Trainers and students need to get on the same page too.

Left?

Turn the wheel left?
Make the trailor go left?
Your left or my left?

Thank you!!! That is what I wanted to know. By the time my teacher was done on the first two days of "turn it! turn it! turn it!" I was overcorrecting so badly... But I'll learn it. LOL
And please believe I can see a lot of humor in my backing up, I only wish I'd had it on film sometimes.

LumbermanSVO, you sound like a GREAT trainer, taking time to check on former students is a good morale booster. Turning out better students could make betters drivers eventually. As these students may one day, become trainers themselves & will remember how you trained them & will think this is standard procedure. In time the trend might continue all because of you.

I trained once, with Werner, for a short while...very interesting...people are that is...
Sometimes your student becomes totally dependent on you for everything...

I purchased one of those 2 way hand held radios for myself and them...that way I could aid with backing...and when at a truck stop could stay in touch while being seperated...but now with cell phones, I guess walkie talkies are absolete...

Some students 'no it all'...and some don't know nothing...I'de consider doing it again...if I stay in this field...

go to that one popular video website and punch in "backing up a tractor trailer" and yu will learn somne stuff by watching.I dont have my cdl yet but i think i have a general idea by watching what the trailer is doing and what the front wheels of the tractor are doing.

"Turn towards your trouble"

yep thats what the guy on the video said..if yu r backing up straight and yu see the back of the trailer in your mirror turn to that side...if yu look in the passenger side mirror and see the back of the trailer then turn to that side.. well put pharmphail...

I believe that this is an excellent post. Written by someone who has "been there and done that," and probably been excellent at his job. As he says, you can't do much with a "know it all."

But getting someone who is shy or very introverted to actually get a dialog going, can be difficult. But this is often what it takes when you are doing any type of teaching/training. The trick is to be able to pick up on folks who may turn out to be good drivers, but don't have the gumption to say to you, "wait a minute, I just don't understand this part of it."

It takes patience, empathy, courage and knowledge to be a good trainer. Trainers that try to yell their knowledge into a student's head are going to be quite unsuccessful with an awful lot of students.

Yes, there is a time and a place to do some yelling. But for the most part, folks learn better if they are treated like human beings.

Some folks have a harder time picking things up than others do. Some folks have a harder time learning when someone is watching! It is easy to have one of those "mental blocks" jump up and bite you, right when you don't want it to.

At that point, you need to just stop. Take a few breaths, relax a bit and then "try it again."

This is good! We all need to be able to laugh at ourselves. It is a great stress reliever!

__________________
My wife asked, "What will you be doing today?"

I replied,"nothing."

She said, "but you did that yesterday."

I said, "right, but I haven't finished it."

After many years as a leader in the military and then going from driver to driver supervisor and running a terminal there's three things you need to know.

1.) Know yourself
2.) Know your student
3.) Know your job

If you apply these principals you can teach most people. Do not tell them your history unless they ask and then be brief. Alot can be taught by showing instead of telling at first and then you'll want to progress where the student is showing you. I would say that knowing your job is most important. Learn all you can about the truck. Use the computer to research all you can. Try to get some training material from courses like the Smith System even if you have to pay for it yourself. It will make you a better driver and a better teacher.

Keep personal information to yourself and try the best you can to keep the student thinking about the job. I know it's hard when you're in the truck alot but just keep that thought in the back of your mind.

You're going to run into drivers that think they may know more than you do. Keep a level head and just explain they need to get by you to get the work. Make them show you they know. You're going to run into all kinds of different situations some good and some bad. You have to keep a level head and never argue about topics. Use all the common sense you can and use reason instead of debate. You'll be rewarded by the drivers that turn out to be good drivers and thank you. You'll find more of these than the ones that want to hammer down and talk big on the CB. Good luck and have fun.

this is exactly what we were told in school, we'll show you a couple times, help you at first, but you have to understand yourself. Trailer control, once you understood it, everything makes sense