Newb learns from Accident during skidpad training...

So here I am, a super green newb fresh out of truck driving school, with a couple of weeks to kill before my orientation starts at KLLM. I decide to be proactive and gain some experience so I sign up for the "Michigan Center for Decision Driving" one-day skidpad course.
(See Video: http://www.truckingsafety.org/courses/skidpads.htm)

The day I'm there it's snowing and they are having everyone drive a few mph slower then usual. After taking my turn in a bobtail, going through a orange cone slalom course that teaches you to "Shuffle" or "chop" steer through to keep from spinning out, I am now a passenger while the other driver (about 7 years experience) takes his turn. He makes it through the slalom cones great but then comes the actual corner at the end of the skid pad. As he negotiates the turn (probably going less then 15mph at this point) he doesn't do it quite right and we go sliding off the corner of the skidpad SIDEWAYS. No big deal, right? Wrong, 'cause at this particular point there is a STEEP SLOPE off the skidpad. So we are sliding sideways, driver side first, down the slope which had about 3-4" of snow on it. We're getting rocked around in the cab a little when all of a sudden, the driver's side wheels caught and the passenger's side wheels lifted slowly up, up, up, up off the ground. I thought we were going to roll the truck for sure because of the slope, but the passenger side came back down with a nice soft "thunk" in the snow. "Whew"!

After they tow the Bobtail out with a tractor, the instructor says "this doesn't happen to often" and then proceeds to tell us all the crazy stories of what guys HAVE done before. Well, it's a story I'll always remember but, more importantly, here's what I learned (even though I wasn't driving, I was mentally driving as he made each "move"):

1. I'm glad I came to this course and experienced an "accident" here instead of out on the road
2. It can happen to anybody
3. If you don't feel comfortable, slow down
4. I think I will always be learning no matter how many years of experience I gain driving a truck
5. Don't panic, try to apply your driving skills in whatever you face
6. I would recommend a skidpad course to EVERYONE!!
7. From now on, every time I drive through a slick corner, I will hear the instructor's voice, "chop, chop, chop that wheel"!!

Any Comments...?!

 

When you go through the slalom on the skid pad, "chopping" refers to moving the wheel back and forth rapidly a short distance. Kind of like when a little kid sits in a parked car, grabs the wheel and pretends to drive. This is a technique they teach that keeps the front wheels turning as you go through the turns. NASCAR drivers even do this when they drive through high speed turns.

I had not heard of this either, and I know it sounds crazy but it WORKS like a charm and is very easy to do. Anyone else out there been on a skid pad that was taught this??

 

Hey wiseguy if you had an experience like that already you would probably enjoy the class. One of the guys in my class had been a trucker for over 25 years and he couldn't stop singing their praises afterwards. Since it is only a one day class, you do cover a lot in a short time, but it is very much "hands on" and it is taught by a former long time trucker who is very knowledgeable.