how many of you prospective new truck drivers REELY know how to read an atlas??

I am a perpetual student of this business, as the only constant is change. Of life because I ain't dead yet. I have learned things about life and driving from students fresh out of school and from well seasoned 3 million milers and from all levels between. I will stop learning when the crematorium they put me in (not realizing it - despite the warning in my will) burns to the ground because they foolishly tried to torch the remains of 160 pounds of human that turned out to be mostly diesel fuel, though, admittedly by then it will likely be a mixture of bio-diesel and CNG - you know; the whole constant change thing.

Now if I could just learn to shut up and say: "Yes Dear" my wife would be infinitely happier and I suspect that fact would make me infinitely happier too. Ahhh. Still so much to learn. Hey. No smoke at the crematorium yet so there's still time.

 

Even I can do that . Lol

Rt 2 , rt 20 , I90e to 294 s , 80/94e

Lol and I haven't been out there in like a week

Oh and throw 355 in there just because its a shared "I"
lmao
I do not like Chicago area tho . I see way to many morons out that way...

 

Okay... it should be mentioned that no one is preventing the student or new driver from learning to use the atlas themselves.. there is information in the front of the big laminated atlas that one can use to better understand the atlas, there are youtube videos on using an atlas and trip planning...

The trucking industry the way it is portrayed here on the forum is the only industry where an individual.. a driver has no accountability... it is always the companies fault or the trainers fault for not training everything.. as a new driver I am always gathering information and learning what I can and most certainly what I need to know to do my job effeciently, safely and properly... so, an individual who is entering in the industry to drive a truck to, from and around places should take the time to learn skills and things that will be necessary for them to perform their job and to be successful...

I am invested in my own success... whether it be reading books, watching videos, from other drivers.. I am not gonna leave my success to chance or some trainer.. if I feel there is something I need to know and learn then I go about finding the information I need...

As for trainers.. again, trainers are not necessarily the best and most knowledgeable drivers and that is why they aretrainers... they are ths ones willing to train... to have a stranger/student live with them in their truck... often, they do it for the money to supplement their pay checks... which, pretty much means they were unable to be successful on tneir own.. they were not able to make a good pay check ...


I dont agree that anything about using an atlas needs to be on the CDL test... I do however think it would be beneficial if anyone training had to go through more then just the two day companies training for trainers and had to be tested and qualified by the DMV to be a trainer... like when I took scuba diving.. the instructors or trainers had to be a licensed Dive instructor...

But, since that is not the reality we are in.. new drivers who really want to succeed will have to learn somethings on their own in order to be a professional driver and to ensure their success.... and stop whining about not be taughtthis or that when there are numerous books and videos that teach you..

 

Well said!
You think almost the same way I do. I'm always researching stuff. My truck, the motor, the transmission, watching videos, asking other drivers, forums, pretty much anything I can do to expand my knowledge and make me a better driver.

 

It boggles my mind that so many purported experienced drivers imply that after 1 year of experience they hadn't learned much if anything worth teaching a new driver with no experience.

 

Or, alternatively, guys so new to the intertube they haven't recognized "thread drift" is as common as not.

 

Then this will keep you entertained for awhile: http://www.scienceservingsociety.com/traffic-safety.htm

*Chapter 1 and Chapter 16 are free (click to see pdf of Chapter 1 and Chapter 16 exactly as printed)

Text only of all chapters (html without, figures, tables, equations, or reference annotations in text) is available

​

Index provides detailed list of topics (page numbers refer to those in the book -- not available in html version).

​

Leonard Evans is an internationally renowned traffic safety expert. His degrees include a doctorate in physics from Oxford University, England. He has presented traffic-safety lectures, including 22 Keynote Addresses, in 30 countries. His 195 publications include Traffic Safety (2004) and his distinctly different Traffic Safety and the Driver (1991). Traffic Safety is used in more than 50 countries. It is a college course text in many, including many US universities.

Dr. Evans' research has received awards from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the International Traffic Medicine Association (ITMA), the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM), the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), the International Association for Accident and Traffic Medicine, the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and General Motors (GM).
He has been president of ITMA and AAAM, the only individual to have headed both organizations. He is president of Science Serving Society, a one-man organization he formed in 2000 to continue research and other professional activities after completing a 33-year research career with GM.

Dr. Evans was a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer (2001-2), and recipient of the SAE’s Lloyd L. Withrow Distinguished Speaker Award (2005, and also 2006). He is a fellow of the SAE, a fellow of HFES, a fellow of the AAAM, President Emeritus of the ITMA, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

 

Yeahbut... those are "professional" organizations' licenses, not those of government.

A truck driver would be insulted at the suggestion they would need a license to teach or train (and even I wouldn't join any organization that would accept someone like me as a member).

 

I didnt look at the atlas , but I can't remember 290 for some reason . Is it shared with another hwy?
I have been up there so many times .
we have a yard out in Rochelle. .