partner, encourager, and fellow Dairy Queen Moolatte addict. He set the bar high with his shifting and parking abilities, which actually encouraged me to try harder because of my competitive nature, but alas I am not the natural he is. We laughed a lot and it was nice to have someone to share the day-to-day tensions, weekly laundry task, grocery shopping, and belief and love of God. On our first day of class, the other short-term students gave Matt and I our new "handles" -- Tweety and Sylvester.

A 53' trailer is really, really, really LONG!

It takes a really, really, really large amount of space to turn a 53' trailer.

A 53' trailer doesn't always go where you think it will go -- bad trailer!

When your student trip is planned to go from Missoula to Los Angeles, remember that there are a lot of mountain passes between those two points and bring warm clothes so when your rig gets stopped in a snow storm and your instructor Kelby says to you that he's going to go to bed and you and Matt go out and chain up, you don't freeze!!

My husband is still my best friend and being with him on the road is worth it all.