What are the responsibilities of trainers if any?

His "trainer" lives in SoCal....he knew!

 

It is making excuses, I'm sorry if you and others may not look at it that way but you are 100% in charge of that vehicle, you are 100% responsible for your actions when you are driving that vehicle. Blaming someone else means that you don't want to take that responsibility in the eyes of people who agree with me.

The CDL you posses means that you are capable to drive that truck as a responsible driver, not that you need to be trained to drive.

We all had to go through crap, getting one ticket isn't the end of the world nor your blossoming career. You may end up getting many of them, if you are that type of driver but a "trainer" isn't going to show you how to drive the truck, he is there to mentor you into driving within the company structure, nothing else. YOU want to learn, then learn it from everyone, including people like me and these stupid comments we make.

IF it was any other way, then they would actually be trainers and they would actually have to work under some standards and you would be driving with someone for months, not weeks.

Kicking someone while they're down?

Look if this is something of a big deal, be prepared for rough life on the road, because this is nothing. You will get stabbed in the back, you will deal with idiots all the time, you will get pulled into a weigh station and harassed about anything they can find and if they can't find something, they make it up. YOU will get tickets for the most innocent thing, like lane restrictions.

People like me, and you can ask my drivers, want people to be the best drivers in the world, not get tickets or put up with BS. One reason why I hate, I mean really hate this training crap is it doesn't turn out good drivers unless the person wants to go beyond what they hear from the idiot trying to "train" them.

None because you are not a student, you have a CDL and that's it -> you have a CDL.

The one thing that you may not understand is many of us have heard all kinds of stuff, and after years on the road, it seems that telling a harsh truth is better than sugar coating it, especially when people expect sympathy or some sort of reasoning behind an action when there isn't, like this idiot took. But what goes hand in hand with that is this desire to see a real licensing system with real world training and that training be uniform across all companies no matter what. NONE of this 6 months after getting a CDL, the NEW driver is "training" others, that needs to go.

 

I understand what you are getting at, I am looking at it as making an excuse, the trainer didn't tell me what lane to use was he wrong? that to me is looking for an excuse.

As I said, this whole training thing is a mess, it should be done away with and only provides the company with an excuse to weed out bad drivers (that part I didn't add). Pay attention, learn how to scan the horizon for signs, and when you are sitting in that seat, ***** that guy, you are in charge.

 

So you knew all the rules and regs and local ordinances in CA before you came here the first time, or the second, or even now after how many years? Tell me, traveling west bound from Reno, is there a way (legally) to get from Hwy 65/I-80 over to Hwy 50 without going down into Sacramento? Or, what is the king pin restriction for going from Auburn to Cool on Hwy 49, and what is the length restriction (overall) for any route outside of the STAA route in all of CA?

If you do know the answer to any or all of those questions, where did you acquire that knowledge? From a sign on the side of the road(?), or from screwing up and getting a citation because you didn't know?

Yeah it is a mess, and taking the position that there is no other way but through hard knocks and citations will the messed up system get fixed. No it won't! Here on TTR (and other sites) the newbies have an outlet to vent and ask questions. As I said before, I can only picture two places where the signage is there to advise truckers on lanes or routes they can and can't use. And NO the student isn't in charge just because he/she is at the wheel. He/she is responsible for errors and mistakes, but not in charge...the trainer is in charge, and given that charge by the employing company. By being given that charge and responsibility to teach, fault in any and all mistakes and errors does fall on that trainer.

BTW....any sign designating "TRUCK ROUTE" that is silver backing with black letters, is for local operations who have the equipment that falls within the length and weight restrictions of the locality. The black and silver signs do not designate a STAA route.....just FYI for those that are/were curious.

 

You make a strong case @otherhalftw. Well said and written.

 

@otherhalftw very well put been out here 10+ years and still have a hard time keeping up with some of these places. Just for example was going north though Cincinnati the other day shortly after the tunnel noticed they put out signs trucks left lanes had never noticed them before at first thought must be do to construction but they appeared to be permanent. I guess no one else noticed as I was the only one out in the far left. Now it's been a while since I went though the city so they may be new
Zanesville OH comes to mind just went though it twice today and the first time just me was in left lane second time only other truck was a Warner following the through traffic keep left.
As for OP situation on a 6 lane I would have been in any of the four right lanes till I seen a sign saying other wise depending on traffic and hold ups that would be caused since CA is 55 truck probably any of the right 3 so without seeing a sign may have been in wrong lane myself now if there was a sign he missed that's all driver if it's just lack of knowledge and he asked and ignored it's part trainers fault (and should not have a trainee) but still drivers responsibly.
I have been caught in a wrong lane due to missing a sign it was all me. On the flip side I have passed signs that one would have to stop to read all of it and been on places that have so many signs that one has zero chance of catching them all. I aim for focus on red, orange and yellow signs first and glimpses of white to get the jest of it then last brown and green.