Training you wished you had more off

Honestly every student is different, some gets the qc in 3 days, some need another week.
The qc is what most student have a hard time on. I think mostly the logs and load info. The reason I got the hang of the qc is because my t.e was in a daycab and we did about 8 loads per day for 5 days. But in a sleeper, I do about 8 loads a week with student

 

I had a really good trainer, so I knew everything after 4 1/2 days! (And if you believe that, I have some ocean front property in central Kansas for sale...)

Like w.h.o. says, everyone is different. I struggled most with ETAs. I always overestimated the amount of time it would take me to get somewhere, then end up waiting for a load because I set my NAT too far out.

 

As WHO and Micki siad, trip planning and the QC but you only have a maximum of 7 days and only 5-7 loads so there is a limit to how much practical application you can do.

Scaling is another thing that we talk about a lot but may not have to opportunity to practice much. Think about how many loads you NEED to reweigh each week? Some weeks it will be every load but a lot of weeks you'll put the truck on the scale just to show them how to weigh. You'll want to save scale tickets from heavy loads that you needed to make adjustments on to show the 200-250 lb a hole is an estimate not holy writ.

Showing them how to change a trailer light. This is something I always mean to do but usually forget about - especially when it's cold, or dark, or wet, or the trainee is struggling, or annoying. I went 8 months before I had to change my own trailer light for the first time. I'd remember talking about it with my trainer but not how to do it correctly. I tried to pull out the gasket instead of pushing the light thru. I got it done but man was it a pain.

Your first couple of guys you'll find every couple miles you'll come up with something else you want to mention. Over time you'll figure out a pattern of topics and hit the highlights. For me day one is QC/Elog overview, tolls, ezpass, and map reading. Day two is maintenance - mainly because it's a topic they have questions about, scaling and hopefully WF. Day 3 is HOS, recaps, and trip planning. Day 4 a little trip planning but mostly letting them process/review. Day 5 Load securement, cargo claims. Day 6 permit book and hazmat. Day 7 review and paperwork.

If a topic comes up early we'll cover it then. One of the harder things is keeping the trainee focused on the task at hand. They'll be in the middle of coupling/pretripping/etc and ask a really good question about a non related topic. If you stop and answer it fully you'll kill the 14 and more importantly break the routine of steps of what ever they're doing so they remember neither the question nor the task at hand. You'll also need to pace how much information you throw at them at one time. Too much and they'll be crying themselves to sleep, then quit halfway thru the week (yes, I've had this happen, multiple times - once in less than 24 hours).

Each guy is different and each week's loads are different so it's almost impossible to be 100% consistent in emphasizing the "important things". Some weeks I have a lot of maintence issues so that looks to be the "Most Important Thing". Or the APM/customer/life screw with my HOS and parking - so that's foremost in the trainee's mind.

I should be in GB the weekend before you start. If you get in on Sunday we can round up the rest of your class and grab dinner.

 

I would say Trip Planning and how to be a courteous driver such as not blocking fuel island watching speed 8n truck stops. Not parking bobtail where a combo could park. I'd also go over lane changes I've seen more Drivers cutting too close and too quickly. Also can you stress they shower daily.

 

Congrats 91', hope you find it a rewarding experience and get to bring home some more $$$ to boot.

Here are the things I wished my trainer had done more of with me:

Practice the different parking situations, not just taking the easiest three-wide pull-through spot there is. Same with parking/leaving the angled spots in rest areas.
Even if it's a "fake" weigh on a super light trailer, do it and adjust the tandems, not just telling how it would be done. If you do a relay load this is a perfect time to do it, might also help drill into the student to scale relays before dropping.
Show a few good must-have tools like vice grips for locking out a tandem handle that won't lock out on it's own, big screwdriver/pry bar for removing the spring on busted tandem pin assemblies, etc.
Show how to use straps to secure different types of loads, maybe also the importance of having at least one load bar for securing oddly-placed loads like Frito

Those are a few things off the top of my head that I remember having to figure out on my own that I wish my trainer had gone over more with me.

Also, don't forget the most important thing - TA000000.

 

BACKING!!!!!

 

Here's my dumb question - what's that mean?

 

It's used to close out a work flow pick up trailer task in order to finish the assignment out. Very handy on Monday evenings or when you don't need an mt but need to finish the tasks to say bobtail somewhere. Waiting for the work assignment update can be long and drawn out.