What didn't you learn in driving school?

The school I went to had a skid pan, I believe they have since killed that part of the deal. It was pretty dang cool though. First time through they had us do an actual 360 bobtail hydroplane. Second time through students were taught to steer into the skid and recover.

Couple of things that weren't covered when I went through school. Rules, and etiquette in truck stops. Simple stuff like fueling was never discussed. Sounds simple enough for somebody with a mechanical background, but I am sure some of the people I went through that class with were clueless.

Scales houses and dealing with the DOT. Of course we learned hours of service and PTI, and the rest of that good stuff. But, the little simple stuff like not bouncing a scale, and cab cards were never covered. Nor what to expect in NM or Or, and what to expect when going into Ca.

Oh, and maybe the biggest thing they missed of all. MAPS, not one single minute going over maps. They didnt teach us how to read one, nor did they explain how mile markers worked, and how they coincided with exit ramps. Thank goodness I had a decent enough trainer who took the time to explain all of these little things to me.

They could have easily skipped a day of gear shifting (comes with time and repetition) to clue us in on some real world issues truckers deal with on a daily basis.

 

I'm still in school at the moment, (hope to pass my drive test Thursday) but one thing I wish my school taught the students better was "real world backing". The skill instructor has a way of jack knifing the truck and hitting certain points with certain axles in order to pass the alley dock test at the DMV. Luckily for my sake, I spent a week with another one of the trainers and learned how to back the real way. It's nice that the instructor found a way to get almost anyone to pass the DMV exam, but that isn't going to help the student one bit when they actually get out on the road in the real world.

 

They actually taught a whole day on trip planning and map reading in my school. My school was alright, they taught us how to fuel up, drop n hook, etc. They did'nt physcially show us how to slide tandems though, that could've been emphasized. The trainers at my school took TON's of breaks, Enough that I and a few other student's complained about it, we were paying good money to be there! Luckily for me I come from a family of drivers that if I missed something at school I had a family member show me, but some people don't have that luxury.

 

What I learned in school was that out of 27 students, I wouldnt hire our trust my life in the hands of only 3 and I was one of them. What I wanted to learn more of was backing up. Also wanted more map our plotting skills

 

That is why researching schools is very important. My school had us do a lot of backing, and they would always change it up so you never did it the same way twice. We even had to learn and do the serpentine backing, although it was not required for the dmv test.
We went over the map, learning how the mile markers run and the basic stuff. Same with logging, we only got the basics, not so much how to really log.

I agree that the school really need to teach what it is really like. I know thi may sound wierd, but when I left shcool I didn't have the slighest clue what to expect, I didn't even know if I would be sleeping in pajama's or my clothes, about the showering, I knew if I got fuel my shower was free, but how did it work, what about when you wake up and need to use the restroom.
If they could have just walked me through a day (or two) in the life of a trucker on the road. It would of saved me time, headache and money, and I am sure my trainer would of appreciated it to.

Trucking is a lot like camping, and there are little things that make a big difference. In school no body is actually living in the truck, so you just hop in and out without a thought that this will be your home, where your sleeping. On the road you take a little extra care and effort to try and keep it clean and livable. My trainer was very meticulous about his truck, he took exceptional care of it, inside, outside and mechanically. Our first day out, we went to walley world and I had things to get so I didn't mess up his truck. I am the same way now in my truck.

 

I wish someone would have taught me how to blindside back across four lanes of traffic into an alley in Brooklyn.

 

The school I went to taught us how to get our CDL and that was pretty much it. We were told that who ever we went to work as a trainee for would teach us how to drive... I really would have been happy if the instructor would have taken the time to really work with me on backing and shifting.
My instructor was really busy, texting and getting messages, and telling the guys on the truck jokes that I wasn't "allowed" to hear.
Everything that was in the classroom, like trip planning, logs, etc. was really well done. But different teachers. The classroom guys were pretty serious about teaching us.
I will say though, a lot of the things that I was taught are still with me now and I do find it useful information in my day to day.

 

I had the same problem with an instructor, He wanted to send text messages all day instead of instruct, it got pretty bad when a few of us guy's who were "getting it" were out trying to help a few students on the backing range who were just totally clueless. The jokes would've pissed me off if I were you.

 

if I didn't know better I would think that you went to the same school I did. Some of the guys were helping people who were having problems. The joke thing did piss me off, he told me that I couldn't hear them cause I was a girl. So, don't tell them when you're supposed to be teaching, do it at break or lunch. You're wasting my time. I paid for my own schooling, he was wasting my time and money. And believe me, I needed all the help I could get. As Bugs Bunny would say, "what a maroon" LOL.