To flat or not to flat? That is the question needing answers

Thanks, rigetty. This whole thing is very intimidating to me now that I've seen how poorly a new driver can "secure" a load. I do not want to be that guy, so I'll ask lots of questions and keep my eyes and ears open.

 

I am a chicken at heart and learned an important lesson in my 40+ year aviation career that has relevance here: the two most worthless things to a pilot are the altitude above you and the runway behind you. Having chains hanging or straps stored mean some security is reduced. I will tend to overdone until I learn what "enough" means. Then, I might - might - reduce securement devices. Or not.

And I like slow. I own the right lane, so expect that. 😝

 

I totally will do that. The instructors in my class were probably good,mbut we had a class of about 35 people with one trainer and one piece of securement equipment. You can imagine how much hands-on there was...

I hope my OTR trainer is a good one; I only have a week to learn the basics of safe securement.

 

In the past 10 days with a trainer - longer than the 7 days planned, but that is a tale for another day - I have confirmed my long-held belief that being an experienced technician does not, by itself, make you a trainer. My guy is very experienced - 15 years pulling flats - and is not a good trainer. He exhibits bad behaviors, does very little teaching and a whole lot of critiquing, and wants me to drive like he drives.

Good thing I'm not looking to him for guidance on driving...or anything, really...or I might think that 70 in a 55 is a good idea because it's downhill, after all, and the DOT understands that we'll lose it going up the other side. Or that using a handheld cellphone for a short call really isn't against the law. Or that everything I learned in the company's securement class is "so much bull$hip" and that his way is the "right" way.

But he uses me as a second team driver like a pro. We're working on a 4,000+ mile week already.