This is why Trainees should be supervised, not run as a team!

Driving is risky business...no matter how many wheels are under you.

I have an uncle that has 7 million miles under his belt and no accidents, my Dad has 5 million miles and no accidents, another guy (in his 70's and still driving) that has I think 8 million miles and no accidents that were his fault (he did have a wreck several years back...and a bad one, but it wasn't his fault)

None of these guys ever had a trainer...


Its not the training that counts...its the driver and his/her work ethic.

That is not to say that training is a waste of time...it isn't. But even the best training that anyone has to offer will not prevent all accidents...its just bad luck!

Much the same as any one of those guys I mentioned will tell you...all those accident free miles can largely be accredited to just plain luck (along with an honest effort to do the job safely)

 

I think any company that allows trainers to sleep while the trainee is driving are crazy. If the trainee needs to get used to teaming then let him sleep while the trainer is driving. I think it's funny how in a situation like this it's all about miles but yet when these guys get out on their own all they do is sit around.

It's all about the money, these companies could care less about the deceased. Statistically they already know how many people they will kill in a given time frame and would much prefer it is one of their drivers due to a decision they the driver made as opposed to someone just driving down the road minding their own business.

 

Your points are valid...but so are mine.

It was 1971...
My Dad and uncle started together as a team in an old International...no training whatsoever, just a couple of farm boys that bought a truck and taught themselves how to drive it. The "team" lasted 2 years then Dad bought his own truck.

I'm not sure about Matlock, back when he started I don't think we even had drivers licenses....let alone CDL's. (heck, he may have even starting out driving mules)

I still say all the training in the world won't make a good driver out of a bad one...

 

If one doesn't have enough common sense not to travel 5 mph in second gear on an interstate highway with a typical speed of 65-70 mph after completing a truck driving training school, AND riding three weeks with a "trainer" then there is no hope left. I can't believe I'm seeing posts that condone this just because the posters themselves have little experience and are using it as an opportunity bash seasoned drivers..thats all it is plain and simple. Find a more intelligent and respectful way to amuse yourself, please. Prayers to the family of the deceased driver.

 

There's one steadfast fact in this realm.

You either got what it takes to be a trucker, or you don't.

These CDL mills and mega carriers have created this false image that anyone can do this job.

Fact is, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Sure it doesn't take much brain power to cruise down a rural interstate like most of us OTR guys do 85% of the time.

It's all the other 15% that make this career choice difficult at times. All of those little unknowns that pop up when we least expect it. It's the tight dock that "gets trucks in there all the time" at the end of a narrow dead end street in a major metropolitan area with low clearances waiting at the next wrong turn. It's the blinding lake effect snow that pops up as your cruising down I-94 east of Chicago in Indiana and dumps 19" of snow before you can say WTF? It's that elderly couple in that pick up truck on the shoulder that decides to pull out into the travel lane without any acceleration from the shoulder and there's no escape into the left lane thanks to split speed limits and afternoon rush between bedroom communities around Detroit. It's that state trooper that just received his CMV enforcement certifications but really doesn't know a CAT scale ticket from a bill of lading or a log book from a permit book. It's that car that stops at a stop sign long enough for you to think they've seen you and are waiting for you to get by them before they join you on that 2 lane state highway, only to find out that they were just making sure they were where they thought they were as they proceed to turn in front of you.

Then there's the knowns. The being gone from your family, your friends, and your possessions (if that's important to you). The school plays, sporting events, dance recitals, birthdays, holidays, etc. etc. that you'll miss. The delays at a shipper or receiver just because that's how they operate. The breakdown/traffic jam/bad weather (circle all that apply) that will always slow you down when you can't afford to miss a minute.

No amount of training will tell you whether or not you can handle it.

No school will teach you what it takes to handle it.

You either handle it, or you don't.

 

i don't think the trainer should be allowed to sleep while the noob is driving #### anything can happen weather it be the noobs fault or not i went through a comunity college my trainer didn't sleep at all i was actulay trained me though backing is a ##### but i don't care how much experiance you have backing is always a ##### though we was at a truck stop in nh and some ahole backed in without having enough brains and getting on the radio and asking us to help him don't tell me you need a college degree to operate a efing cb radio what it's there for so me and my bro lost a mirror cause lame ### couldn't get on the radio and ask for help. tohugh onbe thing i learned is never tell a driver you can't do something tell em you don't know how and ask to see if they would help you and most of the time they will how hard is that

 

It ain't that plain and simple, hand. This ain't a black and white world.

Of course the CRST truck shouldn't have been doing 5 mph. Of course the trainer shouldn't have been asleep. Of course the FCC truck shouldn't have rear-ended the CRST truck. An eye witness stated that he had plenty of time to pass CRST, and stated that he past the FCC truck 1/4 mile or more before the CRST.

I guess everyone shoulda hit the CRST truck because he wasn't thinking and was driving well below what any normal thinking driver would consider safe.

We don't know how much experience the FCC driver had. We know he was in his 50s, but so was the student driver who played a huge hand in the demise of said FCC driver. So age doesn't equal experience.

 

No...and thats not what I'm trying to say.

I'm trying to say that accidents WILL happen...even to the best among us.

I've covered quite a few miles myself, accident free so far...I was "officially" trained by Schneider, but my first experience driving a truck was when I was only 12 years old (drove Dads cabover Pete from Van Horn to McAllen...US90 to US83)

I draw my conclusions from a lot of old drivers that I know (many are family, some are friends)...if you disagree, so be it.

But I still say it takes a certain kind of person to drive a truck and like it (these are the ones that are usually the best at it)...much like Merle said in "Movin On" (paraphrased...the most important qualities in a good driver are steady hands, a cool head, and calm nerves)