Western Pacific Truck School Modesto, CA

OK, Mondays classes. We were on the road. Morning class we have one guy that used to drive, & he went 1st. watching his feet while down shifting really helped me. So, I was having one hell of a good time when I got in the drivers seat. If you all know the Modesto area, we spent some time over by the fruityard, up to almost pick N pull. A lot of rail crossings over there, so it got us used to NOT shifting going over them. I got to drive us back to the yard, & Bob had me do COLA test (air brake test)...& I failed. More than anything else, I feel weakest on that, so it should be easy to get me up to par. I just havent focused on it much yet, so with repetition I'll have it nailed.

My afternoon class I drove 1st. Got to play in traffic through a bunch of stop lights, & went on the freeway for the 1st time. I got lucky, & there was very little traffic there, so the merge was easy. It was nice to be able to pin it to the floor, & get it up to speed, then just cruise at 55. Bob said we were gonna do some city driving later on (after the hookers came out on 9th street), but one of the guys in the truck really needed some help shifting, so we did that for a long time, & the guy started to pick it up pretty good by the end of the night.

My face & jaw hurt at the end of the day with me smiling so much, hopefully I continue to enjoy it this much after I start driving for a company...if so, it may never feel like work...keeping my fingers crossed.

 

is the equipment any good or is it old junk

 

All the trucks have 1million + miles BUT are in good shape. There is 2 trucks they ONLY use around the yard that are beat up, but all the on road trucks are in good shape, & take one hell of a beating. I went around, & seem to be the best equipment out of the schools here in the central valley.

 

good to know

 

Tuesdays classes. We drove...a lot. Morning class for me has more advanced students. So we did a lot of rail crossings, & in town driving. We did part of the routes (with me driving) that DMV uses. I don't feel I drove up to my level this morning, but still did ok.

Afternoon class. We drove some more. The other guys in the class did A LOT better than they did last night. I drove last, so I would be driving in the dark, & in heavy traffic...wich I like in class, so I can get used to doing it with an instructor, & not on the road by myself. I did more of the DMV route, some Freeway driving, city driving.

Bob (my instructor) takes pride in playing with his students, & for fun, getting them to shift going over railroad tracks (just 1 time). & even though I saw the tracks (in the middle of an intersection), as I was sitting at a red light, when I started going, he said SHIFT, & I did....######! I am getting better & better with the tranny, though I am still better at down shifting 2 gears at a time, than only 1 (standard 10 on all the trucks I have driven), so 10-8-6 is pretty smoothe, 9-7-6...6 gets either a grind or a jerk...though towards the end I did get it smoother....must be the tranny getting used to me right? lol

 

OK folks. I did not update for a while. I did not want to repeat the same thing over & over. So this will be my update...maybe my final one.

Over the last weeks, we spent a lot of time in the yard focussing on our skills, & we used every running truck they could get us in. I alley docked so many times, I have a blister on my palm.

We also did a lot of driving around town, on the DMV route, & some freeway, & country driving. As we got better Bob (our instructor) would tell you less & less. It made for a very relaxed environment that was easy to learn...& you were not so scared to miss a shift, or make a mistake.

Last Tuesday I had my last day of driving before the DMV test, went pretty well, we also took a look at the DMV skills test site. Then Wednesday, we were in the yard. 2/3 of my alley docks were 1st shot (no pull up), the rest had 1 pull up. I spent my time in a Black Freightliner 3 axle (truck 379), as that is what I would take my test in. Also did an in cab, & COLA (air brake test) for my instructor. By the end of the day, I was feeling pretty confident at my perparedness for the DMV driving exam.

X-mas break.

This morning was my driving test. Started off with my COLA, then in cab, then my walk around (or pre trip). Then we went for a drive. Got a bunch of lights that waited till the last second to go yellow, had a truck pull out in front of me while I was turning left in a intersection, forgot to check the height of an overpass. Then we got to the Skills test site. I needed 2 pull ups for my alley dock, & stuffed the trailer a little deep in the paralell park. But doing what Bob had taught me, I got 'er in. Then we got back on the road & played truck driver a little more. I kept chuckling to myself when we went over railroad tracks (didn't tell the examiner why, if you read this whole thread you will know). The Instructor had me take him back to DMV. End result, I got 8 points on driving, & 3 on the skills...I think, I couldn't hardly understand the grading paper. But I passed, & the DMV guy said good job. YAY!

So, I would say WPTS has been worth it's weight in gold for me. I would absoltuely recommend it, & would recommend Bob as the instructor to ask for, in my opinion he is the best they have...not that the others are not top notch, but I do not think they could have gotten me to where I am now like Bob did. I will graduate tomarrow, & will go talk to GTI (Gordon trucking) right after. Lets hope I can land a good job now, Jeanne the placement lady has been talking with me daily on that, & we will see what we can do.

 

CONGRATS!!
Good luck to you!

 

Finally,after 6 Months of Hoop Jumping and what seemed like forever i am, as of Today starting my Training at WPTS Stockton. Ill try and at least update once a Week on how things are going for Me.

Besides,Basspro has already done a Day to Day on what Western Pacific dose (Thanks). Stockton and Modesto are closely Affiliated.
Ill try and answer any Questions anyone has about WPTS.

 

I'm just starting school at WPTS in Modesto CA and I can tell you they have many highly-qualified driving instructors, a campus manager and an admissions representative. The campus manager is a great guy and has been in the job several years. The admissions rep has been great. Everyone's been very friendly and professional with great follow-up and responsiveness. I have nothing but praise to report at this time.

 

It's the end of the first week and I easily passed my CDL Class A general knowledge, combination vehicles and air brake tests at the DMV. The WPTS instructor was very effective in helping us learn all the information needed for these CDL tests.

Next week we work on our endorsements and begin learning basic tractor truck driving skills.