I've been driving for 3 months and my last employer said i wasn't cut out for it!

Well when most are getting their own truck after 3 months. He is still needing to understand the dynamics of a truck that he has put many miles on. Something is just not right here. This job does involve you thinking and making good decisions in a timely manner. Going to make a right turn. I can see a telephone poll on the corner in a distance. I'm already looking for a hole in traffic so I can block lane to make my turn. Getting to the corner and you haven't taken up 2 lanes already you won't make the turn. Come on folks. No he doesn't have to be perfect, but at some point he has to pull up his big boy pants and be a truck driver. Notice I didn't say steering wheel holder looking to see the country and get a pay check. Trainers have to look out for the companies interest as well. If the guy is not getting it. He is just not getting it. As he said he seems like him and the trainer is in 2 different worlds. Come on lets see. Shifting, turning, trip planning, backing, and it's been 3 months. On his way to the 3rd company. I'm sorry but there's only so much a trainer can do. If you can't make it through this training bro just hang it up. Even if you don't I'm sure it will be hard to find employment so hope it works out for you. Just remember there is no shame in quitting. Lives are risk including your own. Have a good weekend.

 

As the other driver suggested - you NEED TO get specific about WHAT problems you are having and then get specific help from highly trained driver or your previous school as to HOW to correct these issues & improve!

It took me about 6 months to fully comprehend spacial acuity and a few other things - BUT that did not make me a bad driver just one that needed PROPER or more training to learn to adjust myself to a "big" truck! It is sad but many of us get 'barked at' about not being "good" when all we need is MORE TIME getting our faculties straight.

 

I hope he is going to the Swift Academy and not straight to a trainer from what I know so far, he needs those basics and the trainer is not there for the basics. Like lepton said there are good and bad trainers, they try to weed out the bad but not always. I was lucky and had an outstanding trainer who has been training with Swift for 7 years, this year he is deciding to work on getting off otr so he is stepping back from training and im friends with him to this day and talk to him weekly. He never yelled or got frustrated, if I backed in and if my trailer was crooked etc he would just look over at me and ask me what I see wrong then ask me how would I fix it then explain the process if I couldnt answer. Even after the 50 hours he would get up with me when I was making a delivery or pickup to help guide me etc. The trainer has the option of being up front past the 50 hours based on how you progress etc, some trainers like to do "super solo" and not have you drive while they sleep. If I ever became a trainer I would be a super solo since I dont believe in going to sleep while a trainee is driving. You are not a good driver after 50 hours, heck most are not good drivers even after a few months....he thinks I would make a great trainer but I like to disagree since I dont feel I have enough patience myself so I probably never will be but who knows in the future....

As for the turns you have to learn how to judge it way ahead of time, most likely you havent seen a true tight turn yet....I have been to places where I had to use the oncoming lane to make a turn without hitting something, I have to use button hooks often which is a turn you will need to practice and get down especially if your doing it with a lot of traffic, you need to be quick and scan mirrors on both sides of you very quickly and accurately and learn how to setup your trailer where you dont get the idiot 4wheelers whipping between you and a curb. I have had turns where it was so tight with cars around I would have to get out midway just to make sure my trailer swing wasnt going to nail one. It takes time and practice to get good at driving a truck, anyone can roll down the road pulling a trailer but actually driving and maneuvering takes skill. Im not the best trucker by all means but I am always learning and getting better with practice.

 

quietone,

make a checklist(s), laminate, get a dry erase marker and follow it to the tooth every single day. Don't skip anything, don't overlook anything, check each item off as you go. That way you know you did it, it didn't get skipped or forgotten, and you have a visual verification if you have that "oh crap" I forgot something moment.

I do this with my OTR personal clothes/supplies list before I leave out. I do this with my pre-trip inspection. I do with this any additional procedures the company wants/needs to be done (i.e logbooks, delivery/pickup protocol, maintenance, call in and update/check in times, securing a load/tarps/tie downs/etc). It takes 30 days to make something you do a habit. Once it becomes a habit, it becomes like clockwork. But your mind is only human...it can only remember so much and the daily grind causes you to forget things. that's why it's perfect to use a checklist.

If you need to arrange your entire day by making a basic checklist

i.e.

wake up
breakfast
poop/shower/shave
pre-trip
logbook
drive
fuel/log or scan fuel receipts, record mileage, etc.
logbook
post-trip
scan bill of ladings/invoices or mail them out (whichever is the case).
poop/shower/shave
check in with dispatch
night night time.

then do it. these are things that will help you to develop daily routine and habits. making lists, and doing ALL of these things daily, will keep your boss/dispatcher/trainer off your back and out of the shadow of doubt about your abilities.

 

Trucking isn't for everyone. A habit of late braking will cause the fecal matter to escape from a trainer, you want to keep that on the inside. If you cannot overcome this fundamental driving error you'll never be more than a truck accident looking for a place to happen. One day you'll be fishing through the gears and, oops, here comes that first time you're just a tad too late. Truck "driving" may be first and foremost about controlling your space so you don't have to brake much, or hard, via "managing your momentum".

You can forget about the major carriers, they'll take one look at your braking data and down the road you'll go. They know they aren't called driving "habits" for nothing. You can change 'em, but you have to want to.

 

So aside from braking late, shifting poorly, having difficulty starting from an incline, hitting curbs, not understanding trip planning, and having difficulty with pick up and drop procedures... what else are you having problems with? I mean after only 3 months, it is silly that anyone expect you to be able to do the job in a half-way competent manner -- but that's just me.

 

IMHO..

... truck driving schools and DMV test put way too much emphasis on trying to downshift through all the gears until you come to a stop. I'd rather concentrate on braking rather than getting all fancy downshifting as I come to a stop at an exit or traffic light. Rather than having my right foot going back and forth between accelerator and brakes I want my right foot on the brakes the entire way when I know I'm coming to a complete stop. Therefore I will sometime disengage from any gear as I'm slowing to a stop or will disengage while slowing and reengage at a gear that I know will get me going in the appropriate rpm range.

I saw a video on Youtube not long ago, showing the camera at a gas station across from an exit with a stop light and a turn, and a semi comes down the exit grade, not slowing enough, and attempts to make the sharp left turn and dumps over on its side and nearly takes out the pumps. TV news shows up and the two drivers aren't talking. It's pretty obvious it's a trainer/trainee situation and the trainee tried "going down all the gears" to get slow enough for the turn and didn't make it.

Concentrate on the brake pedal until you are at a safe speed to make the turn, then reengage into a gear to have controlled speed through the turn.

 

But they're training and testing, and you're not... but I didn't know downshifting was considered to be getting all fancy.

Why?

So... downshifting, without getting all fancy about it?

You can, from that, reasonably assume the speed of the vehicle was too fast, but that's about it.

I'm pretty sure your "accident kit" contains advice about not discussing the circumstances of incidents with anyone outside the company and its insurers and lawyers, and you can extrapolate that to apply to TV news crews and/or reporters. It is human nature to want to "explain", and among the hardest things in the world to do in those circumstances is keeping your yap shut, for your own good and that of your company. You always want to tell your version of any incident that requires explaining last, after everyone else has spilled their guts.

But, why? So far the only reasons you've provided is you'd "rather", and a pretty long stretch of a conclusion based on a Youtube video.

 

..and when the light changes green before you stop, you sit there grinding away trying to find the right gear.


PS: One of the advantages of floating is that it frees your left foot to brake while your right foot modulates the throttle. You can even use the ball of your right foot on the brake and the heal on the throttle.

 

its not that hard to double clutch and shift up or down. I was taught to bring the truck down to 1000 rpms, shift to neutral, rev +400 rpms and downshift.

this guy is 3 months out of school and still cant do it?

i wasnt allowed out of the practice yard till i could upshift, downshift and double clutch.

not saying im a pro or anything but come on, this is just basic fundamentals.