Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
I just find it shocking how easy it is to get a CDL in some places.Never said it wasn't. The military sent me to a school that taught how to write those kind of tests. CDL written tests are about as simple and non-difficult as they come.
I got mine through a community college in 2004 and although it's been a long time, I don't recall them ever mentioning anything about mountain driving. The only thing they told us about the jake brake was "don't mess with it". We obviously had no need for it, running an empty trailer around in the flatlands, but he didn't even explain what it was for. I already knew what it was for, having been in them before, but they didn't know that.
I wasn't told jack squat about it until orientation at Covenant. Covenant provided additional training but it was not legally required. I could have gone & bought my own truck, or worked for a small outfit that provides no training, and it would have been perfectly legal.
But in practice, during my 3 weeks teaming with a trainer, the only time we ever saw mountain grades with a loaded trailer, he was driving.
The first time I descended a mountain grade with a heavy load, I was by myself and coincidentally it was I-70 eastbound through Colorado. I had no difficulty keeping it under control but I could definitely see how easily it could get out of control.
I'd really like to know how this guy we're talking about was trained and I'd REALLY like to know how he made it past all the other grades on that highway. Did they say where his load originated from, so we can figure out how many other grades he made it down before this crash?