Tankers, flatbeds and doubles. Should new drivers get experience with vans first?

Just wondering what the brain trust thinks about this. Seems to me that driving/operating tankers, flats and doubles requires more skill and experience. True? Depends?

 

Yes... period. Get your basic driving skills down pat before having to worry about stuff like how the load reacts or how multiples handle. Dry van generally has less variables to deal with.

 

Flats aren't so bad. A driver just needs extra attention paid to load securement, and while more difficult to back up not that different than vans.

Tankers and combo's?Get a couple of years(and winters) under your belt before trying to learn a new skill set.Your gonna have plenty of fun picking up the first one

 

Wow, that is a good question. I'm still learning, I've only had my cdl 8 months, I drive flatbed and dump, van trailer was something I never had wanted to try, always seemed so boring to me. To whatever you choose i'm sure you'll excell at, you've put enough thought behind all of this and have asked more questions than anyone before you've started out.

 

I think that there is a lot of credibility to the "start on dry vans first" theory. However it does depend somewhat on the person and their background some people seem to be able to pick up just about anything while others....... not so much.

Think about this too .... while you are a rookie you have to learn to drive, shift, manage time etc...... all baisically related to getting the vehicle down the road in a safe and efficient manner.

Now throw something else into the mix for instance, tankers usually load at some sort of speciallized facility and the driver needs to know specialized information that applies to the load and the facility, not to mention the unload. Usually new tanker drivers that are already experienced drivers have a learning curve when it comes to tanks. So, do you want to add that much more subject materail to your plate?

Flats have more load securement details to worry about, proper tarping etc. (though it's not really all that difficult) and many pick ups and deliveries are to construction sites or factories and such where getting in and out successfully can be a challenge.

Doubles, well it just adds a lot of details to the training experience. Turning radius is different, more things to inspect, way different and more sensitive handling characterisitcs etc...

So... in the long run it's probably easier to train someone on dry box or even refer because they can focus more on driving technique rather than equipment operation and special circumstances.

Doesn't mean that there aren't people out there who can learn more specialized equipment fairly easily however, they seem to be few and far between at least for raw newbs.


.................. Jim

 

One of my ol' trainers told me once it was much easier to teach a rookie about tanking than a pro. Because they don't have to unlearn anything. Bad habits are avoided

 

Uh huh..... out of the "straight out of school" drivers we have hired over the past 5 years we have 1 left. Most bailed within 2 months, 2 the first time that load thumped against the front of the trailer and one ran down and killed a pedestrian less than a mile from our terminal.

Last year our Houston terminal had 9 rollovers. 5 were recent grads.

 

While smoothness might be taught, in general and in my opinion better to learn that smoothness in a forgiving piece of equipment.

While I would agree starting in difficult equipment may mandate those habits, having some wiggle room for a brand new skill set to be established. If they are ever going to be smooth enough for tankers, or combo's, or bull racks they will develop that way naturally. After a few good neck strains from minor whiplash you will learn.

 

Tanker yankin' ain't for everyone. Some people just plain get freaked out when they first pull a loaded tanker whether they have 20 years or 20 days on them. My first real driving job was pulling a set of double baffled tankers. Now they got me out here with a smooth bore. I had to relearn myself how to drive to pull this thing. I think a flatbedder would have an easier time learning to pull a tanker because they know how to adapt their driving to what they are hauling. Alot of these door slammers only stay upright because van work is relatively forgiving. You put half of them is something else and its going to be layed over in a ditch.