Road Test

by David Wickenhauser

  “How’s she going to get all that?”

  “Take a guess.”

  Hugh looked at Jenny. She nodded, and said, “This time, we don’t have anything to hide. Let’s go for it.”

  “OK. We’ll do it. When will you be here? We’re trying to get a load out.”

  “Later this evening. Can you hang that long?”

  “No problem. Text me with your ETA. I’ve got another call. Gotta go.”

  Attorney Johnston was on the line.

  “I thought you’d be interested to know as soon as the news broke about the breakup of Fishburn’s insurance scam ring and the arrests, police got a call from a gal who said she’s the car crash victim’s neighbor, and she has her two children.”

  “That’s interesting. I wonder how much she knew about the plot?”

  “So far, she’s just saying she was told by the mother she was planning a little fender-bender accident, and was asked to keep her kids for a little while. It’s enough to fill in some holes, and further implicate those who were involved.”

  “I wonder why she didn’t come forward sooner,” Hugh said.

  “They asked her that. She said she was afraid of the guys the mother was involved with. But when she heard they were arrested she knew it would be safe to come forward to tell what she knew.”

  “Thanks. It’s good to know no children were in those car seats.” Hugh said, and hung up.

  “We’ve got some time to kill until James and Charlie get here. What do you want to do?” Hugh asked Jenny.

  “You can take me to lunch, and then I need to get back here and study while I can get wi-fi on your laptop.”

  “I really appreciate how serious you are about getting your CDL,” Hugh said. “It’s going to be a hoot teaching you how to drive this thing.”

  “I can’t wait,” Jenny said.

  “That’s James. He says he’s about ten minutes out,” Hugh said. He had heard the tone on his phone indicating he’d had a text message.

  Then he heard the chirp from his Qualcomm that a pre-load had been sent.

  “OK. We’re good. An easy one. We’re relaying a trailer from right here in the yard and taking it to our company drop yard in Spokane. No specific time it has to be there. So, we can take it in three easy days.”

  “Great, that will give me plenty of time to study.” Jenny said. “Can we call the Sandpoint office of the Idaho DMV, and get an appointment for four days from now?”

  “Shouldn’t be a problem,” Hugh replied. “I doubt they’ve got people lined up out the door of their small office to take their CDL tests. Are you sure you’ll be ready?”

  “I’ve got a lot of studying done already, and with three full days on the road of uninterrupted study time I can guarantee I’ll ace the test.”

  Hugh said, “I have no doubt.”

  He called the Sandpoint DMV and got her an appointment for her written CDL test at 10 a.m.

  Hugh saw James’ truck come through the gate into the terminal.

  Hugh waited for James to park, and then he and Jenny walked over to greet them.

  Charlie gave Jenny a hug. “I’m so glad you are OK, and it’s all over,” she said.

  “Let’s go eat and talk. I know of a diner that’s within walking distance,” Hugh suggested.

  At their booth, after the waitress had taken their orders, Charlie spoke excitedly about her job prospect at the much-bigger Arizona Democrat daily newspaper. She was confident of getting the job, especially since she was bringing a huge story with her.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Hugh asked her.

  “No. What?”

  “Frank and William are probably spilling their guts right now. And they are for sure implicating you in their plot to force me to make false testimony. To say nothing of your own fake kidnapping, and their real kidnapping of Jenny.”

  Charlie protested, “I had nothing to do with Jenny’s kidnapping.”

  “Accomplice after the fact,” Hugh reminded her. “You, of all people, should know how it works.”

  “Hugh’s right,” James said. “I’m betting a warrant is out for your arrest right now.”

  “Can I make a suggestion?” Hugh asked.

  “Yes. Please. Anything,” Charlie replied. She was looking worried.

  “You need to be pro-active with this. Get right on top of it. Visit the police, tell them everything you know. Offer to testify against the others.”

  “Do you think it will work?”

  “No guarantees, but we all can testify you were doing it against your will, that they had threatened you. Right?” With that last part, he looked at James and Jenny. They both nodded.

  “What about the money they paid you?” Hugh asked.

  “I never deposited the big chunk of cash they gave me. It’s well-hidden,” Charlie said.

  “No doubt you’ll end up giving it up when it comes out in testimony,” Hugh said.

  Then Hugh added, somewhat joking, “One thing for sure is you need to get it settled with the police before you walk into your job interview.”

  That lightened the mood around the table.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  They left early the next morning after picking up the loaded trailer. They said goodbye to James and Charlie, and wished Charlie luck. She had picked up a new phone, so they exchanged numbers and asked her to keep in touch.

  On the highway out of Phoenix, Hugh told Jenny they would retrace their drive they had made down from Spokane going in the opposite direction this time; parking for the night at Ely, Nevada, and Boise, Idaho.

  Then it would be on to Spokane where they would drop their trailer, spend the night, and drive to Sandpoint in the morning for Jenny to take the CDL written test for her conditional learner’s permit.

  Jenny was diligent in her commitment to study. Occasionally, she would ask Hugh a question about hours of service regulations, rules of the road, or truck or trailer equipment. It helped to give her a real-world feel for the words on paper.

  Hugh spent time explaining things he was doing while driving. Jenny had been observing from the first time she had joined Hugh on the truck as a hitchhiker, but this time she asked directed, in-depth questions.

  At their first stop for the night, in Ely, Hugh had her unhook the glad hands and the electrical pig tail. He had her crank down the landing gear, and unlatch and swing open the large double doors at the back of the trailer.

  Hugh explained that physically doing these things weren’t part of either the written or driving skills tests, but he had two reasons for having her do them.

  One reason was by physically handling these pieces of standard truck equipment she got a hands-on experience that would help her relate to questions about them on the test.

  The other reason was that both he and Jenny had to be certain she was physically capable of doing the job of a truck driver. No surprise, she easily passed all the strength and agility tests Hugh had put her through.

  During times when they were parked and Jenny was studying, Hugh would get away and make phone calls finalizing preparations for the two projects he had been working on.

  The next two days passed the same as the first, and they pulled into the company yard in Spokane on the afternoon of the third day.

  Hugh dropped the trailer. Or, rather, he had Jenny crank the landing gear for him so he could slide the truck out from underneath.

  He had already arranged to have a pup trailer left at the yard for him. So, he had Jenny raise the landing gear all the way for him after he had backed in and locked the kingpin with the locking jaws.

  “What’s this for?” Jenny asked.

  “Big rig trucks are designed to pull a load, and they behave differently when being driven bobtail. This is for you to learn to drive with after you get your CLP. It will be easier than learning without the trailer.”

  “Wow! This is getting real isn’t it? We’re doing this.”

  “Yup. Believe me. It will be the most fun y
ou’ve ever had.” Hugh couldn’t help but share with his bride-to-be and future co-driver his enthusiasm for driving.

  That evening, Hugh fired questions at Jenny from the Idaho CDL driver’s handbook. She had opted to take the permit exams for a couple of the endorsements at the same time: hazardous materials, and tanks.

  Hugh had explained it was unlikely she’d ever drive a tanker, but it looked good to have the endorsement. The hazmat endorsement, while infrequently needed, could come in handy someday, and hazmat loads paid more.

  He told her the Idaho CDL knowledge exam was fifty questions. The hazmat exam was thirty questions, and the tanks exam was twenty questions. A passing grade was eighty percent.

  “You’re lucky. When I took the same tests in California it all added up to three hundred questions.”

  “How did you do?”

  “I missed one question.”

  “Wow! That’s great!”

  “It pissed me off, though. So I argued with the DMV clerk. I pointed out the question was ambiguously worded, and my answer could be correct.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said, ‘Hon, you passed. Do you really want to hold up your permit by arguing over one answer?’“

  “I’m guessing you took her advice.”

  “Yup.”

  In bed that night, Jenny told Hugh how nervous she was.

  “My head is swimming with all of this stuff crammed into it,” she said. “I’m not sure I’m going to sleep.”

  “Honey, you’re going to do just fine. You’re very smart, and you’ve been studying hard.”

  The next morning, Hugh went about making coffee and breakfast. He fried eggs and sausages on his one-burner induction hot plate. Jenny needed protein to see her through the exam.

  It was about an hour’s drive to the Sandpoint DMV office. He found a spot to tuck in his truck and trailer.

  Just before ten, he walked her to the DMV entrance, and stood in line with her to go through the check-in process.

  When it was Jenny’s turn at the counter, the clerk asked her for her current Idaho driver’s license, proof of Idaho residency, and her social security card.

  “I have a California driver’s license,” she said, and handed it and her Social Security card to the clerk.

  The clerk checked the license to make sure it was current.

  “Proof of Idaho residency?” she asked.

  “My permanent Idaho residence is the Mann Ranch, north of here,” Jenny said, and looked at Hugh for affirmation.

  Hugh nodded.

  “Do you have any proof of that?”

  Hugh answered the clerk, “That is the address listed on the official court order naming Jenny as guardian for her little brother. Both of them are living at the ranch.”

  “And who might you be?” the clerk asked Hugh.

  “I am Hugh Mann, of Mann Ranch, H-M connected, Hugh and Martha Mann,” he replied.

  “You’re Martha’s kid?”

  “Yeah, she’s my mother, and soon-to-be this young lady’s mother-in-law.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place? I know Martha from church. She’s told us about the sweet girl who has been living with them and who’s going to marry her son. That’s you?”

  Jenny replied by hugging Hugh’s arm and nodding to the clerk.

  “OK, honey,” the clerk told Jenny, “your California license is current, so all you need to do to transfer it to an Idaho license is take the vision test and have your photo taken.”

  Hugh paid the license fee with his card.

  When Jenny returned from doing those things, the clerk printed out her provisional Idaho State Class D license, and said, “Keep this with you, and your card will be mailed to you. It was nice meeting you kids.”

  The clerk looked like she was going to gesture for the next person in line.

  “Wait a minute,” Jenny said. “Now I want to take the test for the CDL conditional learner’s permit.”

  “Say what?” the clerk asked.

  “I’m ready to take the written test to drive a truck,” Jenny repeated.

  “Well, aren’t you something?” The clerk said with an amused expression on her face.

  “Believe me. She’s ready,” Hugh said.

  He used his card to pay her exam fee, and the clerk handed Jenny a long sheet of paper with questions on both sides.

  Jenny looked at it, then said, “Tanker and hazmat endorsements too, please.”

  “I’m not believing this,” the clerk said with an amused expression as she handed Jenny the exam sheets for the endorsements. “I wish you luck, honey.” She pointed Jenny toward the sectioned-off portion of the room for testing.

  Hugh sat in a nearby chair. He could see Jenny was nervous when she first started. But he could see as she went through the first questions and easily answered them her confidence grew. She fairly flew through the rest of the test.

  “That was quick,” the clerk said when Jenny brought the test papers back to her. She rapidly scored Jenny’s answers.

  “How did I do?” Jenny asked nervously.

  “Honey, you pass,” she said. “You missed two on the general knowledge exam, one on the tanker exam, and got a perfect score on hazmat. I’ve never seen anything like it. Congratulations.”

  The clerk ran Jenny’s conditional use permit out of the printer and repeated what she had said earlier about keeping it with her at all times.

  On the way back to Hugh’s truck Jenny couldn’t help but shout her joy. “I can’t believe I did this! I love, love, love it!”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  On their way out of town on Highway 95, heading north toward the ranch, Hugh explained to Jenny the theory of engine revolutions and road speed for properly shifting an Eaton-Fuller ten speed. He told her that, unlike manual transmission passenger cars, semi-trucks don’t have a synchromesh transmission. The driver must precisely and manually match engine revolutions to road speed to slide out of one gear and into the next one.

  “I’m going to get you started right away on doing what’s called floating the gears, which is the opposite of how virtually all trucking schools teach.”

  “What’s the other method?”

  “It’s called double-clutching. You’ll have to learn it for your skills test, but you’ll learn to drive a lot quicker and a lot better if you start with floating.”

  “What’s the difference between the two?”

  “It will make more sense for me to show you when you’ve had a little driving experience, but for now just know we’ll be floating the gears.”

  A little farther down the road, Hugh slowed, then made a right turn onto a country road that led off in a straight line for miles into farm land. He pulled over onto the shoulder.

  “OK, kiddo. This is kindergarten.”

  “Huh?”

  “Time to put your learner’s permit to use.”

  “Really? Now?”

  “Good a time as any. Swap seats with me.”

  Hugh moved out of his driver’s seat, and Jenny slid in. Her feet dangled off of the floor.

  Hugh laughed. “You’re going to have to adjust the seat so you can operate the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals.”

  Jenny spent a considerable amount of time with buttons and levers bringing the seat forward and down. She also adjusted the steering wheel for telescoping and tilt.

  The truck had been idling with the tractor and trailer parking brakes set – yellow and red knobs pulled out.

  “Comfortable?” Hugh asked.

  Jenny nodded. “Just nervous.”

  “You’ll get over that. Now, hold the clutch down with your left foot and press down on the brake pedal with your right foot,” Hugh told her.

  “I’ve never driven a stick before,” Jenny said.

  “That’s actually good,” Hugh replied. “You don’t have to unlearn anything then.”

  Hugh told her to put the gear shift into third gear, and showed her how t
o push in the yellow and red tractor and trailer air brake knobs.

  “OK. You’re ready to go now. You’ve seen me do this a million times, so relax and think through every step. We’re not going to take any corners, there’s no other traffic, and this road goes straight for miles.”

  Jenny did what she had seen Hugh do. She took her foot off of the brake pedal and slowly released the clutch. The truck started to move forward, and she began putting pressure on the accelerator pedal. Because she had it in a low gear, the revs began climbing right away even though they weren’t going very fast.

  “Put your hand lightly on the gear shift knob with slight pressure toward fourth, and when you feel it start to give, let up on the accelerator and slide it quickly into fourth.”

  Jenny did as she was told. She waited for the sweet spot, and when she pushed the gear shift lever it seemed to slide into the next gear all by itself.

  “Beautiful,” Hugh said. “Now, very slight pressure on the accelerator to keep it at this speed. Pay attention to where you’re driving. Don’t get too distracted by thinking about the gears.”

  Jenny nodded.

  “A little more pressure on the accelerator, get your revs up, put slight pressure on the knob down toward fifth. Don’t forget to watch the road.”

  Jenny repeated what she had done before to put it into fourth gear, and nicely slid the truck into fifth gear.

  “Excellent. Keep it at this speed for a moment. Watch the road. You’re wandering a bit.”

  When Hugh saw Jenny had relaxed again, he explained to her about using the range selector switch to advance to sixth gear. That next gear was in the same location as first gear – all the way left and down.

  “When your revs are right, you pop it out of fifth gear, flip the range selector switch, move the gear shift up a little bit, bring it all the way left and then drop it down into sixth.”

  Jenny did as Hugh explained. When she had the revs high enough to feel the gear want to release, she pushed it out of fifth gear position, flipped the range selector switch, and began pulling the gear shift lever toward sixth gear, but she felt the gear shift lever shaking and heard a sound like a train wreck.