The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) announced earlier this week that it would be focusing on pushing through two items to be included in the upcoming highway bill, neither of which should come as any surprise. The first order of business for OOIDA is to push for better training for new drivers by demanding that they only be taught by certified driver trainers. They also plan on pursuing reforms for the regulation process in the trucking industry.
The driver trainer certification program is being dubbed “Truckers for Safety.” OOIDA hopes to combat the training programs known as “CDL mills” who teach drivers only enough to pass the CDL exam, but fail to teach them the skills they will need to be a safe driver. By mandating that every driver must be trained by a certified instructor, OOIDA hopes that new drivers will learn the skills they need to keep themselves and others safe before they’re ever licensed to drive on public roads. The Truckers For Safety initiative also highlights the need for better truck parking, safer infrastructure, education for non-CDL drivers about sharing the road with CMVs, safe driving enforcement strategies, and crashworthiness testing that would rate a truck cab for occupant protection. The second initiative is being called “Fixing FMCSA,” and, as the name implies, focuses on lobbying congress to require new independent reviews of the agency’s regulations. The unspoken but very clear targets of this initiative are the highly controversial HOS changes, CSA scoring system, and possibly the new EOBR mandate which will require an EOBR in every Class A commercial motor vehicle in the country.
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Source: overdriveonline
its about timebut what are they concidering certified for instructors? I know they should have several or more years of experiance as a driver but you wouldn’t want someone just out of school to be an instructor either.Its just like a school teacher in some cases , if the student want to learn they will retain what you teach them . I taught at a truck driving school and here is a story about one student .I was in the truck with him driving to the test site for his licence. We came to this intersection and he asked which way to go. Now picture this,straight ahead is a DO NOT ENTER, can’t make a left because its is a RIGHT TURN ONLY . Well guess what this student did? Thats right ,he went straight. I grabbed the intructors brake and pulled. After a good talk about went on we proceded to the test site where he failed because he couldn’t blind side .Oh by the way,this was his fifth try.
I am assuming you mean a 90 degree blind side. Were they smoking weed at the test site? Why even bother showing up for the test. There are drivers who have been out here for years and still have trouble with a blind side 90.
I hope he isn’t still trying.
I’m a truck driver who drives because he enjoys it. I also enjoy teaching. I use to own a computer tech support business where I spent the day with my clients in their homes. The first couple of hours was spent cleaning up their computer, optimizing it so that it ran on average, 200% faster than when it came out of the box. Meanwhile I would be chatting with them, learning about them. When their computer was running great, had all the best freeware available, and was organized where everything was easy to find, I would start teaching them how to use the computer. I charged a flat rate, so they weren’t watching the clock, and most of them had told me when they scheduled the appointment, that they had no desire to learn, but wanted my optimizing services. By the time I got to the teaching part, I knew enough about them and their personality, that I knew what methods to use to pique their interest, and what subjects to address first (usually to eliminate their fears of hackers and malware). 99% of them were amazed at all that they learned during our afternoon. Eventually their referrals were my only marketing, and many who had been terrified of the computer, soon became their office’s computer expert. I made a lot of friends, and was able to provide free ongoing tech support for the life of their computers, because once they learned what I had to teach, they didn’t really need me anymore.
Most people do not belong in the career field they have chosen. Most managers don’t know how to effectively motivate their employees. Most truck drivers have no social skills and don’t have a clue about teaching others. I’ve watched countless unfortunate drivers (Stevens Transport is the most common) who obviously had lousy trainers, or nowhere near enough time with a good one.
Many teachers in our public schools can’t teach. (Watch “Stand and Deliver”. True story of loser kids who excelled because of an awesome teacher!) I don’t see how they will get enough certified teachers, willing to deal with even more government oversight, capable of actually teaching.
I’m not a trainer because my Volvo VNL780 isn’t big enough for me AND a student. 🙂 lol
But I would give up my life on the road, temporarily at least, to teach trainers, the psychology of teaching competent drivers.
Agan OOIDA on the side of more govermtnt in our lifes. We dont need eather one off these things. WE need somebody that is truely fitting for what best for trucking, Not lineing there pokets with drivers money
I believe that certification can only help the industry, I see more and more drivers on the road that are unprepaired for the job of driving . Even these so called trucking schools that are allowed to test their own students, I have road tested many of these candidates and they can’t shift or even back up straight. They pay 8 to 10 thousand dollars for this and still have no idea how to drive a truck. It makes all of us look bad when one of these rookies gets out there and drives poorly. Certification has got to be tough and testing needs to be as well.