Intermodal Training

I was talking to a Schneider recruiter last week, and he said Schneider's intermodal training was 5 days long. Aside from road worthiness of the chassis' and ensuring the lock pins are engaged and safetied, what else do they cover that would make it 5 days?

He said it was for experienced drivers, so I'm guessing it's not about the basics.

 

Probably four days of practicing your waiting skills, which at some of these ports you will spend plenty of time waiting not making money.

Adam

 

I hope they pay by the hour

 

Schneider's training covers intermodal equipment training, pier procedures for the area you are in and safe driving in all types of conditions.
XPO Drayage in Tacoma Seattle covers this quite well with high performing drivers and instructors.

 

Training to replace every single item on the chassis from lights, landing gear, rewiring electrical lines, changing tires, rotating tires, fixing door hinges, chains, patching holes on containers, fixing air brakes, manually adjusting all brakes, how to get the container secure without a crane, how to lock a container without pins

Long story short, improvise a lot.

 

Also sarcasm, but I had done all that doing intermodal besides the tires, and patching is basically duct tape

 

So, mechanics school? Cool.

The recruiter mentioned how different the container lot was with 50,000# containers swinging from cranes. But that seems more a matter of following established safety protocols. See sign, obey sign.

 

Yup each yard is different, it's good to go with a trainer just to learn how to register (fingerprint, picture taken) with the railyard, learn how to get a chassis flip, find where to get repairs, how to check in and out railyards, there's lots of tricks doing intermodal and a trainer can show u.

Better to learn how when you are on a salary pay than by yourself running around the railyard confused

 

Our training period, non Schneider, is 3 to 5 days, depending on the intelligence of the trainee. First two days are spent riding with a trainer, learning the paperwork, learning the procedures at the ramps, learning the procedures at the Depots. Proper hooking and inspecting process. Trainer drives each day (also, since our trucks are automatics or autoshifts, this gives the trainee a chance to see how the truck operates), third day trainee drives, trainer is along for the ride. Fourth and fifth days if needed are spent in the truck assigned to the trainee, with the trainer acting as a coach and giving followup. If it goes beyond a fifth day, your out the door.

 

Thanx for the insights. The recruiter was saying 5 days in WI prior to working a yard in PA, so their drill may not be the same. But good to know