Rookies training Rookies

^Somethings just aren't worth the energy driver.

 

I started training at the one year mark, had the snow, mountains, etc....no incidents. What I have found in my training is that a lot of the success in training comes from the student him/herself. I train them all the same, treat them all the same yet I find some of them to have issues that they just cannot overcome. I can tell a student to GOAL, I can show them to GOAL, they tell me they understand GOAL, but then even towards the end of training they are not apt to get out an look.

I had an older student, in his 60's once, just would not use his signal. It was a daily routine...never used the signal flasher. I'm pretty sure he just never used it for the many years he had been driving a car.

Go right ahead, blame your trainer, say he had no experience. In my experience, the effort and attitude the student puts forth is often the game changer to a driver making it OTR.

 

a friend texted me this earlier today. He is an O/O out in Denver. but this is what happens when you swerve to avoid another object. 4-wheeler cut between the driver of this truck and another car in front of the truck. Trucker swerved to miss, and this happened. I believe the trucker died in the crash. So swerving isn't always the best idea.

 

Wow thats scary. At 5:27am here in Kentucky i believe that just woke me right up.

Stay safe out there everyone.

 

I agree with that, I never said swerve... I said take a ditch (in a controlled fashion staying as straight as you can, you should still be slowing down) as a last resort and to rehash all of that... I mean a shallow ditch not a drop-off. If that isn't available and you have no means of stopping the truck (which obviously you should have tried long beforehand) then in this case hit the elk. Elk are not deer and will severely damage your tractor which is made from fiberglass... I don't care what's in the trailer... but you're probably better off heavy. Its still gonna suck. An elk is not a deer and chances are you'll still be in the ditch. DMV recommends swerving (probably for cars), I just said use the shoulder to avoid it. I know how to get on the shoulder without swerving, apparently using the shoulder is a death sentence for other drivers who can't get on the shoulder without losing control and driving 40 yards off the road. Using the shoulder probably doesn't result in the above scenario. I'm gonna do my best to avoid the elk, bull elk can be larger than a moose, but hey to each his own. I'm sure elk taste great at least... assuming you survive.

In this case who knows, I'm not the driver... If you hit the four wheeler and killed everyone inside, I'm pretty sure this is still a better day. I see four wheelers do crap that defies all logic just like this does... I think some do it on purpose.

 

you really need to do some research before assuming things. A typical moose can be 6.5 feet at the shoulder, a bull moose as big as 7.5 ft at the shoulder. The typical bull elk comes in at 5 ft at the shoulder. Just saying. Either one will tear any vehicle up.

 

That's been my experience with the trolley valve... definately not a football field... more like a tenth of a football field. I've never had to use the red knob but my trainer showed me that at about 25 mph. it stopped the truck in about 20 ft. (the trailer shook a bit from the springs engaging) but at no time did it feel out of control, definitely threw me forward a bit. But hey, the whole point to this thread is whatever you do is wrong...

 

You go ahead and drive your truck the way you want but other green drivers please don't do this, it is bad information and will possible kill you. Statements like the ones that are bold above clarify that you have very little experience driving trucks. I'm am not trying to belittle you or call you stupid. You sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders but don't give out advice that you clearly don't know what your talking about. OK I'm done.

 

I said a bull elk can be bigger than a moose and it can, I've seen them so no need for research but yes either one will tear up a semi pretty bad. Typical just means some can be larger and some can be smaller.