- Class A pre-trip inspection.
Oh my God, there is so much information.
How am I going to remember all of this information
to pass my CDL license and get trucking?
These tips, these five tips for memorizing information
will work for any subject that you're going to learn.
But today, we're going to work on the class one
pre-trip inspection.
Tip number one, get rid of all of the crap.
Bruce Lee said that learning is not about adding more stuff.
It's getting rid of the stuff that you don't need.
If you're in Raleigh, North Carolina,
it doesn't matter if the test is harder in El Paso, Texas.
It just doesn't matter.
You got to get all of that extraneous crap out of your head
and move forward with the pre-trip inspection.
Second tip, break it down into categories.
Stick with the sequence of the truck.
The best path of travel around the truck
is under the hood, in the cab,
around the truck counterclockwise,
and then under the truck and back in the truck
to finish up your pre-trip inspection.
Stick with the sequences.
Break it down into sections.
Start at the top, left to right, to the bottom.
And if you can do that, stick to the sequence,
stick to the patterns, that is going to help you
to memorize the information that you need.
Think of your passcode for your phone.
Four digit passcode.
We don't remember the number, but we remember the pattern.
Think of it in terms of patterns,
because when you get into the cab,
it's going to be a little tougher,
because it doesn't lend itself to an easy pattern,
and most of it's going to be memorization.
Tip number three, record yourself,
write the stuff down on flashcards.
That will help you to memorize,
because the act of writing stuff down
helps us to get it into our head and to memorize.
That's why people who take notes generally sit
at the front of the class and get the top marks.
So write it down, flashcards, get your spouse,
your other half, your kids, somebody else,
to come out and record you doing the pre-trip inspection.
And that way, you have a tool that you can go back,
you can visualize it.
You can see the steps involved in getting the information
into your head.
Teach it to somebody else.
Teach it to your kids, teach it to your spouse,
teach it to anybody who will watch you
learn how to do the pre-trip inspection
and teach somebody else, because to teach is to learn.
And you'll get the details into your head.
Tip number four, acrostics, acronyms,
and other learning mnemonics.
My very excellent mother just served us nachos.
That's the way you remember the planets.
And it's a tip that you can use
for learning any information.
The in-cab air brake test, for example.
Grandma likes everyone because grandma is lovable.
This is the air brake test that you have to do in-cab.
Governor load setting, low air warning, emergency brakes,
compressor 50 to 90 within three minutes
for most states and provinces.
And then governor maximum leak test.
The five Fs.
This is another mnemonic that you can use.
The emergency equipment.
First aid, fire extinguisher, flares, fluids,
and flashlight, and as well,
for coupling and uncoupling, LAP, PDA.
Okay, so uncoupling is LAP, landing gear airlines pin,
and then PDA, public displays of affection.
These are all mnemonics,
and things that you can use to get the details
into your head when you're learning the pre-trip inspection.
Tip number five, associate the information
with something you already know.
The air brakes, for example.
They're going to look a bit complicated
when you get into a big truck,
but they're the same as what you have in your car.
You have a brake pedal, the service brakes,
you have parking brakes for the trailer and the truck.
You have parking brakes and emergency brakes
in your car as well.
One and the same.
The only difference is in your car they're manual,
in a big truck, they're automatic.
Think of a pickup truck that has a trailer
that has electric brakes on it.
You've got a brake controller in the pickup truck.
The information is similar,
and that's what you need to do.
When you're memorizing stuff,
try and associate it with information that you already know.
If you can do that,
you're going to be able to take on more.
In keeping with that,
start big and then go down into the details.
For example, the tires.
There's 10 tires on a tandem tandem tractor trailer.
Every tire's the same.
All the suspension components are the same at each wheel.
There's only airbags, shock absorbers,
and leaf springs under there.
You can't get any more suspension components.
So know that, and that's going to simplify it
after you've done it once or twice,
because the first time you do it, you're thinking,
oh my God, there's 10 wheels.
How am I going to know all of these?
Each wheel is more or less the same.
The suspension components are the same.
So break it down into the big,
and then go to the detail and put the information
into terms, into your own words,
and try and familiarize it
with things that you already know.
All of that will help you with the pre-trip inspection.
For the complete detailed list
and wording of what you need to do
for the Class A pre-trip inspection and be successful,
click down here.
And for the video of the complete pre-trip inspection,
click here.
And remember, pick the best answer,
not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great day.
Bye now.