NEW CDL Student Travel Log

What should a trainee do if a instructor tells him to keep driving. Don't really want to start off on the wrong foot with someone your going to be stuck in a truck with. What's the proper way to handle this so neither party gets in trouble or upset.

 

As someone who could find himself in a similar situation very soon, I think this is an interesting topic. And I think hoblog raises a good question. What's the answer? Because I honestly don't know what I would do.

To clarify I believe GR is still driving with a permit and not a CDL (please correct me if that is wrong). So his trainer was right next to him for the whole shift. Given that every one of us has to drive through construction zones, heavy traffic, bridges, DOT scales, etc. for the first time and everyone has to put in a full 11 hour driving shift at some point ... isn't the best time to gain that experience with your trainer right next to you? From that perspective I can totally understand where GR is coming from.

On the other hand if the company specifically said, "New students cannot drive the full 11 on their first day..." That's taking a big risk. So I understand the criticism and the safety concerns. But criticism alone does not offer up a good answer.

Bottom line is I'm just trying to learn from the experience of others. So given company policy, the training environment, the pressure of a freight schedule ... what's the right thing for a student to do?

 

There is at least a minnimum of 75 hours of student driving with the instructor sitting next to them in a passenger seat. Prime has calculated the average student does 125 hours based on all the submitted student training log sheets. This sheet is separate of the driver logs and breaks down into driving, backing, pre trips and local/range work. Both student and instructor have to initial each entry.

in this average of 125 hours, believe me, the student gets to experience alot of the situations. Best shifting practice with RPM control (up and down) is stop and go traffic. Hands down shifting really begins to click if the trainee doesn't get too flustered in that situation.

First thing Prime discusses in the Instructor course is instructor pay and bonuses. I think after that most of the morons tune out.

The simple reasoning for gradual increase in driving time is that the added stress of beginning to drive fatigues the student more quickly. They are tense, not used to the eye strain, unfamiliar enviroment, introduction to truck operating lifestyle and sleep patterns. I know my knee and thigh were pretty sore those first few days I had to do city driving and stop and go traffic.

Does the safety issue here make sense?

The instructor should give the driving gameplan for the day. Student should know what potential situations he's facing on his shift. Examples, getting off interstate and navigating truck stop for fuel, getting back on road, city highway traffic, hilly terrains were a downshift might be required, 2 lane state routes, or four lane highways with intermittent stop lights...etc etc etc! I like to do basic trip planning from the beginning, which involves all this, however I make the student understand that their primary focus is the safe operation of the vehicle.

You can't go wrong by blaming safety for 100 percent of anything you don't feel comfortable doing or being asked to do something you know to be wrong. Prime has a Captain of the ship policy and no one can force you to drive in a situation you feel unsafe.

 

One last thing. They like to say. "Prime is a trucking company that trains, not a training company." Business comes first.

GR might be getting a false reality from his L/O instructor.

Business comes first, but the student, especially in the first week, is not a tool to be utilized to conduct that business.

You can argue the use of a student to run "super Solo," however I dare anyone to say that running Super Solo with a student driving 11 hours on the first day is an acceptable practice at Prime.

what if the student melts down, or decides to quit? Business is not going to get done if that truck is parked, the instructor has already driven his hours, and a student with drive hours that can't or won't drive.

 

You're saying it's best to err on the side of safety, especially with untested drivers. I don't think anyone can argue with that. So the question is did GR or his trainer ever feel unsafe or if they were overdoing it for the sake of the schedule in those 10 hours and 57 minutes? It's a rhetorical question because only GR and trainer can answer it. I tend to agree with you that for most people (myself included) it would be too much. But maybe they were fine with it. People learn at different speeds ... some people thrive in high pressure, some people need to be eased into it and some can't take it at all. But as the 'Captain of the ship' it sounds like it's their decision and it's up to them to find a safe balance between training needs and the business of delivering loads.

Anyway, thanks to GR for sharing his first-day-on-the-road experience and to Chuck for the input. This kind of stuff is very helpful. Maybe my experience will be different, maybe it will be similar, but in either case it's great to know what to expect and to learn how others are doing it.

 

No that's not what I'm saying. I'm done.

 

Super Solo can get worse... Not for you. He can have you stay in bed on the sleeper line on your logs while he drives up to 11. Then get you up and have you do 11 with him on duty in the passenger seat.

a driver can be on duty till infinity, he just can't drive beyond the 11/14/70 hour rules.

He'd be nuts to do 22. It runs his 70 out more quickly, but it gets the truck further down the road more quickly.

ive used Super solo, but usually only if the schedule calls for the truck to be rolling in those hours a student is not allowed to drive. 2200-0600

 

If this info is from your instructor than everything he says is suspect in my opinion.