Things veterans should know about new drivers training.

My current CDL school is me and 6 others in the class. It is 20 weeks long, 4 days a week, 8 hours a day. They mostly did this because it is the minimum time for Federal funding, but you get a lot of driving in. Two weeks of just backing, then a week of interstate, week of city, week of country driving, and then you do all that again. Not saying it teaches you everything, or even close to everything you need, but compared to the last CDL course I went to, it is leagues better.

 

This thread is important. The OP makes a good point.

All veteran drivers should be aware that newer drivers are frequently thrown to the wolves with just enough training to hold that steering wheel. When I was a trainer at Swift the average rookie had a grand, whopping total of 10 hours behind the wheel. By the time I certified them to test out and upgrade to solo they had a tad over 200 hours behind the wheel.

Many mega trainers are inadequate. To become a trainer at Swift you attended a two day orientation, mostly reviewing paperwork procedures. Not a WORD was uttered regarding HOW TO TEACH. That is the greatest problem in training today, the complete lack of training trainers how to train.

By the time I certified a trainee to upgrade they had to know how to chain up, how to use the Jake's on hills, how to upshift and downshift going uphill or downhill, how to slide the tandems or 5th wheel to balance a load, how to trip plan, etc. etc. The first day or two I established a baseline, keeping my mouth mostly shut, just observing their skill set and figuring out priorities for training. Then it was a steak dinner on me as I reviewed all phases of their skills, where I saw them compared to where they need to be, then picked one or two things we were going to start focusing on the next day. One by one I added more things to work on as they accomplished their goals. The team driving phase was exhausting work. Often it meant "sleeping" fully clothed with the curtains open, ready to jump into the passenger seat. I often set an alarm to fake the need for a smoke break so I could be there as the trainee came to a difficult section.

We need better training for trainers.

One other thing on the OP topic: every day is a new opportunity to prove I'm a rookie. I haven't driven all roads or pulled all equipment.

 

Just curious, how many cdl courses have you taken, and what is the reason for more than one?

 

You nailed it.

 

Do they teach you to stay out of the hammer lane if you are not passing anyone?

Oh wait, that is in the regular drivers handbook and is also common sense.

 

I took one prior, Premier Driving School, run by CR England. Got out of there when I realized how much of a mistake going there was and enrolled in this one.

 

I can see that.

I do not mind helping anyone new or not. I did however get kind of picky about who I offered help to a few years ago. I got to where if it didn't look like they were going to tear something up I didn't offer, and I still had more than one get upset and tell me they knew what they were doing even when they were in the process of ripping a driveline or worse.

I watched a guy lower his landing gear once at the scale house. I presumed to slide his fifth wheel, but then he walked back and pulled the pin on the tandems. I think to myself, this is going to get interesting.Now I was out there working on a truck, and the company this guy was with had an account with me, so if he tre something up, I would make some bucks to repair it, but I can't stand to watch someone just break something needlessly. SO I walk over rafter he tugs on it and gets out to see if it had moved any.
He ask if I would watch it for him and let him know when it moved a couple of holes.
I mentioned that it doesn't work like that, and he told me in no uncertain terms, he knew what he was doing. hmm. So he jerks it around a bit and I stopped him, and again told him, this isn't going to work. This time he told me this is exactly how his dispatcher told him to do it.
I said look, I get to fix it if you break it, but get out and just look at what I am going to point out and think about it for as second, you will understand what I am talking about. Your dispatcher had it mixed up with sliding the fifth wheel. He finally got out and I pointed out that his landing gear was solid on the ground, and no way possible could he slide the tandems without sliding the landing gear or MUCH worse. He thought about it and you could see the light go on.

There has been several times drivers have got pretty snotty when I have ask if they need some help, so I just got kind of picky about who I tried to help.

Just a side note, I am not just talking about new drivers. I have known drivers that managed to make a living all their life, that I would not let pull a little red wagon, once they were out of there every day element.

 

There is a difference between a 3 week cdl mill, and a longer more in depth cdl school.

I went to All state Career in Lester, Pa. the class was 6 months long. Three months in the class room getting the regs & logs beat into your head, & three months on the range/road learning to back/drive a truck. Yes six months is an extremely long time, but in the end i was prepared to do the job when i left out with my trainer after i landed a job. My trainers never had to teach me how to back up or how to keep it between the lines. Sure they gave pointers, and corrected me when i was wrong.

If all you care about is getting a cdl, a cdl mill is your best friend. If you give a #### & plan to build a serious career, find a true cdl school!

 

All depends on the person, lots of good drivers have never seen a school, heck back when I started, I had never even heard of one.
The school here is 2500 bucks. The kid that I have helping me is at least as good as what comes out of the school and I pay him, while he is learning. lol
He drove my log truck and the loggers log truck all last season on an off road job, where a license was not needed. There are a lot of seasoned highway truck drivers that can not keep a truck together or themselves out of trouble off road, yet he did fine after riding with me for a while and then I rode with him for a week.