Things veterans should know about new drivers training.

Many states demand 1500 hours of training before you are allowed to cut someone's hair!

But want to take control of an 80,000lb truck for 11 hours on icy mountain roads you have never driven before? Four weeks in an over crowded CDL school will do.

What could go wrong?

 

That is fairly similar to my current one. 6 weeks of only class room stuff, which shrinks the class size further until you get to the driving part, heh. Miss 30 hours and they drop you back a class. Lost 3 people like that.

 

You're right. Usually the insults come from the guy's that are a half-step ahead of the rookie and they are trying to push themselves into "the old hands club" by exaggerating how "above" they are from the rookie. Nobody should sneer at a rookie trying to learn or improve. I'd rather be 18th in line waiting on a rookie backing than hit by some almost-rookie parking in an illegal spot. I always offer help to anyone I see sliding tandems or backing if they show ANY difficulty.

REAL professions depend on mentor/mentee techniques.

 

I was in Laredo in one of those ratbag Mexican DCs that was SUPER tight with trailers and containers in the lot as well as dogs running loose and old pallets and barrels everywhere. There was one dock open and I had to do a "blind alley back" that would have sucked even if I had room for a pull up. I got the trailer in the hole while Mexican plated trucked were honking and crowding me and the dogs were running all around. I got on the dock but there was NO way I could get my tractor straight with my trailer. The best I could do was about a 30-degree bend to the right.

So...screw it...I got out, dropped my landing gear, unplugged the lines and drove out from under my trailer. I got straight, hooked back up and waited for the live unload.

One of the guys who was giving me the MOST #### was driving a beat up old Volvo with six different colors of plastic on it finally got a dock assignment. Let me just say that will ALL the smack talk about how I did my back, and how I unhooked, he not only ripped up the side of his trailer, but he lost more paint on the KW next to him. I had ALL my paint and so did everyone around me when I left.

When I left an older black man in a Big Pete gave me the thumbs up.

 

Back in the day, having freshly graduated from the Flintstone & Rubble Truck Driving Academy, I also caught a lot of crap from some of the old hands, because apparently if you didn't learn sittin' on your grandpa's lap while he shifted 38 separate sticks and crank-started his chain-drive Mack...well, kid, you ain't sheet.

Over the years, I've found myself well on the way to becoming one of those old curmudgeons, but I do understand why some folks make it in any given industry and some don't. It's been pointed out by some of the other posters in various forms, but it comes down to one thing: initiative.

Are you simply trying to pass a test and then do nothing other than follow instructions? You'll do great at the Mega who tells you what route to take, where to fuel, when to 30, 10 and 34, and basically tries to drive the truck for you. If you actually want to be a professional--someone who wants to know how to be as competent and knowledgeable as he can in the career he has chosen--the restrictions and handholding of big companies will make you want to scream.

This is why the best school in the world won't guarantee success, and the worst school won't guarantee failure. In the end, it comes down to the motivations and learning capacity of the individual. If you won't think, you won't succeed. I love TripleSix and his frequent Luck In Battle signoff, but many's the time it ain't so much about luck as about the motivation to be the best at whatever you've chosen to do.

An example of workplace enthusiasm vs. going through the motions is here.

The Giant Sky WHAT?

Language warning, but it involves bikers and sailors, so what do you expect?

 

No, that is not all the training before getting the keys.

You have your trainer for several weeks.
That 'should' be enough, but it often isn't because too many trainers are only in it for the money and not to teach properly.

Truck driving schools, like car driving schools, are only there to teach you the very basic skills to get the license. Nothing more.
They teach you to pass a test, period.

When I was training I had a DM that only dealt with students.
At any time I could call her to let her know what was happening and how I felt about my training. She was the 'go to' person if I had complaints or concerns.
If I at any point would have said I was unsafe or not being taught what I needed to know because of my 'mentor', I could have been assigned a different trainer.
I was lucky and had a great mentor.

But students that are not prepared to take loads on their own can also be attributed to their own negligence.
They do not speak up, for whatever reason, to voice their concern to the person that is there for them. Or they may be someone that thinks they know everything and simply ignores instruction.

Another factor is the company you are working for, if they try to push the miles and time.



Don't try to blame the trucking schools for all the bad things that happen. It really isn't their fault.

 

This may sound harsh, but in my opinion a guy or gal either is going to be a driver or not and it is fairly apparent from the git go. I remember something my grandad told another man 50 some odd years ago.

Anybody can drive a truck, but there isn't many truck drivers.
This is more true now than ever.
NO amount of training will make a driver out of someone that does not have what it takes. No amount of years in the seat does either. Over the years we hired several drivers that had driven for thirty years or more and retired, yet they could not handle driving a farm truck, or any real truck. Most had driven day cabs, pulled doubles, or were straight line interstate drivers, they got by and made a good living all their lives, yet never learned to tie a load down, heck some had never fueled up a truck, or even had enough sense to look at the fricken fuel gauge,
In short this industry has always had since trucks were invented has had qualified drivers that could make a good living that were not ever going to be a truck driver, there is a whole lot more than just riding and driving to it.

 

I just can’t understand people like that. You see them everywhere in all kinds of jobs. How can you go through life and not be passionate about your life/job? When I decided to change careers I threw myself into driving like my life depended on it. When in fact I was wasting away in my old work. I found TTR and voraciously devoured everything I could find to read. Some of the experienced drivers here slapped me down on some of my ideas, but I learned. I enjoy being a truck driver and plan on retiring from it in another 20 or so years. I’m stoked. I learned from experience, and I always tell my trainees “always be professional”, it will make life a lot easier...

 

That's why, after driving around looking at schools, I jumped on a chance to be the only student in a class that was technically not even booked until I walked in, was during a break period close to holidays. It wasn't what I was planning to do, I was two states away from home, but after consideration I handed over my card and got started.

For those who are looking for a similar deal, you can take your training in nearly any state and take the completion packet from the school to your home state to get a CDL. Think of a nice place you've always wanted to go and see if there's a CDL school there. Just go to your home state MVD/DMV first and take the written tests so you have a Learner's Permit. And get the extras, best time to get endorsements is when you're studying already. Just a few more minutes and you're good on Tanker and Double/Triples for starters.

 

Like I said, you can usually tell from day one, or at least very quick if a person is going to be good.
This will also sound harsh, but even if a person wants it, not all have the common sense needed, and that is not a trainable trait. It is also a lifestyle that some never get. It stresses some folks out, this is not a good business for folks that stress easy or lets little things get to them.
I used to hear arguements on the cb, where people were literally screaming at a microphone, letting a cb get their blood pressure through the roof. I always thought that was one of the stupidest things ever.