Son STILL at CDL school

Nope,,, If I were he, I would take all the extra training the school offered me.

 

Not at all, it's normal. Most of the big companies train new drivers starting the same as day 1 of cdl school. They anticipate new drivers need to be taught everything from scratch.

 

No it won't hurt him because they don't know how many times he tests. All they care about is CDL in hand. He should get three tries to pass. It is normal for some to fail the first time. I'd say up to a third fail one test or another.

I'm not sure there is an untrained newbie? If they can pass the tests is what school is all about. He still is going to be green as they come for six months. This is expected by the companies. No one becomes an overnight trucker. It's a job where learning takes time. To really be seasoned and know the job inside and out takes several years. No one can speed up the process. I see it like someone that is musically inclined. They either got it or they don't. It's nothing to be ashamed of if it doesn't work out.

After he gets his CDL he'll be assigned and ride with a trainer for the next 6-8 weeks. That's where his real training begins with one on one instruction. A trainer doesn't get much sleep for the first couple weeks as he watches the trainee's every move. As he builds trust he'll let the trainee drive by himself in rural areas and slowly let him start driving in more difficult places like in metropolitan areas.

Once the trainer releases him and he gets his own truck he'll is still green but with a little more knowledge. Each day he'll get better sometimes by learning the hard way. It's really not that uncommon for a young driver to mess up and back into something or some other goof up. That too companies understand. That's their trade off for cheap labor. It's the repeated mistakes that will end in termination.

The turn over rate is extremely high. Maybe 1 in 6 make it a year for various reasons. A person doesn't really know what the job is like until they walk that mile. So keep giving him encouragement because the next 6 months he'll be absorbing a lot. It would help him to join the forum and ask questions and see what problems others have had so he has a better understanding what to expect.

 

Good luck to your son. I'm actually glad to hear the road test is tricky though. I took the practice test and passed, which I had no business doing.

 

I agree. The more training he gets, the better.

 

What school is your son going to? Sounds like a good program....taking the extra time is money out of their pocket but if thats what it takes, good on them for doing it.

 

That's good. Just tell him to keep his chin up, he'll do fine. Id say a lot of us didn't do it the first time. It was long ago but I think it took me twice?LOL

 

Tell him to keep it up, Once he gets in a truck, Tell him to stay focused and not to worry about the little things, Like his trainer smokes or doesn't brush his teeth as often as he should or whatever the little things are, If he focuses on himself and getting better as a driver that is all that counts.