600 hour advanced truck driver training course.

Probably another fake deal trying to get ppl to start arguing on here.

 

I like the idea. Having no clue what topics you already have makes it hard to give you new ideas. Have you covered taxes, budgeting and the other finance areas?

I would think the biggest thing drivers in general need to learn is survival. How do you get the job done when you are 100 miles from nowhere with no radio contact? Learning to improvise can save your backside.

One example, I move farm tractors and implements. Let's say, you have to pick up a tractor that does not move under it's own power. Your winch just took a dump and does not work, you are also 150 miles away from work. What do you do?

The solution is pretty simple. Drop the trailer, chock the wheels, run a chain over the trailer and hook it to the truck on one end, the tractor on the other. Pull the tractor up onto the trailer and secure it. Easy solution right? Sometimes. I have jacked the landing gear up almost to the limit and the added weight makes it impossible to get the clearance necessary to hook back up to the trailer. Now what do you do?

I would think you could put together hundreds of what if's if some people were to offer their experiences. These are the things that get you through the day or ruin your day depending on what you know.

 

I think the first thing you should do is to make sure a NEW driver DOES NOT enter straight into an owner-operator or lease agreement. There is definitely a need to teach proper business skills required to be an o-o in trucking, but that should be an entirely different add-on course available only to drivers with a minimum of 1 year company driver experience, who are thinking about making the leap into self-employment.


I would offer advanced flatbed procedures and techniques (tarping, securing, loading, bulk-heads, etc)

Tanker operation basics (chemical and vacuum) and doubles basics and techniques

Teach proper tire chain usage and various chain laws, winter driving and fuel treatment methods

Mountain driving, what to know, what to expect, what NOT to do, what to do and when to do it

Scales protocols and general rules, what to expect and be on the look out for

backing techniques into difficult spots of different scenarios (advanced backing)

advanced (proper) weight distribution techniques

advanced time management and trip planning (multi-stops, weather, traffic, knowing when an appointment can not be made and making the call and what to do)

Oddly enough, you should probably teach basic US geography and map/atlas usage. Many can not point out the state the grew up in on a map.

basic truck/trailer repairs that a driver should do to avoid delay (headlamp replacement, air line grommets, fuses/relays)

parking lot parking techniques (setting up properly if a nose-in park is required to insure a back-out can be managed (don't strive to get perfectly straight))

dealing with load planners and dispatchers PROPERLY

proper pre-trip'ng, identifying dangerous tires that might have an internal defect or failure

teach proper usage of technology tools such as GPS devices, smartphone apps such as Google maps/traffic, qualcomm and peoplenet usage and the typical common macros

more to come

 

Thank you for clearing that up.

 

sounds like a scam to get veterans benefits and profit a company with repossessed trucks from beginner o/o's...I have learned more from the advice of fellow truck drivers on this forum than any school...also, why would I want to sit around and talk about drugs, prostitutes, and temptations???I am not sure why I am even replying, except I haven't had a good argument all week...

 

OP, I started driving a little over a year ago and you are focusing on things new drivers shouldn't be focusing on and neglecting the things they should. First off, have you ever been an owner operator? What experience do you have brokering freight? Really, the fact you're here means you need guidance which tells me the answers to those questions are no and none. Most of that freight is specialized meaning you need to know what you are doing with it and have the right type of trailer to haul it. Here's what they need work on: shifting, backing up, finding good work, coupling/uncoupling, general awareness (G.O.A.L.)- they need to learn safe operation and if you teach them that they'll be good. I would focus on making them really great drivers. I got 15 hours behind the wheel in truck driving school...nowhere near enough. My advanced class would be 160 hours of quality one on one behind the wheel time, 160 hours backing, and maybe 40 hours on pretrip.

What they don't need is their own truck out the gate... That is insane. You are teaching them to take a very stupid risk they don't understand that could easily financial my cripple them. No good broker in their right mind will give orders to an inexperienced rookie unless they hate their client, the freight is cheap, or something isn't right with the load. Their rep would be trashed. I sincerely hope you reconsider that. I think there's nothing wrong with offering a business course to experienced drivers... but I would require at least a year of experience. If not I'd basically be taking their money and I'm not a thief.