experienced driver wants to tell newer drivers some things

Funny....That's not how I remember it at all!

Those old boys were tough as hell on us and made us actually learn about what we were doing and why we were doing it.

Now?

They just shove them through a halfassed school, Put them out with a trainer that has only been drivin for a minute and when they are done (and still know nothing) they tell them that they are much better trained than the old school drivers that were just thrown a set of keys and told not to hit anything.

But of course....They have nothing to compare it to so they just suck up the lies and regurgitate them to anyone that will listen.

But no matter how many times you repeat the lie....It'll never be the truth!

 

You will never hear me say that today's CDL mills are the best way. The way you describe it is the best way. If (and it's a very big IF) you can find someone willing to do it who also has the knowledge and ability to teach.

I understand what you say here. But in many, many cases, it was Dad tossing the keys to the kid and saying those very words. My uncle learned by trial and error. I learned in much the same way because there was so much I didn't know when I went solo. Difference with me, though, is I'm not afraid to ask when I don't know and am a fair hand at filtering BS. I still like to sit at the gossip counter and hear the old f....I mean...seasoned drivers talk.

There isn't a single one of us out here who never made a mistake. Luckily, in my case, they weren't huge career or life ending mistakes. It's part of learning. There are days when I wish wall-to-wall counseling was still acceptible. And, you are right in saying many just won't listen because they already know everything....until reality hits. But you must remember the same things being said about you when you were new.

We do have some budding talent in today's crop of tomorrow's Drivers. However, making blanket commentary like "None of them are any good because of who trained them or how they were trained" isn't going to open their minds to hear what you have to offer.

I got my CDL through Swift. But I got (and still get) my real training from many nameless people who are willing to come forward and help point me in the right direction. I would have to say 75% of my training has happened after I left my mentor's truck....from drivers just like you.

The phone thing? Not very smart. The example given...admitedly a poor representation of our newer drivers...but in no way tells the story of every new driver to follow her. I'm harder on women than most men are. I'm from the "if you can't do the job, stop wasting diesel" school of thought. But I'm willing to try to help someone who is earnestly trying...rather than wrap him or her up in a huge figurative burrito with every other rookie driver. The riff-raff weed themselves out, similar to the way they did in the 70's.

As a veteran driver, you should be able to tell where the talent is so you're not wasting your time and breath on the undeserving. Good talent comes from many sources...including CDL mills.

 

while what you say MAY be PARTIALLY true...
an A-HOLE is an A-Hole no matter how long they have been driving, and there are plenty around with experience ranging from 30 days to 30 years

 

(Response to initial Post)
Driver, I am by no means offended by what you say because it is the truth, and I won't deny it.

I am a rookie, but I am starting to see the newbies coming out of the schools act like they know everything in the world, complaining because they're being put in a big truck (such as a 379ex or W9L), and can't find a place to put their friggen refrigerator. Not to mention that they can't back up the truck... Kinda says to me that they should be shying away from Trucking.

Vet's are vets, and they know their stuff. I enjoy hearing the stories, and also learning about tricks of the trade.

So to the vet's, thank you! To the newbies, learn and listen! (Yes, that includes me )

 

I enjoyed reading this. It reminds me of the fire department. I am 19 years old, i have been a firefighter since 17 and volunteering from the day I turned 16. New by most standards but seen more than my share of fire. I help train the new people in my station and after they become firefighters I take them under my wing and show them how to really fight fire. I do this because their questions help me to learn more. I don't know everything, but I know more then them. At first I was scared of the older people not paying attention to what I'm saying because I'm just a dumb 19 year old. I have found if you are professional in your dealings and actually get off your ### and help the new guys, they
A. learn quicker
B. most likely will show respect
C. make trucking better and safer
The school of hard knocks is deadly. The least the seasoned drivers could do instead of ######## is show us HOW and WHY we do it that way. Yes, there are those noobs who think they know everything need to be taken down a peg or two. The least you could do is give the new guys a chance, not all deserve the bashing they take.

 

Good thread. Ive been driving for 3 years and sometimes I think I know everything. But, then a weird situation will come along and I realize, again, that I really don't know jack. I'm learning new, very important details of the job every day. You don't know anything until you understand you know nothing.

 

I learned to drive from my dad, who learned from his dad, just like a lot of folks, I have driven at different times over the years, but still when i went OTR full time i was scared to death to back up for the first six months. Sometimes the older drivers would give advice, most would shake their heads and laugh. I learn things everyday from the old guys, but i don't want to ever be a jerk to another driver who is having trouble, no matter how long i drive.

 

Growing up, I drove farm trucks for years, then, when I went into the Army right out of high school, I was a diesel mechanic, so driving was the norm (I was licensed for most everything wheeled and tracked up to and including the M1 Abrams. After leaving the military in '88, I went to a truck driving school in Texas. Fast forward to my first OTR driving job: I drove for an O/O that was an ### and verbally beat on me for #### near everything. It sucked, but I got the message, learned some things then told him to get bent and left (20+ years later and he still owes me money).
My next OTR job was running nuke fuel in a team operation with a grizzled old veteran where we moved UF2 from WA to NJ every week. I learned more during that time than I ever thought possible. When he switched companies due to Advanced Nuclear Fuels changing carriers, I couldn't stay on because of my age.
Anyhow, after a short stint running for a regional line-haul outfit (where I had to do the local deliveries because of my age), I ended up hauling nuke fuel again for an outfit owned by one of the best teachers a young driver could ask for out of Spokane, WA. He was very set in his ways and would all but beat me over the head if I screwed up, but he was also open to ideas if I could prove to him that my way would work better. A couple of the other drivers were just like him. I was the young punk of the bunch and now I know just how lucky I was to even be allowed into that circle. One of them had been driving since the 50's.
I wish I'd have stayed with him instead of letting a woman get in the way. There's no telling where I'd be in life if I had.

My point is this; yes, I went to a trucking school, back when they were new and I ended up throwing most of what I learned there out the window within the first month. I was an instructor for awhile, years later, and while I was, I tried to teach using the same methods that were used to teach me, since, in my mind, I got the best training available anywhere. Those old guys were very firm, but they TAUGHT me to be a HAND, not just a driver, and, yes, there is a difference. Also taught me a lot of respect and common courtesy you just don't see anymore. There was one trip where we alll ran together, including the boss. We pulled into Jubitz in Portland and it was at a time of day where all four or five of us could park in a line. I parked and was within my lines, but I was crooked. Kenny looked at my truck (Mack MH600 series cabin-over) and told me to fix it. I said I was within the lines and he answered with , and I'm paraphrasing, since it's been 20 years ago, "You not only drive for me, but, with my name on the doors, you are a representative of me and my company, not to mention yourself as a driver. You want to be treated with respect, show some. Fix it."
So, I fixed it and that has stayed with me since. You will never see me in a parking space crooked or crowding the other space and I'll make sure I'm straight and even if it takes me 10 minutes to do it. I will get out of the truck, look at my parking job and, if it isn't right by Kenny's standards (and mine), I'll fix the #### thing. I do the dame thing in my car.

W9, you sound like one of those, judging by your story in the other thread about your wife's school and my hat's off to you. Wish there were still more like you teaching the noobs. We'd all be a whole lot better off.

 

Thank you medicineman for the advice...and the other trucker vets who responded.
I am a new trucker, started around March of 2011; I am 53; I worked as a cnc machinist for 20 years until the work moved to China and Mexico. I put two kids through college and spent all my savings on keeping my wife alive.

What has my biography got to do with me being a newbie? I want a refrigerator because I am only making .25 cents a mile and I can't drive by using multiple log books for extra income. Years ago truckers use to make some descent money. But the value of the dollar isn't what it use to be and FMCSA has put a end to renegade drivers.

Are you aware that the average lifespan of "experienced" drivers is 13 years shorter than the average blue collar worker. Are you aware that "experienced" drivers have the highest obesity ratings than any other profession. These factors are a direct result of your on the road diet. Some of it is lack of exercise but the biggest factor is truck-stop food!

I use to ride a bicycle for exercise (70 miles every other day) ...yes, I am going to figure out a way to get that #### bike behind that truck. I don't want to hang out in a video room or watch a movie when I have a layover so I run for 4 miles and walk one.

After four days of truck food I could tell a serious difference in my health! I like raw milk, not that poisoned kind you buy in the grocery store; I like raw cheese, not that dead pasteurized or artificial kind. I like healthy fats like lard from pasture raised pigs instead of man-made shortenings that are causing so much heart and blood pressure problems.

Don't get me wrong, I am not offended by what you are purporting. I think your overall message is right on track. I have seen the arrogant side that you describe by my classmates. I personally feel stupid beside you guys. And I have apologized over my cb when it has taken me a little longer to park at bed time.

I have given a 40 year driver a ride home instead of sleeping that night (his rig was towed for transmission problems). I picked his brain for the next 100 miles!

Ditto on cheap freight companies!
One of my classmates were suckered into leasing a truck from one of those big cheap freight companies. He only had 6 weeks otr experience! Is it wrong to put the name of the company on here? I think that is pathetic, he does not know one #### thing about the truck or trucking industry. He is ruined, he will not make a penny. That #### company can now haul fright for free and my wages and your wages will be compromised by dirty dealing.

Until we meet again...

 

The guy isn't giving career advice on ditch digging, he's giving it on the trucking industry? What's the point of your question? To brag that you know about ditch digging?