Hey Richie, try to find out the route that the road test will follow( ask someone who has done it) . and then follow the route in your own car to get familiar with it. If you know for certain which model truck you will be using on the roadtest, hop into one (hopefully an orphan that no steady driver is on) in the yard and practice shifting, that is the pattern for that particular model, there is usually a diagram in sight somewhere on dashboard showing the shifting pattern. You don't need the key to do this, use the clutch and shift until you are familiar with the pattern. But since you have a friend in feeders, ask him a bunch of questions, because he can stop if he sees confusion in your eyes and explain things in a different way. Also, just watch what the tractor trailers do in the yard. Watch what they do to when they turn, back up etc. You can learn a lot from watching. Good luck on your road test and remember , your dmv evaluator might have a different idea of how a truck is driven than ups does. If you are driving and the evaluator says you should do this( and it contradicts what you learn) , my advise is to say "yes sir" and do it. To not follow his orders is going to have you fail the roadtest even if you did it the "right" way. Also, not everybody passes the first time and that is allright. Some people get real lucky and back trailer in one shot and some get unlucky and have a hard time doing it although in practice they were very good. Best of luck, -Win today, fight tomorrow (in other words prepare) Let us know how it turns out.
