What exactly are they teaching trainees?

A 3 week 160 hour CDL School teaches ONE THING! How to pass the Skills and Driving Test to get your CDL. Their job is over after that. They do not teach you how to be a truck driver. That is the responsibility of the Company that hires new CDL holders. Unfortunately, there are very few qualified individuals at these companies that become "Mentors, Trainers, Finishers", or whatever the companies call these people. More often than not, they are Lease Ops trying to make an outrageous weekly payment on their "Lease" to come out on the plus side of their weekly settlement. Truly qualified individuals don't train because there is no money in it. Just my $.02

 

My school taught me how to pass cdl test, Trainer got me enough miles so that I could go solo. Learned nothing in that time frame. All on the road screw up everything I touched. Learned the hard way almost 3 million miles now.

 

^^^^^YES YES YES YES.... THANK YOU^^^^^^^^

 

I didn't learn anything til after my 1st year. I remember I worked for Schneider for like 3 months in 2011 and I backed into the side of a steel beam nearly ripping the door off the hinges. I felt so bad that I quit and took a local job hauling flatbed T/T, found out I gained more experience from the local job than I did OTR. I learned how to back and maneuver with a 48ft flatbed w/daycab.

 

CDL school teaches you how to pass the test. When you get with a trainer, he or she teaches you how navigate out here, in his or her image. Once you get out on your own, it's like you start all over again. I'm 11 years in and I'm still learning. In the beginning it was mastery of backing. As I got farther along, trip planning got better. It went from just planning routes, to knowing when to travel through major cities, to accurately predicting an ETA, then learning tendencies of certain truck stops(that helps for parking and shower breaks), refining trip planning with current HOS rules, now it's about which customers have overnight parking and which ones don't. It's always something as you go farther along

 

Also, as you go farther along, your pre-trip will improve as well

 

Also everything gets better.

 

What is a 'classic high hook'?

 

It's where the trailer kingpin jumps over the 5th wheel instead of latching into it. Caused primarily by there being a large gap between the the 5th wheel plate and the trailer.

 

I remember talking to a Prime driver that was picking up his first load on his own out of training. I ran local out of there and usually I got enjoyment out of watching new drivers make mistakes. I hooked to my trailer and look over to see he jumped it. I laughed for a moment then realized I could just not be terrible person for once and go help a new guy out. He was freaking out. I told him you didn't run the reefer unit through the bunk so at least you recognized something was wrong and stopped. Showed him what to do, he was willing to learn and he got on his way with his first load. I won't say I never laugh anymore, but I try to help out first now. There's sometimes I need a little help still.

Anyways that wasn't directed at you, just what you said made me remember that. It was just a moment in my life where I realized I could be better. Guess I felt like rambling this morning.