My TMC Transport Orientation And Training

Don't let that methodology for backing bother you. Backing is one of those things that, for some people, all the instruction in the world doesn't help at all. You've got to experience it for yourself, and the repetition of it is what begins to help it register in your mind as to how the trailer responds to the movements of the tractor. It eventually becomes a natural sort of eye/hand coordination type of exercise, but it's different each time you do it because of all the variables involved.

Yeah I understand. Today on the yard they showed us how to "walk" the trailer by jackknifing it then pulling forward without the dump valve and backing up with the dump valve. Then it all clicked for me just how the dump valve actually works, seeing it pivot like that so clearly. I had my lightbulb moment so to say. Thanks for the encouragement Old School.

10/9/2013

Today wasn't much different than the previous days. In the morning we talked to our training coordinators very briefly. They told us where are trainers live, and also explained that we will talk to them once a week during training and report on how many miles we drive, how many times we got to back, what kind of freight we hauled, and whether or not we get enough showers. This is just to make sure we are prepared for our own trucks after training. I was informed my trainer lives about 50 miles from me, so it is very likely I will see home during the five weeks of training.

For the road time today we went to downtown Des Moines to practice tight turns and city driving. It was a lot of fun, and I got the same instructor I had yesterday. He is a fun guy to hang out with and for the most part today he just told me where to go, my road driving is definitely my strong point. At the backing yard we practiced the same maneuvers and also added a 90 degree back to the list. They then told us to never back 90 degrees with a loaded trailer because there is a good chance your freight will tip, so I guess the 90 is for deadhead only.

Tomorrow is the last day of driving then Friday is just paperwork and getting our rental cars to go home and meet our trainers!

Snapped a picture during load check yesterday.

They then told us to never back 90 degrees with a loaded trailer because there is a good chance your freight will tip, so I guess the 90 is for deadhead only.

That is quite a bizarre statement for them to make and it's totally not true. I'm not even sure why they would say that. I mean, think about it - that would mean you can't pull forward around a 90 degree bend either. How the heck would you ever get anywhere? And if a load tipped that easily, it would tip in the wind, it would tip on hard braking or steering maneuvers, etc.

You might want to get some clarification on what they were talking about. Maybe they worded it wrong and it came out with the wrong meaning or something. But there isn't anything you can do on flat ground when backing that is going to pose a risk to tipping the load.

They then told us to never back 90 degrees with a loaded trailer because there is a good chance your freight will tip, so I guess the 90 is for deadhead only.

That is quite a bizarre statement for them to make and it's totally not true. I'm not even sure why they would say that. I mean, think about it - that would mean you can't pull forward around a 90 degree bend either. How the heck would you ever get anywhere? And if a load tipped that easily, it would tip in the wind, it would tip on hard braking or steering maneuvers, etc.

You might want to get some clarification on what they were talking about. Maybe they worded it wrong and it came out with the wrong meaning or something. But there isn't anything you can do on flat ground when backing that is going to pose a risk to tipping the load.

I did just this today. Basically with a 90 degree with a lot of space it's fine, but they were having us do super tight 90s (about 12 feet from the back of the trailer when straight to the dock, trailer even with the driver side of the dock), and the trailer rocks back and forth quite a bit with the rear axle dumped at the jackknifed angle. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it well, but it made sense when they explained it to me.

Thanks for all the updates Steve, really enjoying them.

What do you mean by having the back axel dumped?

Sorry for the rookie question, but that's what I am and how I roll lol.

Woody

Thanks for all the updates Steve, really enjoying them.

What do you mean by having the back axel dumped?

Sorry for the rookie question, but that's what I am and how I roll lol.

Woody

on these flatbed trailers there are two axles in the back about 10 feet apart. if you dump the air from the suspension in the rear axle the pivot point moves from there to the axle 10 feet up effectively pivoting like a 38 foot trailer instead of a 48. so if you are doing a driver's side 45 and you are overshooting the spot you can dump the air and you will come in tighter, or if you are too tight dump the air as you pull forward then refill the air as you back in again.

10/10/2013 Today was the last day of actual training, tomorrow is just a lot of paperwork and things to get us ready to be sent off with our trainers. I nailed all the yard maneuvers and had fun on the road. Logged about 106 miles today just enjoying the scenery. He said "We are just going to drive and have fun today" and that's exactly what happened. Overall a very informative orientation, I can't wait to get out there with a trainer.

10/11/2013 We cleaned all the trucks we used for training and went over a little more paperwork. We then took a group picture of all of us finishing orientation and got our TCH cards and found out who our trainers were. Then we were taken to the airport to pick up our rental cars. I went with two other drivers and was lucky enough to be dropped off first. We stopped at a certain big truckstop on the way to cash the TCH check they gave us for gas and tolls on the way home. I meet up with my trainer Monday morning to get on the road again!

Good luck Steve! Looking forward to hearing more about this adventure into "Destination Excellence".

Good luck Steve! Looking forward to hearing more about this adventure into "Destination Excellence".

Thanks, I'm really enjoying it so far. I will definitely keep updating, but I imagine once on the road with a trainer the updates will be less frequent.

Congrats man! I hope you get a friendly trainer. But if not, don't let it stress ya. It's only temporary. Approach it like you would the military - you do whatever it takes to get through it and come out successful in the end. You may not like it at the time, but it's worth it in the end.