My Trainer Isn't Letting Me Practice Backing

That sucks. Like Frank said she's probably just in it for the money. My trainer straight up told me the same. So few people want to train, and less are any good at it. Unfortunately, it seems most of us get the ones that just want the money.

It comes down to if getting a better trainer is worth the potential lost time and effort of switching out versus your confidence level that once solo you can teach yourself. A second trainer could be fantastic or a worse situation. It's a crapshoot. Sometimes a known bad is better than an unknown.

What I did once solo to improve my backing was always plan my driving hours around times when easy parking could be found. That way I could practice without tight conditions, and without having to make a fool of myself in front of other drivers. My CDL school was a mill, and my trainer didn't care. I got lucky and did a decent back for my solo test. I spent the first couple of months being solo just watching other people back. I watched the ones that could do it well, and the ones that sucked. I learned so much from that. Then it was a matter of just replicating what I saw.

 

Now you realize a 6th time is not going to produce what you're looking for a teacher who notices the student's hand raised.

 

I actually went through 3 non wannabes trainers before I got the teacher. It not in me to just to be accepting. That was many moons ago but I just can't put up with a whole lot of nonsense especially people in positions they are not qualified to have. You have the right mindset to want to be taught you just were given the wrong person to help you.
Keep your eyes open and head up. You will get there just be patient, don't hit anything, ask for help & keep learning. All the best with your "student trainer"

 

She is ripping you off. Backing is the single most important skill required in this job. My trainer made me back into a spot every time we stopped the truck. Maybe she has no experience and can't coach or she is just interested in the extra money she makes for being a trainer, but not creating better drivers. Imagine a music teacher telling you not to practice because she doesn't have time.

 

It's probably best to just bite your tongue and complete training with your current trainer than ask to switch. Many trainers have only a few weeks or few months more experience behind the wheel than you.

 

That was one of my trainers. I had 2 doing food service on 2 separate runs. One was great and had me do pretty much all the driving and had me backing up all the time, parallel parking since we did a ton of curb side deliveries.

The other one plain sucked is all I'll say, he was just in it for the extra dough and our bosses knew that but didn't care since we were always short on drivers.

 

Drive slowly enough you can read the signs before you turn down street. One of the most common mistakes newbies make is rushing so the cars, or other truck drivers, or trainers, etc won't get upset. The extra seconds it takes to not rush into a mistake is better than the cost or the time it will take to fix the mistake. We've all rushed. Don't rush any more.

 

Your life will get much easier once you get your own truck. However you will be alone, so there is stress from making decisions that your trainer is already making. Most trainers give their phone number to their student so they can answer questions later. Call as often as necessary. Don't ask your Dispatcher, or whatever fancy name they call Dispatchers are your company to make driving decisions. Dispatchers don't drive and have almost never ever even seen the inside of a truck. They can't answer driving decisions like, where to park or questions about weather.

 

I guess if I was a trainer and my student turn down a street they weren't supposed too...going forward and I had to bail us out..... I won't be in a hurry to let them practice backing.. ..