Trainers, what is your method?

His main advice was...."Set The Cruse for 72 ..(As Fast As It Would Go)...and Then Hold The Pedal all of the way down to the floor...(You can sometimes get an extra mile or two out of it )...Pass everything on the road...Up and Down The Mountain"....

I must have been one hell of a student...We never rolled the truck or even wrecked the truck...

 

My old man taught me to drive by slugging me in the arm every time I screwed up or ground a gear. Lol learned real fast that way

 

My trainer took me to the rest area outside of town, crawled into the passengers seat waited for me to start and come to the first truck stop.

When he saw I could handle the truck, he went to bed after dinner.

That night, I got to drive into a blizzard in Montana. Couple that with a sheared roll-pin on a throttle cross shaft on the mack, it was a fun night.

I go bonkers having a trainer sit and stare at every move I made while driving. You're driving a truck, not rocket science.

You should pretty well have an idea of how your are going to drive before you get on the road. You are after all a LICENSED driver at that point. You had better be able to SAFELY handle a truck without more training.

Otherwise, why have you even gotten a license.

Items to be trained on. Route planning. Load securement, pre and post-trip inspections, dealing with scales and logging situations. Dealing with shippers/consignees.


and from that list, how many are actually "driving" tasks? All those can be done at the truck stop or diner table. Not saying you can't talk about them in the truck as you are driving, but dang.....

 

^^ You bring up a good point.

We keep talking about how new drivers are not trained properly, but what about getting their CDL to begin with?

It's not difficult getting a CDL. It requires hardly any training. Anyone here like me who has gone through the CDL mills know this, that it takes 2.5-3 weeks from start to finish to get your CDL.

Maybe, since Commerical Vehicles and Drivers are pretty much controlled by the Feds now, why don't they come up with an official Federal standardized process for someone to get their Class A, that's more stringent than what they have now, and is the same criteria for all states?

 

they DO have it. It's called a Commercial Driver's License. It has minimum standards that are to be met for getting your CDL. Unfortunately, too many states tweak the system because they can to make it different.

 

You dont even need a school to get your CDL. You can have your CDL in 2 weeks from start to finish on your own in the state of Florida for less than $250. That is if you can handle a 3rd party road test on your own.

In my opinion some of these CDL schools should be shut down. They do not teach students how to drive a truck. Rather their main goal is to get them a CDL license and the training falls on to who ever hires the poor guy.

We have a guy now who cant shift at all. Can barely negotiate turns. Has no speed control. He is a rolling disaster waiting to happen. The school he went to had automatic trucks. He is with another driver of ours right now. The stories I am being told give me nightmares. I think there should be higher standards of ability and accomplishment that go beyond what schools are teaching new drivers today. They give these guys just enough to hang themselves.

Hurst

 

He wanted to hear about training methods, and got a crapload of stories..... wow

 

I gave you my method.

You come to me, you had better know how to drive that truck since you have a license.

you will get me to work with you on dealing with load securement and the rest of it.

 

So do you blame the rookie driver because the school took his money and gave him a CDL and didn't really teach him anything?....I can't see how that is his fault.....He went to school in good faith....What else should he have done?...And now what is he suposed to do?...The money is spent and he needs that job...

 

Sounds like everyone when they start out to me.