Turning Tightly

DATELINE: VAN BUREN, AR, 5:20 p.m. CDT

Today I finished the training portion of my Driver Skills Development course here at company HQ. First thing tomorrow morning I take my road test then, assuming I pass that, I'll get a new load assignment and hit the road again. (In case you're wondering, I do get training pay while cooped up here. So I'm not losing income while not hauling loads.)

The training the past 2 days has just been me and another driver driving around the area with an instructor, being taught and practicing techniques for making turns in tight streets. Yesterday morning we went to a nearby abandoned Army base and drove up and down its tiny, narrow streets between the rows of barracks. The narrow streets, all parallel to each other, were maybe wide enough for 2 compact cars to squeeze by each other. The adjoining streets on either end of the blocks were a bit wider, or else there's no way any truck with a 53-foot trailer was going to negotiate them. To make things even scarier, along the sides of the streets were drainage ditches. Make a turn wrong and you'd drop the trailer's wheels into the ditch, leaving you stuck and in need of a tow. So concentration levels were high. But nobody messed up and we're still USA Truck employees.

Tonight I think I'll take advantage of the free laundry facilities here and spend some turn-my-mind-off time watching whatever's on TV in the drivers' lounge while my laundry churns. It's been very warm and humid here the last 2 days, so it's best to stay either in the truck with the engine idling and AC running, or in the lounge in its air-conditioned comfort. (Besides, the lounge has wonderful, huge, leather recliners to relax in.)

That's the scoop for now. Gimme some commentary about how you like this blog, and ask any question(s) you may have about life on the road. Thanks for following my continuing saga, and keep on truckin'.