How do experienced drivers think new drivers should be trained

It's real simple.
Pay me 500 bucks a week on top of the
Mileage pay.
Truck is dispatched as a solo driver.

I'll sit in that passenger seat all day long.
The trainee will do everything,and I mean everything
That comes along with the job.
I'm there to coach him along the whole way.

In a month when he gets his own truck,
There won't be anything he can't handle.

 

When I first got my CDL I went and got a permit, practiced in the yard for a lil bit, then had a trainer with me in the yard for two weeks, then went on the road doing local pickups with a trainer. At no point did the trainer really do the job other than a demonstration so I could see before I did. Just like @Western flyer suggested and I think it worked well. It was one on one with plenty of time to learn the basics but I didn't really learn how to drive till I was out on the road.

 

there really isn't any standardized training, that all schools adhere to. due to costs, many if not all schools have short versions of the training. when you shorten anything, you lose substance.

all the trucking companies that have training are even worse. many if not all trainers are not highly experienced drivers themselves, yet they train.

back in my day, a driver HAD TO HAVE a minimum of 10 years driving experience, pass several skills tests, THEN be considered to be a driver trainer.

all that went out the doors with federal training programs, workforce training programs.


"get'em in, get'em out, our government checks are in the mail"

the revolving door on students in CDL training at any trucking company proves that mantra of "the money keeps flowing in, as long as we show we tried to train them, yet they failed"...

there is no aptitude testing, only a HS diploma or a GED is required at most jobs.

yes, this is not rocket science, but dummies that cannot understand the concept of piloting an 80,000 pound missile down the road does take some amount of common sense and a working brain.

until the feds step in and lay down tougher training standards, and standardized training, dummies will continue to wreak havoc on the roads.

also, there MUST be in place a better nationwide (including adjoining countries) stiffer penalties for alcohol/drug use, arrests, convictions, to rid this industry of doped up, sauced up drivers. up to and including a lifetime ban on such people from even getting a learners permit.

 

true, all any school will do is teach the basics.

but, here in lies the problems..

1) inept driver trainers

2) companies wanting trucks on the roads, at all costs

3) accidents, injuries, deaths, massive destruction

4) lack of respect from the general public

5) lack of respect from the law enforcement due to 1-2-3 above

6) promises of great wages, but only when rolling

7) working long hours each week for nearly peanuts

what is there to really learn when you get that job and go out with a trainer...????

you learn that if you don;t have common sense or a functioning brain, you're no better than anyone else, and are only contributing to the carnage on the roads.

 

First read, write and speak English...... then the yard work. Then on the road with a trainer running as solo (maybe super solo) not team

 

that might only work during any training period.

once a driver is on his own, the company can say, "we trained him, he passed at that time"..

"whatever he did wrong, we didn't teach him to do that"...