TRAINING... How long does it really take ????

Don't change lanes much, lift off the throttle (GASP!), early, before braking will be required instead. One "problem" driving v. flying is even experienced pilots get "behind" their wheeled vehicle and become the proverbial 100 kt. pilot in a 200 kt. airplane, naturally. A million years of watching for sticks and snakes to avoid did not evolutionarily prepare the human brain for travel at speeds exceeding 3 mph, so visual focus naturally tends to fall to right over the front edge of the hood.

The human animal is not very well equipped to operate motor vehicles, but the brain lies to them and tells them they are great at it... as long as they don't crash or get a ticket... then the brain executes fantastic gymnastics to convince them those weren't their fault, either, even though they haven't willingly complied with traffic code once since they day they were granted a license and spend half their time behind the wheel with a phone clamped to their head.

The second thing we must recognize is that there is something about motor vehicles that renders even the most intelligent among us 2 sacks o' hammers stupid.

 

Dennisroc.. maybe you should loom at it a different way... for me, I came into trucking to make a career out of it and be a professional driver.. so, I wanted to set myself jp fkr success... so I wanted quality training... if I was gonna become a nurse I would choose the best schooling and training.... same as if I wanted to become a computer programmer...

Personally, you cant spend enough time with a good trainer.. because when you are solo you will encounter things that didnt come up in training... while it is true that the last part of your training is pretty much running team... but, it is still training... you are getting experience and time in the seat.. but, you also have an experienced driver behind you iff you need.. you just wake them up.. and when you are solo you dont have that...

Already this winter there are new drivers who beeming with confidence got themselves into trouble.. some ruined their career... I met one the otner day at the terminal waiting for the shuttle to take him to greyhound... he took off on a snowy windy day pulling a light but high dollar load and ended up in a ditch.. he trained is spring and summer..

 

My ldifference in ojr nigntser was a great trainer... I still call him with questions or for help making a decision... I called him the other day when it was snowing... I just wasnt sure.. the roads were not so bad that it was obvious I should pull off.. I called him and we talkedd it through.. he has much more experience and knowledge than I do and I am glad I can call and have access to his experience and knowledge.. after talking to him.. he knew of a mom and pop truck stop near where I was delivering... it was about 15 miles out of route.. but, it would have parking... cause with the weather and it getting late parkj g wojld be an issue.... so, I went to the mom and pop place where there was parking and settled in.. got an early start in the morning after the roads were plowed and before all the cars were out..
After I was unloaded a fellow company driver was pulling in.. turned out he had a horrible nigbt.. couldnt find parking at anywhere and ended up running out of hours.. made himself a parking spot.. only to be woke up and told to move, made another parking spot and wome up again..

The differences in our nights... I found good safe parking and slept sound and safe the whole nignt, woke up had a good breakfast and delivered on time.. because of having access to my trainers experience and knowledge... the other driver, couldnt find parking, couldn't get a good sleep, then over slept and delivered late.. which means he is gonna be playing catch up for the whole day and maybe the next too...

 

Thanks for the great info, I bet it does feel good to have a driver with you and I can see the advantages .

I feel like it would be best to get as much training as possible. I am sure being out by myself the first time I got in a bind I would think , sure wish my trainer was here lol

 

Mistakes are definitely costly. I forgot to mention TRY NOT TO PANIC!

There was bad traffic on the 210 fwy here in SoCal one morning on the way to deliver to a customer in the city of La Verne. I got off one exit early and realized I couldn't make a right as I intended because it was a no truck route, a cop was blocking the on ramp in front of me, and I was in the wrong lane to make a left. I should have just waited and held up the right lane on the two lane off ramp to get into the left turn lane but I thought the cop would ticket me for holding up traffic and obviously making a right to a no truck route is a ticket for sure, so I just made a left in a hurry so the cop hopefully wouldn't see me and I ended up slightly scratching a lady's bumper with one of my tandems. Luckily it was only a very minor scratch and after speaking with her husband on the phone she agreed to let me pay them cash for the repairs and they wouldn't mention anything. I kid you not it was only a quarter sized scratch but since she went to a dealership for an estimate it cost me $1,020 since she wanted the bumper completely repainted. Yes, $1,020 for a TINY SCRATCH! I'd still pay it again to protect my record and keep my job but the better thing to do is just not panic in the first place and take it easy! It was a very expensive lesson learned.

And when it comes to changing lanes, try not to do it if you don't really need to. When you do change lanes ALWAYS signal and ALWAYS do it slow and steady. Keep looking in all your mirrors before and as you're merging and if you have to, pick yourself up a bit out of the seat to get a better view of your blind spots, or better yet adjust your seat height properly. You should be able to clearly see your fender mirror while completely seated. If your tractor has a little window on the right door then you can use it but don't completely depend on it - the fender mirror is better for that. After a while you'll be able to gauge how much distance you have between your trailer and the front of the car in the lane you want to merge into. If you're about to miss your off ramp then take the next one and turn around! It's not worth potentially not seeing someone in your blind spots and swerving into them really hard. I've been noticing the majority of truck driving skills are mostly instinctive will come to you over time. Just take it easy and use common sense and you'll be alright

 

its true things change day to day, heck I go to a lot of the same stores often and sometimes things change where I must react quickly, something might be new etc. There was a driver recently who has been on this fleet for years and they decided to put a fire hydrant in near a store, well he was so used to the places he got relaxed with his surroundings and took that hydrant out, i think the site manager said the total damages between the hydrant, fines and truck was well over $10k for a stupid mistake. Point of that story is that you can never relax yourself while driving an 80k weapon, you need to always be on guard and lookout.

 

And constant vigilance is exhausting. I never cease to be amazed when someone purports truck driving is easy. I can only conclude they must be doing it wrong.

 

It is exhausting... sometimes you just want to sit way back into the seat and just cruise the rest of the way but when you let your guard down - bad things happen!

 

it is indeed exhausting at times, more mentally than physically depending on the circumstance. It irritates me when someone says "you dont work hard, you just sit in a truck all day"

 

Dennisroc,I didn't read all these replys.
I still have a hard time dealing with lack of sleep,and eating crappy food.
Those two things alone will test you beyond normal folks limits.Then you get traffic jams,poor broke down equipment,
nasty shippers/recievers,list goes on,and on.
These things you get,whether you can drive well,or not.
You can't compete with the grizzly trucking vets.They have seen the good old days,and the recent rush of todays society trying
to muscle in on the lifestyle.
You gotta start out with open eyes and ears.Im always learning,and open to suggestion.
Just learn how to pick out the good advice,and ignore the bad