Students do the strangest things (Or, the Tips for Trainers thread)

I'm not sure of the brand but there is one that can download truckroutes and displays low-clearences. Another driver showed he his one day while I was studying my map to plot my route. I think their a great tool but just that, don't bet you last dollar on what a machine tells you.

 

As for a funny story about a student. My second one i had was 6ft 9 inches tall...LOL In my freightshaker century st. He would put the seat all the way back, put as much air in the seat as would fit, and push the steering wheel all the way forward. When i would go to drive i would sit in the seat he just got out of and the seat would not budge from my 202lbs i could not touch the floor the pedals nor the steering wheel. Not to mention when he was driving he would have to duck down a little to see out the windsheild. When he slept in the bunk he had to sleep in a half fetal position to fit. I was worried he would stretch and kick out my window..lol. He was a great guy and a great student but i guess they dont make trucks for people as tall as him..lol.

 

i don't train, nor would i take a trainer position. while i have degree in psychology(skilled helper) and 3yrs driving all weather, i just don't have all the experience i feel i need.
however, i found it helpful to find a mentor, when i first started driving, he had 10+ yrs driving when i met him. we were co workers, became friends. i call him when i think i know, to be sure & verify i know. i call him at the slightest doubt, i never guess, cuz i don't have to.
so if i were........... or become a trainer, i'd suggest getting and keeping a mentor, just talked to mine yesterday i feel having a mentor helps keeps thingz safe 4 us all & sometimez i make some $

 

A mentor is good to have no matter if it's driving a truck or working in the office. Everyone should have a knowledgeable person they can turn to. It's good for attitude and morale if nothing else.

 

LAst company I drove for I was what they called a Finish trainer I got a trainee only if they had issues with 2 ohter trainers and I was their last chance since I have the patiance of Job and also if you screwed up badly enough I had the bosses permission to throw the trainee and all the crap off the truck take them to the nearest Greyhound Station were the company would buy them their one way ticket home.

I had right at 1 million miles non prevenable accident free when I got my first Trainee this guy did not even get us out of the yard before he told me he was going to run over the next car that crossed his path. I did not know if he was joking or Not I dynamited the truck right then and told him GET THE F OUT OUT I then backed the trailer back into the hole and walked him into the saftey office and told the Saftey Director who I got along with like a LSU and Auburn fans due during the game. I told him exactly what this person said and the saftey director told him YOUR GONE.

#2 was the only one to make it thru my training peroid lets just say he came in knowing that I was his one and only chance of making it thru and he LISTENED to what I said to do and how to do it. talk about Irony he is still there and in fact was a trainer til this company stopped their training program due to the economy collaspe.

#3 was out after a week for one reason he could not figure out a Super 10 how hard was the trans it is not called the Stupid 10 for no reason.

#4 could not figure out how to back up at all he also accused me of being a racist when I told him to get off the truck consdering he had just back us into 2 trucks one of which was a show truck doing 40K in damages to them alone he had to go.

#5 he could not do more than 300 miles in 10 hours for some reason did not matter if it was day or night he just could not make more than 300 miles in 10 hours never could figure him out.

 

I was recently asked to become a safety trainer by my safety director. My concerns àre about how to teach. I've never really taught anything and I'm just wondering about your methods. I guess I have to figure out my own way but still want to know how u ppl go about it.

 

Excuse me, but having a hard time figuring out how to shift a truck is not a good reason to kick someone out of training.

and as a trainer if a trainee backs into something its partly the trainers fault too IMHO.

 

IROC I was his 3rd trainer also all OF US could not get him to listen to us to learn the super 10 also. The backing one I screamed at him over one of those 2 ways to STOP and then every truck was BLOWING their horn at him to STOP yet he FLOORED IT and then after hitting it he turned the wheel and then that was when he he the show truck to the RIGHT OF THE OTHER ONE. Trust me Swift at the time could afford to have one of their FLD taken out however that show trucker WAS BEYOND PISSED when he saw what my trainee did to his truck.

With the one that could not learn try after every time he stops having to shift for him to get him up to speed then being able to go to bed and then PRAY he did not have to slow down or stop because if he did you were SCREWED that was what I faced with him. I gave him 2 weeks to learn that transmission hell we were even given an automated 10 and he still had issues with that. He just could not get the clutch down I think was his issue IIRC got to give me time to think this was 9 years ago now.

 

Excellent thread... this can also help us newbies who'll be working with trainers.


This is one thing I've been wondering about when I go for training...

Sometimes I learn things fast as heck, and other times it can take a while but then I have it down flat. Either way, I'm dam good at what I set to do and get a lot of comments on how well I learn. Still I can appear quite slow sometimes when learning something new.

I got a few T.T. reference books so I can be familiar with terms and general info before I go.