CDL is a commercial drivers license. Heavy on commercial In the US, a class A is pretty much any vehicle except a motorcycle. A 1-ton pickup and a gooseneck trailer can qualify here B is up to 26,001 lbs and any trailer that is over 10,000 lbs. some states are now having non-cdl versions of these licenses because of the size vehicles are becoming. Even pickups for regular people and their RV or toy haulers.
That's what I did too...used their truck/trailer to practice, they even paid for the test (it was their requirement to have the CDL...I had 6 months from hire date to get it...they required a CDL B, I wanted an A, while I was at it, they said no problem) That CDL school is probably what, $5-8k now? I think you have your license when your done though...probably why there is so many behind the wheel of the big rigs that can't back into a dock! I've heard of it so many times...rig pulls in, guy (girl) gets out and says "no backy...no backy!" in broken English
Here if you test in an auto you get limited to one. A friend has one I used to move some trailers around one day, I don’t ever want to drive another. It ain’t like driving a car that’s for sure. Big delay between letting off the brake and moving while you pour the fuel to it.
You can take a 1 ton with a trailer and get a CDL now, just no air brake endorsement unless you take it separately. Kind of a joke.
I think that’s Maine too. I got mine over 30 years ago, my uncle owned a trucking company and I hauled stuff local on the weekends. I was 17 when I got it. Bunker C fuel oil sucks in the cold!
The cost is at least 5K for a CDL. Getting mine was one of the best things I could have done for my career. Im no truck driver, I just drive a truck half the year at work. I've seen long haul drivers who cannot back to save their lives. They drive 500 miles and go to one location and back in. Or take out somebodys mirror backing into a spot at the truck stop. Whereas a city drive has to deal with the bs and riff raff and congestion are great at backing in.
It goes by weight and combination. A 72000 pound Tri axle is a class B license but a 26000 pound truck and trailer is a class A. Screwed up I know.
Guys here that work in the woods can drive and backup. They have no fear of ice. They are scared chitless of driving on the interstate. Then there’s the truck drivers, 2 snowflakes they find a truck stop and make sense of why they are called truck drivers and not truck backer uppers.
What gets me is the diesel pusher motor homes with the 87 year old running it cross country, no problem. A 25 year old with a 30,000 pound box truck better have every single piece of paper asked for before they even ask. Where is the problem with the laws?
baccy? I think doing a course is a not a bad idea idea, AS LONG AS its one that you will emerge from fully trained. If its a reputable school that will actually teach you everything and make sure you know it, both in classroom and actually in the truck, you won't get any better. The problem is, between bad teachers in either case, people who'll go a little too easy on you come test time, in either case, and people who'll manage to pass the test then stop giving a **** now that they have the license.....well, the system won't ever be perfect. Plenty of people on the road in cars that make you wonder how they ever got a license too. fair enough. And yes, a cclb pickup with some of the camper trailers and whatnot you can buy now....that equals a lot of weight and length. ah, that makes sense.
I had to laugh one day at my work a while back. They were paving part of the lot, and so obviously it was blocked from use. Now, we don't have a dock, just a big garage door and the truck parks along the side of the building. Well, one guy leaves with a 5 ton cube truck, and in dealing with the obstruction, makes 2 cuts to get the truck turned around towards the road. Then a guy leaves in a semi with a 53' trailer, swings her around in one go without putting her in reverse once. I'm thinking to myself, not hard to know who can drive there.
That helps no doubt. A truck driver on another forum once told me too....now this is an older guy, years and years of experience, who drove trucks in the woods, hauled trailers with so many axles that it had to lift some of them to make a turn, routinely hauling more or less as much weight as is allowed on the road, what have you. He said, "I can back a 50 footer anywhere I want. A 10 footer really tries my patience."
Yeah, I get the loggers thought. Too many people see a large vehicle and don’t want to get stuck behind them. The bigger the vehicle you are driving the more they want to cut you off. I just maintain the license so I can test drive for repairs. I ain’t no trucker and I don’t want to be one.
Yup hauled bunker when I needed to. It was fun then. There was no where the traffic then either. Drove some for my father in law when I was first with my wife and he was getting out of the woods. That ended when he said load it because it’s breaking up and it might be the last load. L9000 3208 turbo 8LL turd triaxle 108,000 at the mill. That was numb empty, I don’t know how I even got it into the high side! Now I just drive a truck on a day off to help out a friend and don’t overly enjoy it after 15 minutes.
That reminds me of something. Long ago when I was single after divorce and worked on the road. I didn’t have a house but needed some kind of home base. First time I went to a marina and bought a 45 ft twin engine houseboat. They just said here’s the keys and away I went. My marina mates would all come running as I docked that 16’ foot wide thing in my 18’ wide berth. No license. No special schools. Nothing required. Get in and go. Biggest boat I’d ever operated before that was my 17’ fishing boat. Same thing later on in life. Bought a 45’ RV with 4 slides, air brakes, Cummins and Allison. Towed a enclosed trailer. I was over 60-65’ long. Ran all over USA and a lot of lower Canada and upper Mexico in my job. Rock star tour bus thing. It was my mortgage so most was a write off according to my accountant. Same thing. All I needed was a regular operators license. Then the other day while at a rental car company, they wouldn’t rent a car to a young man because he was under 25. Ironic…
Caffeine! Loaded Wood Gun. Read the local news. Did WORDLE puzzle. Almost time to get ready for the workhouse.
I’ve seen some of the young men under 25 today. Not sure if I would want to rent some of them a car or not.?
