Trainers!!! How long before one should be a trainer

I like to see a minimum of 2 years for a trainer, PLUS, when that truck is in motion, that trainer needs to be in the passeneger seat, NOT in the sleeper like some companies do, that is a TEAM operation , not a trainer. I get tired of hearing about accidents where the trainer was in the bunk. That just makes more rules for all of us out there. If a trainer is found to be in the bunk and not in the passenger seat in an accident, the company ought to be fined $100,000. That will stop these mega carriers from pulling this crap.

 

RW...SUPERHAULER, MYSELF, COUNTRYBOY, SHO~TYME and LOTS MORE ON HERE.........just to name a few that all have 20+ yrs and are still driving.....as for training new ones....well i run team with hubby....

i agree that training SHOULDNT be a TEAM operation...i was just talkin to CB about that earlier today...it should be a solo operation... A LOT of trainers are in it for the money....there is NO WAY ON GODS GREEN EARTH...if i trained anyone..i would be going back there and GOING TO SLEEP with them behind the wheel...NO WAY


WAR...i agree with you....how is someone with so little exp. gonna teach someone else anything....???? they are still learning themselves.....

 

A state certification would make for competent trainers just as much as passing the CDL test makes for good drivers, which is not at all.

The problem has multiple issues involved which will probably never get fixed and it'll remain the same way. Like others said, many guys with a lot of experience don't want to train. On top of that, the places that are known for training don't have a large number of guys with a large amount of experience to begin with. In addition the training periods at most places are too short to really learn anything.

I've seen firsthand the difference between someone with decent experience and someone with quite a bit of experience. I went through my training period with a trainer that had two years experience. After that I teamed with my friend who has 13 years or so experience. He definitely taught me a lot more than my trainer did. That's not to knock my trainer though, he was a good guy and taught me quite well, it's just not the same between the two. The extra time I've had with another experienced driver compared to most at the start of their career to me has been helpful as well.

 

As a current trainer I will say a minimum of 5 years. I know the majority of you will not agree but that's my honest opinion. A trainers job is not only training a driver to drive and such but money management skills and communication skills to be as successful as they can be when they are able to go out there on their own. I have a 100% success rate and I use some Maine Corps know how into my teaching methods.

 

After you started cussing, I would by that point have already kicked your ##### off my truck. With that kind of attitude, trucking isn't for you anymore, you're not cut out to drive a truck if you can't keep your anger and other emotions in check. I'd hate to see how a person like that drives.

 

UH OH!!!!!

After 35 years, and starting when War did start...trucking isn't even a gnats whisker close to the Cadillac, power this power that, we have today. Interstate system...yeah right...how about cross country on 2 lane highways, disecting every bohunk town across every state! You been over Donner with the 2 and 3 lanes available, and the snows all cleaned or scraped away? Try that mountain on a 2 lane twisting, winding, blind corner road...one plow for both sides of the mountain. Stop in that Shell Station at Nyack and look at the pictures of what Donner used to be...hell even the trains couldn't get through some of the storms. And Cabbage..same thing 2 lanes twisting up and down that climb 4 times as long a run just for that pass.

3 years experience v 35+ years.....like Muhammed Ali v the girls P.E. teacher!!!!


That one got my BP up!!!!

 

no gigs....keep your mouth shut....BOY wander...i TOTALLY get where WAR is coming from....totally...and you have no respect for your elders....maybe IF you make it 38 yrs....see how you would feel....

 

mine too OTTER...MINE TOO....

 

Sorry gigs...I lost it on that one!!!!

 

You know, I have to agree with you. I've been all over the USA and Canada. I learned how to drive all weathers, and drive in places like Chicago and NYC during rush hour. I've been places where trucks have no business being like Long Island. Driving's the easy part... It's when you go to pick up and deliver loads or stop at certain truck stops that can wash you out. Tacoma Loves for instance? Air Filter Group in San Jose? IKEA Palo Alto... The places you have to jack knife in Long Island like that appliance place over there.. The place in Portland where you must jack knife and then adjust your tandems at the exact right time otherwise you will never get in the hole. Daylight yards, and a few receivers that have no room and forklifts have the right of way and will not stop even while you're backing up...... The one place that scared me the most was when I worked for CR England and there was this chicken farm in Virginia and the only ways to get to it was a 12'6" clearance or a wooden bridge. Yes, a bloody wooden bridge. That scared the living hell out of me.

I really think trainers should have more than 3 years experience with a perfect record in order to train.