Should I request a new trainer??

You know what? Just request a new trainer. No one is born knowing how to run or back a truck. If he can't give you enough respect, space and guidance to learn, then you need someone who will. Life is too short to put up with one of these clowns. Even if you get better, your trainer won't. He'll just jump your case over something else. Report his lousy abusive 'training' style while you're at it. He shouldn't be working with students acting like that.

 

Schools are only to teach you what you need to pass the CDL test and get your CDL... there are a few.. very few truck driving schools that teach a bit more than what you need to pass and get our CDL... but, they assume you will re ieve some training....

I do not think the solution to bad trainers is to do away with any sort of training... I believe the solution is to do away with bad trainers and bad training... which is why a bad trainer should not be rewarded by a student just sticking it out with them... tell the company in a professional manner that the trainer is inadequate and you want another trainer...

It was reported on CNN back when the Tracy Morgan incident happened that everyday in the U.S. there are 11 DEATHS attributed to a semi tractor incident... there are more incidents and accidents in that same day with only injuries or property damage..... and you think the answer is no training.... scary

 

Did cnn say how many of those 11 deaths were the fault of the 4 wheeler driver? That would discredit their story line

 

Well truth be told you've got a bad trainer. Unfortunately youre also almost done. I don't really think its in your best interest to stop training and wait a week or 2 for a new trainer given that you've already been able to handle the trouble spots that youre worried about. Youll just have to do them again and every time you do something you get better at it. Id tell you to just finish up and move on once youre in your own truck.

 

According to Watkins Sheperd guy, this refined knowledge is intuitive. You just "figure it out". If you don't? Well that's what those runaway ramps and those new truck speed limits, being rediculously slow, are for.

Good luck!

 

I realize you couldn't break my argument so went on some weird tangent but it only shows you didn't read and comprehend(maybe why you need a trainer and some don't, not saying, just saying), MY FIRST SENTENCE SAID:

And I agree, good training is prime, a good trainer in the truck is not...

I am a flight instructor, very few understand training as I do...Driving a truck doesn't require weeks and months of training, nothing you can say can justify that...Facts prove it's NOT necessary but for insurance...And I'm big on PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY meaning YOU should take the responsibility to make sure you learn what you need regardless of what's taught...In today's day and age, NO excuse when the info is at your fingertips!...Especially things like map reading, I mean come on, we're not Lewis and Clark, if you can't figure out the detailed maps we have, please, stop driving...

And you haven't addressed how a company like Watkins Shepard can have no trainer time and have safety records inline with those that do...I'm curious how you explain that, using your logic, their record should be horrendous, but it's not, proving my case...

 

On mountains, just drop off the gears until you find one that will ratchet you up the one side, four ways on, then the general rule of thumb is descend the mountain in one gear lower than you climbed it in. That's assuming equal grades going up and coming down. I did some mountain driving in CDL school, thank goodness.

The jake usually has three settings, one using two cylinders, the next using four, the next using all six cylinders.
I like to keep mine set on all six, since when I snap on that jake, I want it to Be There and make its presence felt.

Going down, I usually get into a gear that will hold the truck back while using the jake and using no wheel brakes, that is, at a safe speed. And by safe speed, I mean one that if something happened in front of you, you could actually stop the truck. If that means 30 or 40 or 50 mph, so be it. The faster you go, the less control you have, pure and simple, plus gravity wants to take you down that grade faster every second.
Just take it slow and easy, use the gears and the jake to keep it from running away, that way, if you need to stop the wheel brakes will be able to do the job.

No sweat, right?!
Just hang in there with the douchenozzle trainer. Good training is hard to find, I know it.
I grew up in the military community and got used to a level of professionalism that is generally lacking in the civilian training world across industries. I've dealt with this problem to some degree in my learning curve, too, so I feel your pain. Just absorb as much as you can and you'll do fine.
I learn something new on a daily basis...

 

10 hours? Who told you this garbage? Just a Private Pilot, Single Engine Land rating takes the average individual 60-80 flight hours. I did mine in 65 hours(by the Hobbs meter). Each flight hour has at least 1/2 hour of pre-flight briefing and 1/2 hour of post-flight debriefing. Then there are about 3 hours of book study and classroom time per each flight hour. It takes a few months to do all this. After that there is the Instrument rating(lots of time for that), high power cert, and maybe tailwheel cert. Then comes the Multi-Engine rating, and then Commercial rating. You're looking at 2 - 3 years of full time study and flying. Cost: at least $30000 up to $100000. Depending on the school.

There's a lot more to driving trucks and "driving" airplanes professionally. Now, if you just want to say you did it or just settle with and are satisfied with being a hack...skip the coaching and good luck. It's a lot harder row to hoe and the results come much slower, and details will be missed. Perfection is in the details.

 

You can always request a new trainer & if they don't accommodate it's probably not a company worth working for!