Do any of the schools or company trainers teach anything these days.

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Mountain Hummingbird, Dec 4, 2013.

  1. Mountain Hummingbird

    Mountain Hummingbird Medium Load Member

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    Been doing this for 38 years have hit a lot of brakes with hammers in those years never had one crack, must be these new MADE IN CHINA brake drums you folks hear about cracking. We own more than one truck we have a number of drivers if any of them failed to take action with a hammer on the brakes and sat for 2 days because they were frozen he would be fired. Not many drivers outside the oilfields carry tiger torches with them. Now if you have a way of releasing brakes that you would like to impart on us please do. I would love to hear what your years of experience has taught you.
     
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  3. DDC

    DDC Bobtail Member

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    I haven't been driving for 38 years, but I can tell you truck driving schools have been around for a LONG LONG time. There's just a lot more of them than there use to be.
    But then there's a lot more people looking for a job now, than there use to be.
    CDL schools are there to help you get a license.
    Period.
    There use to be a mentoring or apprenticeship type attitude in this business to train new drivers, but since the pay continues to go down and the emphasis is on money, money, money (read that: move freight cheaper, cheaper, cheaper), companies are plagued with an ever increasing need for new drivers that cost less.
    And that won't attract most people.
    In my short time in this industry I've seen wages go down,down and down some more.
    We've developed a whole new industry: Schools to get you a license and training companies to run you thru the mill like grist.
    If the industry paid more, less drivers would leave. Less demand begets less turnover and just by the nature of things, the cream rises to the top and we end up with a better group (as a whole) of drivers who take this business seriously and with pride.
    We have far too many people coming in this industry that don't belong...even if you TRIPLED pay.
    They don't have the temperment, desire or determination.
    But there is no real vetting process. Just get 'em in, run 'em thru and hope a few stick.
    If demand lessened, training companies would have to do two things: Vet the newbies so only better qualified students were admitted and secondly, would have to learn how to move freight efficiently.
    But that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
     
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  4. maxwelltie

    maxwelltie Medium Load Member

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    I HAVE been driving for more than 38 years (plan to retire soon).
    I remember the Debbie Dootson Truck Driving School commericals back in the early 70's.
    Yea...schools have been around much longer than CDL's.
    I agree with DDC. If we told potential drivers what driving was really all about, there would be a lot less of them coming into the field (then leaving).
    But it's all about money, isn't it? Move that freight cheaper, pay those drivers less...the Walmart approach to containing costs and being competitive.
    It's not the CDL school's responsibility to teach someone to be a safe, corteous driver. it's the trainer's!
    The school is there just to get you started...to get a license.
     
  5. Graborn

    Graborn Bobtail Member

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    The schools sole purpose is to get you licensed. I think they try to do better than that but honestly the true educations starts when you hit the road. I remember that day vividly...I was scared to death.
     
  6. mamatrucker34

    mamatrucker34 Bobtail Member

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    I can't speak for all truck driving schools, but the one I attended told everyone up front that they only teach you enough to get your CDL and that if you are in it for just the money you will be extremely disappointed and will not make it very long. They stressed these 2 points the entire first week of class. Problem was some folks didn't listen and ended up leaving just after Orientation with their respective carrier.

    I don't have much trucking experience (was a School Bus Driver for over 8 years), but I do believe this: trucking, as with any job, is what you make it. If you know you have to stay with a carrier for at least a year in order to not owe back tuition, do your very best for that year and move on to something better. It is also one of those fields that you either love it or hate it. There is no in between. I never understood why teachers chose to teach for the crappy pay they receive until I began driving commercial vehicles.

    Another thing I have learned is that, if you have to question your ability to pass a DOT drug screen, this probably isn't the field for you. If you have to have someone constantly holding your hand, this probably isn't the job for you. (Not directed towards anyone in particular, just a general statement).

    Just my 2 cents.
     
  7. Sublime

    Sublime Road Train Member

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    After living in Minnesota and hitting frozen brakes for 26 years I'm just now finding out that could crack the drums!! Wow, I sure wish someone had told me that a long time. :biggrin_25513: All those cracked drums rolling down the road. :biggrin_25523:
     
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  8. TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    Interesting, isn't it? I remember when I was a rookie, some driver told me that he had a friend that had a black Pete, was out somewheres where he saw a moose standing in the road. He honked his horn and pissed the moose off and the moose murdered his truck. Had a rookie tell me last week about his friend that had a black Pete, ran up on a moose and laid on his horn and the moose killed his truck. I have to figure that guy with that black Pete has to be the most popular man on the planet.

    i had a driver tell me years ago about how this scale master lived right across the street from the scale. He would be sitting in the house listening to the radio and when he'd hear about some driver wanting to avoid the scale,, he dart across the street and open the scale. Had someone tell me the same story last week. I run the two lanes about as much as I run the bigroad, all 48, Canada, the territories,...etc. I have never seen this scale or the scale master that can still run like the bionic man for 30 years. Interesting.

    now I learn that I may crack my drums. Either the drums have changed or they're making tougher hammers.

    I had a confrontation with a moose in Newfoundland. I guess the truck murdering is just a peterbilt thing.
     
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  9. Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Hey now…..Lisa Kelly on Ice road truckers whacks her brakes when frozen. Never a problem.
     
  10. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    The problem is your observation isn't looking at it from the point of view that most people don't know enough to ask questions or to be intuitive about life on the road. Many go through school to get passed their road test and then the trainer is supposed to make sure they don't destroy the equipment but most drivers don't go beyond what is being told to them and learn other things.

    I have taught a few in the past how to do things, almost all of them didn't care or weren't interested in some of these things when they were training or in school but needed the help so that is why I used my own method of making it stick - I charged them for the info (yes it sounds rotten but they don't seem to forget because they had to give up something for it).

    However part of that problem is we have too many marginal or crappy drivers out there training people, I got stuck with one applying for a driving position I had open and the test drive was a disaster. His credentials were great, X amount of hours training, service awards and so on but he was an accident looking for a place to happen.
     
  11. n3ss

    n3ss Heavy Load Member

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    Experience teaches you things like that. Not school or training. This applies to just about any field. You can't teach experience in a class room, unfortunately.

    Thanks for actually helping them out, instead of being a typical 'super trucker' type and just ranting about it here.
     
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