There are some who tend to get ideas for things to write about from the conversations that are taking place in other website trucker’s forum. They see many conversations about bad trainers, or difficulties during training, that I decided to put together a few thoughts on the whole training process that an inexperienced driver will go through.
I hope it will prove helpful to those who get a chance to read it.
It is normal for a new driver to face a lot of difficulties when starting a trucking career. It is important to know that great trucking careers don’t always have great starts. Great truckers are made, not born. Your attitude and your approach to this job will make or break you.
Your trainer may try your patience. This is their way to test whether or not you have what it takes to make it in trucking.
New Driver Expectations
As new drivers, your expectations of how your training experience may differ. It’s all such a rush if you expect that you can easily ship off to a perfect company after going through a truck driving school and get that new CDL in your wallet.
Most of the new drivers realize that they are just as green as can be and they are looking forward to having an old hand at all this stuff to teach them how to handle that rig in all kinds of situations and road conditions.
As a starter, you should realize how it isn’t the trainer’s responsibility to make you into a successful truck driver. He is there for a purpose, but probably not the purpose you had in mind.
How Does the Typical CDL Training Start?
Your trainer will drive the truck on the first day. He may tell you how lucky you are to have him as your trainer. He will tell you that the company has the best to offer. He will ask you questions like “Why do you want to be a truck driver?” It doesn’t matter if you look a mess up or have a silly answer. What matters is that you answer and that he will mentor you all throughout.
What might be happening the next day? Well, the trainer might ask you to drive. Your heart will race with excitement and start commandeering across the country. If he sees that you already know how to drive, you will be moving forward to team driving. If not, he might mutter this and that.
Here are some of the expectations you can have:
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Little To No Valuable Instruction During Training
You may have little to no real or valuable instruction during your training period. What you will experience is a lot of exposure while there’s an experienced driver back there in the sleeper that you could wake up when you need some help or advice. This may be true but your trainer would stay at the wheel for many long night shifts and add substantial amounts of money to his paycheck.
You would cross the country back and forth multiple times during the four weeks that you are on board with him. He will make compliments and some comments too. That should give you an idea of how hard he was pushing.
Training Will Not Go The Way You Expect
You need to be prepared to stick it out. You can learn a lot by sticking with it and being exposed to driving the truck. You actually don’t need all the instruction. What you need is the time behind the wheel with someone available in case you need them. In the trucking business, you learn by doing, and this process takes years.
No matter how good your trainer is, they will not bring you to be a proficient and profitable driver. You will do that on your own through trial and error. Each trucker has gone through this whole process of driving career. At times, you will feel totally unsure of yourself and your ability when you will do it solo.
You will learn so many lessons from your mistakes as a new driver. Mistakes that might mess up your paycheck. Persistence and tenacity will be your close companions during your starting year. These will serve you well.
Many people quit this career before never seeing the value of training. They condemn their trainer with accusations of wrongdoing when what they need was a little bit of resolution by themselves to keep at it until they figured it out.
You simply cannot spend a few weeks with even a good trainer and expect to complete it and ready to shine like a star out there. Note that you need to set yourself a goal of sticking with your first truck driving job for one year. That is one of the most essential things you can do for yourself when doing this career.
Your Trainer May Not Be The Best Example, But You Can Still Learn From Them
Some trainers are terrible at keeping a safe distance. This will make you realize that many experienced drivers think they are good that they ignore the things that new drivers tend to focus on.
Keeping a safe distance is one of the most vital practices for keeping you safe and accident-free during your starting year and on into your future trucking career.
Treat Your Training Time Like Learning To Ride A Bike
Many of us start out learning to ride a bike using training wheels. Those wheels are there to keep us from falling and hurting ourselves badly. That is a good illustration of the way you should approach having a crazy trainer there with you.
In an instance, you will certainly not be ready to be out there on your own, but he certainly may not be teaching you much either. He may be asleep most of the time while you are driving, and you may be the one who’s sleeping while he is driving.
But, he is there with you if you need him. There are a couple of times when you have to holler at him to wake up and help you out. It is nice that he is there, but not necessarily real educational.
Eventually, you will get the feel for how to maneuver that bicycle and then your parents remove those training wheels. They know you are probably going to mess up and skin a knee a time or two, but they are confident enough that they turn you loose so that you can practice improving yourself at riding the bike.
Trucking companies approach this entire training process in much the same way. They have been doing this for a long. They know they cannot afford to spend the time it takes to teach you everything that you need to be a successful driver.
They can sometimes recognize certain characteristics in people that are indicative of those who aren’t going to make it in this career. They have had many people go through training, and some personality types just stand out like red flags.
It’s Going To Take Tenacity To Survive In This Industry
The experience will differ from one another. But it’s sure that training will teach you to have tough skin, a willingness to learn, and a humble attitude to facing new challenges and learning experiences every day.
That sums up the training. It’s really more about the qualities you possess than your trainer’s qualities. If you can learn to adjust with a difficult trainer, then there’s a higher likelihood of making trucking the best career for you.
This is the first place to start your search.
Submit your information below to find employers and CDL training schools near you.