Is truckstop good place for student training?

I never practiced in a truck stop and I do just fine. Plus it's called a truck stop not a truck practice! Hah

 

a driver gets a variety of practice in a truck stop

 

Sorry but I got to disagree with a lot of drivers on here saying big lots like a TA with a ton of parking in back or at customers with a ton of parking space away from everyone are ideal for training. IMHO big lots are the worst place to train someone to do backing because it's not challenging them. Small tight places are better for training then big areas. Straight line backing and 45 degree backing aren't useful unless you have the room for the maneuvers which you won't have at a lot of rail yards or doing deliveries in a city. 90 degree backing is what the driver will need to be able to do to deliver and pick up from those locations. Big lots aren't were you want to practice to develop your skills you want tight confined areas and cramped truck stops like how some pilots and loves are would be much more ideal then a TA with a huge amount of parking or a large company terminal. Better to give them a real risk of possibly hitting something so they actually have to do the maneuvers correctly. Yes it's throwing the rookies to the wolves but it will make them a much better driver in the end.

 

I think UPS helped make that one popular. Putting your flashers on is also kind of a waste of time. If you need somebody's flashers to notice they're backing up you probably need to pay more attention. It's become truck stop etiquette more than anything, like putting your markers if somebody is back in next to you or turning your headlights off.

 

If it's during daylight hours say no later than 5 I don't see the issue. (Save the horn blowing of course...that's just obnoxious.)

You either learn the hard way or the harder way, but everybody learns eventually.

 

The thing is if a truck is parked and the curtains are closed there's a good chance a trucker is sleeping. It doesn't matter what time of day. At 5 pm that trucker may be in the middle of a 10 hour break, hoping to start running and gunning at midnight. That's certainly my favorite schedule.

 

I disagree. I see this all the time, SIGNAL your intentions! Let others know what you are doing. I watched yesterday for over a minute, a large oil field low boy pulled up straight at a Pilot in Pennsylvania to back in, there is another truck behind him waiting to get fuel. The low boy has no four ways on, to the casual observer, it looks like he is getting fuel. Mr. Lowboy gets frustrated and starts hollering on the CB he is trying to back up. Eventually, the truck moves when Mr. Lowboy turns his flashers on and the other driver with out a radio figures it out.

Secondly, when you pull into a parking spot and you back out, or you're on the fuel island and you back out, they are important! People don't always notice a truck backing as it creeps out 1-2 mph. Backing out of a fuel island, the hazards give notice and tell people what you're doing. How would you like to walk behind a truck and with out any warning, it starts rolling back towards you?

Same example above, you pull into someone behind a truck stop, they stop for no reason. What's the hold up? DO they want to back? Is someone else backing? Are they getting fuel? Turn on your four ways! If you're waiting to turn into the fuel island, I will put on my blinker so people know what I'm doing, INSTEAD of blocking an entire truck stop.

Most people that can't use their four ways when backing, are the same oblivious drivers that run wild on the interstate and can't use signals when changing lanes or do bone headed things.

TRAILERS don't have back up lights, which is one reason we use our hazard lights. I do think its stupid that some customers require hazards to be used on their lots. At least the BNSF rail yards in Texas have it right, NO hazards allowed, but you must have your head lights on. CR ENGLAND teaches its drivers to use their hazards driving through the truck stop. IT's stupid.

Moral is, use your hazards when you back. If I back away from the fuel island, I do honk. There is a time and a place for everything. Honking the horn in a truck stop, it's a no no. Use common sense, the fuel island is a high pedestrian area. Don't go flying through it, and use your hazards and horn if you decide to start backing up.

If it's at night time and I'm preparing for a back and there is someone behind me, I will stop, flash my marker lights as a signal for the other driver to go around.

 

absolutely. truck stops are great for training. need to give students all of the real world training scenarios they can get before they get out on their own.

but they dont necessarily need to blow the air horn to train. common sense + common courtesy = too easy.

 

trkstops are better training areas for lot lizards