Comments on: Better Truck Driving Trainers – part 1

By: Lunar K-9

Lunar K-9 — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:24:08 +0000

I spent 12 years as a driving instructor. American Career Tech, Cowtown, Longhorn and Interstate Driver Training. I am out of it now because of the owners.

I LOVED being an instructor and I miss it. But 4 failed schools is enough for me. A school is only as good as its worst instructor and good ones get taken for granted by the school owners who always forget why they got into the business in the first place.

By: Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:06:53 +0000

C1-Professional Truck Driving School-contracted through driver solutions

ALOT of local community colleges and tech. school also offer CDL training.

HOWEVER realize most of these institutions simply give you enough knowledge and practice to get that little card, the first month on the job you spend you will Quadroople your abilities and knowledge. That being said stop by your department of motor vehicles and pick up their CDL book and read it cover to cover before going to school.

By: Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:04:04 +0000

Kenneth,

With mountain driving you want to be in the right gear for the speed of the terrain/conditions. 9th gear 45, 8-40ish mph and so on. I have never used a jake on the east coast here. 5-6% grades your cresting the mountain in 9th or 8th already. just keep it at that 1,600 rpm level and your home free down hill. Snub braking is when you let the weight push the rpm’s and speed up then when you get high you hit the brakes just till the rpm’s/speed fall back down (around 1,200 rpms) You can down shift at a higher rpm than 1,000 but realize you will have to really rev it up to get it into the lower gear…so if you down shift at 1,200 expect that puppy to wind up to 2,000 before it’ll sink in…for an emergeny w/o brakes that is how you’ll have to slow the rig down and bring it to a stop. I’m not suggesting this except in an emergency because when you go to shift and lets say you don’t get it into gear that rig will roll faster and faster, before long you’ll have to upshift to get back under control and try the whole process again, as you know that is not a good situation because the mountain roads twist and you need to be in control all 100% of the time. The truck can only go so fast in a given gear. It is always better to be in the wrong gear than to be out of a gear.

By: Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 23:50:54 +0000

I feel very fortunate that right out of CDL school I had a fantastic trainer. I was hammered by my teacher on the SMITH skills right out of the gate. He let me screw up backing in (not in an unsafe manor but you know rookie mistakes) but always made it a point for me to explain to him where/what I did…Like I went left instead of a right… then week 2 and 3 we were team driving and by week 4 delivering “saved” load to NY city. After the training stage your class then returns to the company and gives you a skills test. Granted we all had different trainers; we all had the same skills test. As I watched several other drivers struggle with simple 45* backs in an open parking lot; I realized my professionalism and abilities I owe all to my trainer. I was inspired from that day and i’m going through another skills test now to be a certified trainer.

By: wifey

wifey — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:35:38 +0000

Thank you for posting this. I somehow stumbled upon your blog while searching for something else. I’ve spend the last 30 minutes reading everything and crying over the video in this very post- or maybe the tears came from my own struggling relationship brought on by the lifestyle.

Thank you for being so open and posting. I’ll continue to visit and keep up with your blog.

By: E. Greene

E. Greene — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:09:38 +0000

I want to become I trucker. I contacted schools trying to get some information on what I need before I come, but they are taking there time by sending my information. So do you know of some good school out there.

By: Kenneth

Kenneth — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 04:39:44 +0000

Hey Steve, not sure if you can respond, but a quick question for you as a trainer. I’m currently in training, my trainer does not allow the use of the jake brake, cruise control, and floating. I understand the floating issue, as its important to double clutch initially as I’m in my 5th week now. I ask alot of questions, especially about mountain driving. I find the mountain driving to be challenging as well as very critical to know every scenario as possible in case something does go wrong. I get lableled as negative for asking the “what if” question, for instance what happens if going down hill and I find that I’m in the wrong gear should I attempt to snub or stab break bringing the rpms down below 1000 and attempt a lower gear. I was taught in cdl class that you should find a gear and never ever attempt to change due to the fact that if you lose a gear then your screwed, but then reading alot on the forums I find that it has actually saved some drivers by shifting to a lower gear when losing a jake brake or smoking the brakes begins. Could you possibly give your experience on proper mountain driving techniques, I would be hugely indebted to you for any information you can provide to help alot of us entry level drivers on safe mountain driving procedures.

By: Donna Creekmore

Donna Creekmore — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:05:11 +0000

Very well written Steve. thanks

By: admin

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:43:51 +0000

I have much more to write about on this subject believe that. You brought up a good point. A teacher/trainer don’t show trust if he is always in the seat and that don’t help the confidence levels. I will step to the back and let them have their space, Of course still keeping a eye on things. This is important because one day when they look to the right you will not be their to respond, they need to get use to making judgment calls on their own!

By: Matt Hubble

Matt Hubble — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:59:08 +0000

Very good article. My trainer was very similar in the ways of a good trainer. One thing he did mess up on was talking. To me when I was a student, and about to be again due to my lapse in current OTR experience but thats neither here nor there, all I wanted was somebody to talk to while out for that month. All he would do was sit in the jump seat and read magazines and watch the road from time to time. When I was in the jump seat he would drive and listen to the radio and have me do my “upgrade to solo seat driver questions”. So there again many hours would pass and no conversation what so ever. So just having small talk would have helped alot. Another thing my trainer messed up on was allowing me to drive the truck without him insight. When I drove he was in the jump seat, when he drove I was in the jump seat. He said it was because he had a few students mess up. For instance, stopping in the middle of the intersate to back up cause the student missed his exit. One more, turning the truck around on one of the cut throughs for emergency vehicles only at night. I can see where this would lead a man to not want the student driving without 100% supervision but after about a week a good TEACHER should beable to recognise that a smart student will not make dumb mistakes. My hats goes off to all the trainers and teachers in the great big world of trucking cause I know that I could not do such a demanding task. It can be hard enough being a driver sometimes but being a trainer/teacher i would think can be even hard. So thanks to all you teacher and trainers. Keep up the hard work.