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How To Talk Truck

2009-06-16T18:00:00Z

Many of the Eagle Training students are new to trucking, they've never been around trucks and do not know the terminology. Below is a list of common terms, slang and vocabulary used in the trucking industry.

2-Speed – Also known as a 5x2, Common city transmission with an electrically operated two-speed rear end which is split shifted, giving ten total speeds

2-Speed Button – A electric switch that splits the rear axle into high and low ratios

8-Speed – It has a low and high range controlled by a range control button

10-Speed – Also known as a 5 over 5: usually consists of two 5-speed transmission shifted one after the other in the same 5-speed pattern. It is shifted from low range to high range by use of an air powered range control button

13-Speed – A shifting pattern which combines straight shifting with split shifting

Air Tank – Tank on a tractor or trailer used to build up the air pressure needed to operate air brakes

Bed – The floor of the truck body (straight truck), or the floor of a trailer where the freight is loaded

Bleeding – Releasing air from the air lines to empty water and other foreign material.

Bobtail – Driving a tractor without a trailer (takes much longer to stop)

Bogey – Axle and frame used to link two pups to make a train

Bulk Grain Trailer - A flat bed with sides that join together and extend upward four or five feet

Bulkhead – Guard/wall in the front of a flatbed, it prevents freight from sliding into the cab

Cab – Driver’s compartment

Cabover – A truck with the cab located over the front axle

Catwalk – While connecting and un-connecting lines on a truck a person will stand on the catwalk, a piece of steel mesh attached to the frame behind the cab.

City Flyer – Short, single axle trailer, (less than 36 feet), used for city hauling. Usually has a gate on the back of the trailer instead of doors

City Setting - Axles are located about ten feet from the end of the trailer

Conventional – A truck with the cab located behind the engine

Convertor Dolly - Axle and frame used to link two pups to make a train

Container – A trailer without an underframe, dollies or axles. It’s used for shipping on boats or stacking on railroad flatcars

Coupling – Connecting the tractor and the trailer

Crank Handle – The “L” shaped handle which is normally found on the right side of a trailer; moves the dolly wheels up and down and it has two gears – low and high

Crossbow – A bowed bar across the top of an open trailer on which a tarp sits (usually there is more than one supporting the tarp)

Dog-tracking – A trailer whose rear axle and frame are out of line causing the trailer to ride sideways

Dollies – Support legs located near the front of the undercarriage of the trailer

Double Bottom – Two small trailers joined together and pulled like a train by one tractor

Doubles - Two small trailers joined together and pulled like a train by one tractor

Dry Van – A trailer with a permanent top and permanent sides

Emergency Hose – This hose is hooked to the trailer’s emergency glad-hand on the left side and is sometimes red. This is the hose through which air can be heard rushing out if both the emergency breakaway valve is pushed in and the glad-hand is disconnected.

Fifth Wheel – Is a large, keyhole-shaped device on the frame of the tractor that is used to hook the trailer and the tractor together.

Fifth Wheel Release – A lever/handle located on the right side of the tractor’s fifth wheel, it releases the grip of the fifth wheel on the trailer’s kingpin

Fish Eye - A round mirror used in addition to the West Coast Mirrors. The mirror is to enable the driver to see objects outside of the normal West Coast Mirrors.

Flatbed – A trailer without a top or sides, a bed on axles

Freewheel – To roll uncontrolled either with the gearshift in neutral or with the clutch depressed. This is dangerous and illegal

Fruit Trailer - A flat bed with sides that join together and extend upward four or five feet

Full Screw - A tandem tractor with power going to both rear axles

Glad-hand – A coupling device used to join the air lines between the tractor and the trailer. Both the tractor and the trailer have glad-hands

Governor – Mechanism in the engine which limits fuel delivered to the chambers and keeps the tractor/truck from going faster than the set speed

Half Side – A flat bed with sides that join together and extend upward four or five feet

Jackknife – Violent type of tractor-trailer accident which occurs when the trailer pushes past the tractor at a 45 degree angle

Jacks - Support legs located near the front of the undercarriage of the trailer

KingPin – Located near the front underside of the trailer, extending down toward the ground. It’s about three inches thick and six inches in length and it fits into the “keyhole” of the fifth wheel

Landing Gear - Support legs located near the front of the undercarriage of the trailer

Lowboy – A low, slung trailer used to haul heavy equipment (cranes, bulldozers, etc.)

Lugging – Trying to pull forward in a gear that is too high for the speed you are going

Kingpin Lock – A steel lever, (about one inch wide), located inside the jaws of the fifth wheel. The kingpin lock locks around the trailer’s kingpin and holds the tractor and trailer together

Marker Lights – Lights across the top of a tractor/truck which indicates 96’ vehicle width

Maxi-brakes – Brakes on tractors which lock-up automatically by means of spring when the air pressure drops below a designated minimum

Midwest Setting – Axles are located about ten feet from the end of the trailer

Mule - Slang for a tractor kept in terminal and used to move trailers in an out of docks and around yards

Oiler - Slang for diesel tractor and trailer

OTR – Over the Road, long distance travel, over 50 miles

Pigtail – An additional trailer light cord, usually smaller than the standard cord, used to adapt to an odd sized trailer socket.

Pintle Hook – Hook attached to the rear of the trailer which connects the bogey used to connect the pup trailer train

Pintle Eye – Hole in front of the bogey which connects with the pintle hook on the lead trailer in a pup trailer train

Pole Trailer – A trailer which has a frame that is expandable to 62 feet

Power Tailgate – A platform permanently attached to the back of the truck. It raises and lowers freight. It can be hydraulic or electrically powered

Pup – A small trailer (less than 32’), Usually two small trailers are joined together and pulled like a train by one tractor

Rag Top – An open top trailer usually covered with a tarp or canvas

Range Control Button – Air powered switch that selects high and low on the transmission

Redlining – Running the engine’s RPM’s to the danger point (usually indicated by a redline on the tachometer)

Reefer – Refrigerated trailer that keeps the temperature consistent and controlled

Rig - Slang for truck / tractor

Saddle Tank – A fuel tank hangs on the side of the tractor/truck below the cab. Some tractors/trucks have two saddle tanks, one on each side

Service Hose – It is always hooked to the trailer’s Service Glad-hand on the right side and is sometimes blue. This is the hose through which air cannot be heard if both the gland-hand is disconnected.

Single Axle – A tractor with only one rear axle or a trailer with one axle

Single Screw – A single axle tractor or a tandem tractor with power to only one axle

Sleeper – An OTR tractor with a sleeping compartment behind the front seat

Slider – A fifth wheel which can slide back and forth on the frame of the tractor or a axle which can slide back and forth on a trailer to help distribute weight

Spotter - Tractor kept in terminal and used to move trailers in an out of docks and around yards

Spotter Horse - Slang for a tractor kept in terminal and used to move trailers in an out of docks and around yards

Spotting Mirror - A round mirror used in addition to the West Coast Mirrors. The mirror is to enable the driver to see objects outside of the normal West Coast Mirrors.

Stack – An exhaust pipe that sticks up from the rear corner of the diesel tractor/truck. Sometimes there are two stacks, one on each rear corner.

Straight Job - A truck with the cab and box assembled on one frame

Straight Shift – Straight four, five, six or seven speed gear pattern

Switching Tractor - Slang for a tractor kept in terminal and used to move trailers in an out of docks and around yards

Tag Along – A Tandem tractor with a dead axle used for weight-bearing only

Tax Axle - A Tandem tractor with a dead axle used for weight-bearing only

Tandem – A two axle combination on a truck, trailer, or bus

Trailer Light Cord – The cord that supplies the light current to the trailer lights. It is found between the emergency and services hoses.

Twin Screw – A tandem tractor with power going to both rear axles

Uncoupling – Unconnecting the tractor and the trailer

Van – A trailer with a permanent top

West Coast Mirrors – Large rectangular mirrors which extend outward from the doors of a tractor, truck or bus

West Coast Setting – Axles located all the way to the rear of the trailer

Wide Angle Mirrors – A round mirror used in addition to the West Coast Mirrors. The mirror is to enable the driver to see objects outside of the normal West Coast Mirrors.

Yard Hustler - Slang for a tractor kept in terminal and used to move trailers in an out of docks and around yards

Only Cream at the Truck Stops - Truck Driving Jobs in 2009

2009-05-08T21:18:00Z

ONLY CREAM AT THE TRUCK STOPS

Are there jobs in the trucking industry? Yes, yes and another yes. There is this horrible misconception that there are no jobs and it all started in the employment and unemployment offices across the country. We rely on these offices to fund many future truck drivers, these offices provide the grants for training, but right now they are sending truck driver potentials away. Why?

When the economy took a downturn in the fall of last year, the trucking industry slowed down. As the new year began large amounts of people were being laid off, familiar businesses were closing and every industry was tackled with the presence of the “new economy”. The trucking industry, like all industries, was thrown head first into the new environment. Consumers cut their consuming in half and the immediate impact was a massive decrease in shipments. Trucking companies responded with hiring freezes thinking this was their best reaction, it had always helped in the past.

Meanwhile, truck drivers that had planned on retiring were hit heavy in the stock market and opted to stay working.

This was unusual for an industry that had previously seen a truck driver turnover rate as high as 130% a year, for the first time in decades, there was a surplus of drivers.

The trucking companies, in deep confusion, tried to figure out how to get loads to keep their drivers working. Bigger companies started taking loads they would never have bothered with previously and smaller companies were being pushed out of the industry.

When the smaller companies started losing shipments their drivers started jumping and moving to larger, more financially stable companies. Some of the larger, wiser companies realized the benefit and began to work with the new economy. These companies knew that they would continue to have an influx of experienced small company drivers and recent truck school graduates so they took another look at their fleet and they started to make the changes that would insure their standings, they “creamed their crop”. The companies laid off drivers that weren’t delivering loads on time, that had became complacent, that called in often, that turned down loads, that had a history of accidents; drivers that couldn’t or wouldn’t do the job the companies wanted.

SimplyHired.com, a large job search engine that has more than 5 million job listings worldwide, stated that “truck driver” job listings had increased by 45% from January to March 2009.

Foreclosure “Trash Out” companies are one of the fastest growing companies in the new economy; these companies remove the contents of foreclosed properties, often by loading it onto a truck and driving away.

So with all these opportunities why are WIA, Workforce Investment Act, offices sending potential students away and what effect will this have on the industry?

Unemployment offices are seeing an increase in truck drivers filing for unemployment; yep, those truck drivers that were laid off when their companies “creamed” are filing for unemployment benefits, imagine that. The unemployment offices, not aware of the “creaming”, automatically assume that truck drivers are being laid off because there are no jobs in the industry; they’re sending potential truck driving students into the nursing field now.

Previously there was a lack of drivers and many jobs, then the new economy was birthed and the industry adopted a new way of going about business, choosing the cream of the crop. Creaming is a quick and successful fix for getting through the new economy but it does bring problems for the industry’s future. Many drivers were let go and many potential drivers were turned away so when consumers consume and goods have to be transported at the rate they were transported previously, there will be an ever more drastic, insanely desperate, need for drivers.

Following are a few notes for truck drivers applying for a job within the new economy.

Take extra time to complete each application perfectly. Perfectly means correct spelling, concise printing, exact dates, each line completed and “n/a” placed where it doesn’t apply. You are being judged by your application. If a company receives ten applications every day and yours is missing information and difficult to read, they aren’t going to take the time to decipher it or call you and ask that you complete parts you missed. Make sure your application is perfect or don’t bother submitting it because you’ll just waste your time.

Check your history. If you’ve had recent tickets, felonies, DUIs or a spotty work history getting a job is going to be difficult, not impossible but difficult. Also, keep in mind that if a felony is over twenty years old it’s still on your record, don’t omit it thinking that it went away, it didn’t.

Apply to several places, even the ones that aren’t your top choice. With the new economy some trucking companies are still using the tactic of hiring freezes to level out their fleets. If you apply to only your first choice and they’re on a hiring freeze, you won’t be hired till they remove the freeze and this may leave you in line at the unemployment office. Apply several places and be open to working for a company that may have not been your first or second choice, you can change-up to your favorite when they open up hiring again.

Consider going over the road for awhile. Local drivers that have been laid off, either because the company was squeezed out by a larger one or because they were a casualty of creaming, should consider hitting the wide open roads for a bit. A lot of these local drivers headed to the unemployment office instead of the want ads but there is work. The work may not be local for awhile but if you want to be the one making money in this economy then you’re going to have to drive the semi over state lines. The old saying is still true, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it - If you take a hiatus in this economy you will need a refresher course when the consumers start to consume again, stay on the roads and avoid refresher courses that start at a thousand dollars.

So, if you have a truck driving job you may be the best of the best, if you don’t have a truck driving job get one now and if you don’t have a CDL sign up for school, you’re going to be in high demand soon.

Drive Safe,

Tanya from Eagle

http://www.eagletruckdrivingschool.com

Excuses

2009-05-06T18:50:00Z

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses. Any student that ever attended Eagle knows the importance of being in class - they had to sign a contract saying they would be here. If they missed more than two days they would be expelled from the class. Yes, Eagle is that tough.

Students are only here for 20 days out of their life, Eagle only has those 20 days to make them into a safe and confident truck driver. We can't work miracles if the students don't come to class and Yes, if they do come to class, we will work miracles.

Anyway, since the students know the importance of being in class they often create elaborate excuses for the days they have to miss. I thought it would be fun to blog some of the actual excuses and to make up a few that could be future ones. See if you can tell which excuses were already used and which excuses could be used in the future...

I got bit by a spider and I'm in the hospital

I was abducted by aliens

I'm sorry I missed the morning class, I didn't want to speed because I am in truck driving school

They are evicting me today

I have a headache

I thought we had Monday off, (It was a national holiday - In Canada)

My cat went into labor

My dad died (again)

My brother is getting divorced

If you can think of one I missed shoot me an email, tanya@eagletrainingservices.com so I can add it to the collection.

Drive Safe,
Tanya

Your Profession

2009-04-09T20:36:00Z

"Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on the earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling"
-Vincent Van Gogh

CR England

2009-04-09T19:51:00Z

CR England gave one of our students a pre-hire letter earlier and this student, a March 2009 graduate from Eagle Training Services Inc, is now ready to go to work. The student called CR England to confirm his orientation and was told that CR England is no longer hiring students from schools other than their own.

CR England does not have a school in Illinois and Illinois is the only state in the country that does not have transferable CDLs. If you are in Illinois and you want to attend a CR England school verify that they will guarantee your ILLINOIS CDL.

Drive safe,
Tanya

Technologically Speaking - I'm In

2009-01-21T19:12:09Z

OMG - I am so alone you guys! Eagle has a MySpace and a Facebook and I'm wondering where all my internet friends are. Come be my friend, really, I need friends - don't make me beg!

THANKS!

Drive Safe, Tanya

Rockford in January

2009-01-21T18:38:00Z

The weather was pretty nice so I snapped a couple of shots of the trucks during the lunch hour. We have the Canary (the yellow and purple KW) and the white Freightliner. There's not a company nickname for this white truck but Destiny, my daughter, calls it "The Dove", because the yellow is called the Canary.

It's a nice white truck but not too exciting, it does match the white trailers so that's got to be worth something. We've owned this truck for a little over a year and this is the first picture of it. I guess that explains the excitement. Of course, we have four yard trucks and I only have pictures of one of those.

Yard trucks are not meant to be exciting. They just go round and round, back and fourth in the yard. The only thing exciting about yard trucks is being in the drivers seat and on your own. It's awesome to be pulling that huge trailer around and when you look in the cab of the truck and it's just you, well, you know you're the one in control. That's exciting.

The Canary is the kind of truck people take notice to. I never liked it, it stood out way to much for me. Others always thought it was awesome and wanted to drive it. One of the reasons we have it at the school is because it attracts a lot of attention and makes people want to get in and take the wheel. That makes sense to me, so we keep the truck.

When it's clean and salt free it shines in the sunlight. There's pictures of it at the Marengo parade last year and I have to admit, it did look nice.

Well that's it for now.

Drive safe,
Tanya

T-Shirts On Sale!

2009-01-21T17:09:00Z

We now have t-shirts available for sale - two different types - There is the standard censored version with our website listed and there is the Graduate shirt that has a reminder of Eagle's familiar saying - "Graduate I got my head out of my ass". The cost of the shirts is only $10 - skip lunch and get a t-shirt, it lasts longer.

You can call either school - Rockford 815-229-2954 or Lake in the Hills 847-854-3218 and order your t-shirt today.

How to Measure a Man's Success

2008-12-02T06:00:00Z

Don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but
how high he bounces when he hits bottom.

-General George S. Patton

Illinois Secretary of State Certified Schools

2008-12-02T04:04:00Z

When shopping for a school, smart students do their research. We always let students know that Eagle Training Services Inc schools are certified by the Illinois Secretary of State, we're proud of it.

Not every CDL training school is certified by the Secretary of State so it's important you ask the admission coordinator at the school or you can print a current list right off the Illinois SOS website...

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/driver_education/commercial_driver_training/cdlcertschools.pdf

But before you get involved in the list you might wonder why it's important to be an Illinois SOS Certified school.

The Secretary of State has expectations for their certified schools. All schools must have their curriculum approved by the state and all instructors must teach per that curriculum, they can't just do as they please.

The hours for training must be approved by the state and logged on time sheets. These time sheet records are indispensable and are filed at the school always ready for an audit from the state. It is the job of the state to monitor state certified schools and enforce that students are receiving the proper training for the logged amount of hours.

Secretary of State Certified schools do not monitor themselves, they are responsible and held accountable by the auditing system of Illinois SOS officials.

Secretary of State Certified schools have Certified Instructors. All instructors must have a minimum of 3 years experience, (Eagle instructors have more than 15 years), in the trucking industry. No felonies or DUIs. All instructors must have their driving records pre-approved by the state, receive a minimum of 40 hours instructor training, forgo a background check that includes fingerprinting, submit and pass a DOT physical and drug screen, pass a written exam and lastly, pass the three skills tests that are given to every student testing for their CDL-A. Instructors that do not meet any of the above criteria will not be certified and can not instruct for a SOS Certified school.

Secretary of State Certified schools have on-site testing. This means that state examiners will come out to the school and test students on the three skills test right at the school in the same yard students have been practicing in and on the same routes they've been driving. (This familiarity for the students gives them an advantage with their final testing).

State approved curriculums, SOS monitored and audited, experienced and certified instructors and on-site testing are great reasons to enroll in an Illinois Secretary of State Certified School.

Below is the Illinois State Certified School list (dated 12/01/2008)...

Commercial Driver Training Schools

CDL CERTIFIED

Acapulco Driving School
1904 S Cicero Ave.
Cicero, IL 60804

Alamo Truck Driving School
5264 W 47^th Street
Chicago, IL 60638

ATS Professional Truck Driving School, Inc
1001 Rand Rd, Suite 101
Wauconda, IL 60084

Branch: ATS Professional Truck Driving School
28307 N Main St
Wauconda, IL 60084

Branch: ATS Professional Truck Driving School
19351 W. Washington St.
Grayslake, IL 60030

Bestway Truck Training
12655 South Doty Rd.
Chicago, IL 60633

Blue Horizon Corporation, Inc.
5926 So. Pulaski
Chicago, IL 60629

Branch: Blue Horizon Corp., Inc.
3253 No Pulaski
Chicago, IL 60641

Bulldog Driving School, Inc.
7711 W Belmont Ave
Elmwood Park, IL 60707

Central Illinois Driving School
1112 ½ E Oakland Ave.
Bloomington, IL 61701

Chavez Driving School
9016 W 47^th St. Unit 1
Brookfield, IL 60513

CJ’s Driver Training School
305 West Illinois
Assumption, IL 62510

Columbia Driving School
5028 So. Archer Ave.
Chicago, IL 60632

Eagle Training Services, Inc.
9182 Pyott Road
Lake In The Hills, IL 60156
847-854-3218

Branch: Eagle Training Services, Inc.
1375 S Wolf Road
Prospect Heights, IL
847-854-3218

Branch: Eagle Training Services, Inc.
3814 11^th Street
Rockford, IL
815-229-2954

Expert Driving School
7644 W Touhy Ave.
Chicago, IL 60631

Juarez Driving School
1151 West 18^th Street
Chicago, IL 60608

Kotra
1616 Grand Ave., Suite 206
Waukegan, IL 60085

Mega Driving School
6105 West Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60634

Mid City Truck Driving Academy
6740 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60634

Olive Harvey College
10001 S Woodlawn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60628

Premier CDL Training Services
5529 Dial Drive, Ste 4
Granite City, IL 62040

Prestige Driving Schools Inc
5442 S Archer
Chicago, IL 60638

Presto Driving Schools
646 W. Algonquin Rd
Des Plaines, IL 60016

Progressive Driving School, Inc.
5538 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60641

Branch: Progressive Driving School
4586 S Cicero
Cicero, IL

Rend Lake College Truck Driver Training
468 N Ken Gray Pkwy
Ina, IL 62846

Branch: Rend Lake College
9510 Collinsville Rd
Collinsville, IL 62234

Star Truck Driving School, Inc.
710 Larsen Lane
Bensenville, IL 60106

Branch: Star Truck Driving
7701 W 95^th Street
Hickory Hills, IL 60457

Branch: Star Truck Driving
1250 Route 34
Aurora, IL 60543

Truck Driver Institute Inc
23733 Bluff Road
Channahon, IL 60410

Branch: Truck Driver Institute
1601 GE Road
Bloomington, IL 61704

Uptown Driver Training
36 Park Plaza
Galesburg, IL 60401

Branch: Uptown Driver Training
1291 N 6^th Street
Monmouth, IL 61462

Viking Driving School
600 Busse Hwy
Park Ridge, IL 60068

Branch: Viking Driving School
600 Waukegan Rd
Glenview, IL 60025

Welcome Wisconsin

2008-12-02T03:45:00Z

Eagle Training Services Inc has always been known for our Illinois Secretary of State certified schools but now we're making some changes. For over a year now we have been thanking Wisconsin residents for their interest in our schools and sending these potential students away. Now we've developed a curriculum that suits Wisconsin residents and the third party testers too.

We are running the training for these courses at our Rockford Illinois location for now but we hope to increase interest and cross the border some time in 2009.

Wisconsin students can contact their local unemployment offices and see if they are elgible for a grant, (grants normally cover the entire tution of the program).

They should also call our Rockford office, (815-229-2954), and speak with Linda to get more information about the program and course dates.