Well, one half of a rig, that is.
My first day at tractor trailer school was spent in the schools parking lot (Andover Tractor Trailer School) with no trailer attached to the tractor. I think I remember 8-10 of us in class, me being the only female, as it was the winter of 1978-1979 and woman were just entering into to fields dominated by men. My trade school did its part to include us in some of those fields, just not the ones I was attracted to :)
We were instructed to first check out the equipment (pre-trip) per DOT regulations. Were the tires good, you know did they have plenty of tread and did they have the proper inflation or any defects, as tires are very important.
We checked our lights and had already learned in class that if there is a fixture it must work.
We were taught how to check our brakes and to adjust them as needed, as well as to always carry a 9/16 in wrench with us, you know all the times you cut off a trucker in your travels, well we needed brakes up to snuff to stop from killing you and even then, it is a crap shoot!
That 1st day I learned about my responsibility to all who traveled the road I was on as many did not follow the rules of the road and this was before cell phones were thrown into the mix, and it was scary even back 45 years ago.
After I was sure the truck was safe for me to drive, I hopped into the driver’s seat and learned about using a clutch and what the shifting pattern was for that particular transmission. My personal instructor sat in the passenger seat, and he didn’t even look scared lol then again, he was a very chill hippie, by the name of Joel.
I was taught by Joel day after day to double clutch and see how many gears I could get out of that rig in the length of the parking lot. You see after the first 5 shifts there was a button you pulled up on the shifter (called a splitter) and repeated the sequence for another 5 in a 10-speed tranny. Mind you I was lucky to grab 5 but out on the road all 10 were used constantly but that’s a story for another day.
My first day in the cab of the school’s truck had me hook, line and sinker!
I miss my rig.
Eunice
My First Day in a Rig
Daily writing prompt
Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.
Folsom Mill Studio/Eunice Miller 
So interesting, what a pioneer you were! I have a lot of respect (and a healthy dose of fear!) for truckers. You’re right about most folks having no clue what it is like to haul heavy loads, and at speed, inertia requires a long time to stop. A bit like a freight train or ocean liner.
Exactly, we were told in the school writing and safety part of the TT School that it was like a few sticks of dynamite going off when we hit someone at 55 mph.
Amazing! A most interesting facet of your life!
35+ years and over 3 million miles the stories are just plain crazy :)
Must have been a fabulous time back then, and I bet you had a lot of fun as well as working hard too. I’ve never even been in the cab of a big truck, but I think it would scare me to death!
Not scary unless you have to deal with bad drivers you would be amazed how much you see from up in the cab. It was very hard work but most days I laughed..
We were thinking today as many large lorries coming the other way passed on the road, how powerful it must feel to be behind the wheel of a large vehicle.
It truly is but the responsibility is heavy also.
Very good story. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by.