Training newbies.

Gas Hauler is right... Ive been doing this 40 yrs and dont have a single ticket/accident or DOT violation... and it should be on a license that the holder is a Certified Trainer..maybe gashauler remembers at one time we use to be certified in Brakes...Even though i never touched the brake system...

 

Nah, let's face it.... we're not considered "cool" except by the guys/girls at our level of experience. We're "old farts", "chicken" or "behind the times".

One thing I would insist on is a good, intense week or so on the mechanicals (air brake systems, engines, trannys, differentials,etc) of a truck and how they work. I'm sick to death of "drivers" doing pretrips, etc without the faintest idea of what they're looking at let alone knowing the impending trouble clues.

Howinell can you know your brakes are going out if you don't even know what to look for?

 

True , there are drivers qualified but would they be willing to tolerate some of these wannabes ?

 

The simulator idea would work if the FMCSA mandated training program required them .
I think simulators would solve a lot of problems and reduce the number of people CDL mills rip off . Students would have to pass testing on a simulator to graduate . If they can't pass they haven't been taught and should get a refund .
There should also be simulator aptitude and skills testing before being admitted to a school . This type testing is used in Europe but not here because it would eliminate a lot of potential income for schools .
Now here's something interesting from 1966 showing the effectiveness of aptitude testing . With today's technology testing could be much more effective . http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED061329.pdf

 

I would like some time in a simulator. I can think of hundreds of situations that I would like to try.

 

Although many here do not like the tv show, "Ice Road Truckers", Hugh and Alex had to train on one, their first time up there in Alaska, as well as that gal from NY/NJ, Maya? (I think her name was??)

What the gal said (and I saw it happening) was that in the middle of the "road" a little girl popped up. Now Maya said, and I totally agree, NO CHILD pop's up like that. They DO come out to the street from in front of or the back of parked cars, ice cream trucks, etc. But to "pop up" in the middle like that?? NO WAY.

So unless the simulator can be 1000% accurate, what good are they?

They ain't "real world" driving scenarios. Helpful perhaps, in giving "some idea' as to what might happen, but certainly NOT perfect. You wanna trust a machine over practical real scenarios?

There was a school in either Indiana or Ohio, I think, that was once using a former oval race track. real world scenarios could be used MORE effectively on a "closed course" if need be, rather than "live" streets.

Any Indiana/Ohio residents confirm if that school is still there??

(It might have been Ohio, as at the time, I was working at the now defunct, Victory Express out of Medway, and my co-driver was from Ohio as well, and told me that was the school he had attended.)

 

Mandatory mechanics classes.
Mandatory paper work classes.
Mandatory regulation classes.
Mandatory load securement classes.

Oh wait, that's the stuff trainers are supposed to do with a new driver during training.

Most state universities are starting to look at $10K for tuition in 9 months. Privates are pushing double that.

And you want this for someone who's just going to push a rig down the road?

All the other associated stuff is business management, maintenance planning and forecasting and work planning.

Try to remember there is differences there.

 

Hey Gizmo what’s going on.

Are you peeing on my thunder, LOL.

I agree, simulators are not real world but driving off the side of a cliff would be a shocking realization.

Simulators are used for all sorts of training ranging from flying fighter jets to fighting crime. Our military uses simulators for training soldiers to drive tanks and law enforcement uses them for training new recruits in firing weapons. Amusement parks use simulators that allow people to experience rides in ways that real world experience would be considered to dangerous. I’ve been in a fighter jet simulator and the effects were unbelievable. It’s nothing like playing a video game. There is a flat bed company in Iowa that uses simulators but they’re not even close to the technology available today. They’re just cheap knock offs.

If you’re ever up by the mall of America in Minnesota stop in and try the fighter jet simulator. It will blow your mind.

The thing about real world training is that when one is trained by a moron one will only succeed at being a moron. LOL

What would you do differently if you had the opportunity to open a OTR training school?

 

You speak to me, as though we know each other??

It only becomes shocking, when one buys a cut-rate GPS!!

 

You’re right Mr. D. I don’t know you.

I was just expressing my thoughts about a topic on a public forum in a friendly tone.

In the future I’ll be sure to tip toe around your posts.

Be safe