Trainer In Need Of Insight

Cwc is looking for laffs:

Sorry Errol this may be a legitimate way of teaching a new driver but if it is not at least a little designed for revenge and comedy for the trainer. It really should be.

Have your read Brett's article on backing class?

The Backing Range At Trucking Driving School - It's Like Clown Soup For The Soul

I'm always looking for something else to make me grin. This job has it's due stress and if you can't find some way to unwind... Well as they say all work and no play...

And yap we all looked like fools at some point or another.. I still do when I go to back into a spot after I gotta use the restroom or had to for the last two hours... I turn the wheel every direction but the correct one.

His backing is just as some one said throwing darts and as far as everything else I have no clue how he got his cdl. I am still with Usx and it pains me to say this student might need to find something other than trucking as a career he is 60 years old and I don't have a clue as to how to teach him in a way he will learn

His backing is just as some one said throwing darts and as far as everything else I have no clue how he got his cdl. I am still with Usx and it pains me to say this student might need to find something other than trucking as a career he is 60 years old and I don't have a clue as to how to teach him in a way he will learn

The downside of being a trainer. And this may very well be how he got his license. Because I would hate to have to fail someone at his age... Old people are cool, you tend to learn a lot from them. But in this case you might not like to learn something such as being the bearer of bad news.

I wonder if it's possible with someone this bad at backing to kind of "work their way up to it". Can he get a pickemup truck and U-Haul trailer and back it ? Great! Can you get a hold of a 30 or 35' trailer? A day cab? Yes, I know they all handle differently, with different responses and view angles. But the Principles of Backing won't change. Maybe mastering backing a Chevy with a 12' trailer will somehow make it 'click'. Or at least the confidence of taking baby steps will help him work up to the bigger stuff. Just a thought.

Heck, you don't get out on the road with 13 speeds until you've first shifted from third to fourth and back around the yard.

Hey all I have started training for my company I have had around 6 or 7 students all caught on and have upgraded to first seat drivers. A week ago I got a student that just doesn't seem to catch anything. I have tried to show him things like backing. He can do a straight back just fine however when I have him try to setup for a 45 or a 90 he has no concept of what the trailer is doing or which way to turn the wheel over a week practice for 7 hours one day and then a minimum of at least an hour a day and still just as bad as day 1. I hate to say it but I have no idea how to handle this student any thoughts anyone

Honestly, I'd send him back to the yard and tell the training team he needs backing training. There's only so much you can do. If you don't hve that option, or if you like them and hate to give up, it won't hurt to keep trying different things.

Remember, you have been a good enough instructor that 6 or 7 other students learned.

Some people just can't get it. As an example, I had a fellow trainee in Basic Training who was so spectacularly unaware of his own feet that he couldn't stay in step with the rest of the platoon during marching drills in formation.

Your current student might have a similar issue. They might simply not be able to properly connect their physical actions to the world around them in an orderly fashion. Sure, they can probably explain it, what they should be doing, if they think about it, but when it comes time to DO it, all the understanding in the world fails them.

If he ends up truly being hopeless, and never gets it, think of it as something like dyslexia, except interfering with coordination, not reading.

So you expect him to back, trip plan and be an expert at HOS? If he could do all that then what would he need a trainer for?

I was taught how to read maps in school. The trainer didn't teach me. Now that I'm on the road I'm shocked at how many new drivers never saw a map other than their GPS or Google on phone. That is sad. Many of the trainers don't discuss trip planning due to the teaming situation. And I don't mean just at prime I mean at several companies where friends went. In orientation we got a class on HOS...and it went right out of my head when I got bombarded with information overkill. And then my nerves went crazy for the written test then driving...then finding a trainer..etc.

How do you pass the backing test to get the CDL...by knowing the reference points. I passed with zero points once a trainer taught me the reference points...but it took me six months to back. I couldn't back to save my life and the trainer was frustrated and stopped letting me. That helps no one.

What helped me was taking some time to practice in a truck stop and if possible getting a spotter to signal only when about to hit something.

My first trainer would tell me "right right left" and when he walked away I couldn't do it. You might be undoing a former trainers bad techniques.

Also keep in mind there are three learning styles: seeing/reading, listening, and hands on.

If you have someone who is an auditory learner and you say "watch me back" that won't help. I had psyche classes in college that said the best thing to do is try to teach using all three methods. Have him watch trucks backing and tell him what they are doing...that takes care of both visual and auditory learners...then try just letting him back.

As far as the atlas and trip planning...find some YouTube videos. Yes the new driver should be proactive and try to educate them selves but they don't know how much they don't know. And are overwhelmed with info.

I graduated college Phi Theta Kappa honor society with a 3.8 avg. But I just couldn't understand what the first trainer was saying as he seemed to talk in circles when it came to backing. He had others students...with a 50% pass on first time rate. I failed my first test. It didn't make me hopeless.

Perhaps asking another instructor to explain in a different way.

This is vary true.It's nothing against the trainer or teacher its just how people learn. I had someone try to teach me to back a just a 24` camper could not figure it out than someone else was riding with me and said just start at the bottom of the wheel and back it worked just like a light switch.No idea why or how it just worked. And as far as trip planning I actually learned best by filling out paper logs.

So you expect him to back, trip plan and be an expert at HOS? If he could do all that then what would he need a trainer for?

I was taught how to read maps in school. The trainer didn't teach me. Now that I'm on the road I'm shocked at how many new drivers never saw a map other than their GPS or Google on phone. That is sad. Many of the trainers don't discuss trip planning due to the teaming situation. And I don't mean just at prime I mean at several companies where friends went. In orientation we got a class on HOS...and it went right out of my head when I got bombarded with information overkill. And then my nerves went crazy for the written test then driving...then finding a trainer..etc.

How do you pass the backing test to get the CDL...by knowing the reference points. I passed with zero points once a trainer taught me the reference points...but it took me six months to back. I couldn't back to save my life and the trainer was frustrated and stopped letting me. That helps no one.

What helped me was taking some time to practice in a truck stop and if possible getting a spotter to signal only when about to hit something.

My first trainer would tell me "right right left" and when he walked away I couldn't do it. You might be undoing a former trainers bad techniques.

Also keep in mind there are three learning styles: seeing/reading, listening, and hands on.

If you have someone who is an auditory learner and you say "watch me back" that won't help. I had psyche classes in college that said the best thing to do is try to teach using all three methods. Have him watch trucks backing and tell him what they are doing...that takes care of both visual and auditory learners...then try just letting him back.

As far as the atlas and trip planning...find some YouTube videos. Yes the new driver should be proactive and try to educate them selves but they don't know how much they don't know. And are overwhelmed with info.

I graduated college Phi Theta Kappa honor society with a 3.8 avg. But I just couldn't understand what the first trainer was saying as he seemed to talk in circles when it came to backing. He had others students...with a 50% pass on first time rate. I failed my first test. It didn't make me hopeless.

Perhaps asking another instructor to explain in a different way.

What no I don't expect him to be on point at all but I do need to see some improvements in at least a few areas we have e- logs and when you have to show a student every day for over a week how to log on duty or log arrived at a fuel stop shipper or receivers or just log a break it becomes frustrating. I am not sure of his learning style I have said watch this also just talking him threw the maneuver we have sat and watched other drivers back in at truck stops. Even got in open ares and just let him have at it in hopes that maybe I could see a pattern or something to give me a clue as to what he needs and now I am here asking for advice

Depending on what state he is from, he may have never been taught to alley dock in CDL school. .. i know I wasn't, because my state did not require it. I could offset, straight line, or parallel park like a pro, but I was completely CLUELESS on how to set up backing maneuvers for alley docking or simply parking the truck. I knew I needed to goal, but for the most part didn't know what I was supposed to be looking for.

My trainer (now my co driver ) was HARSH! He would attempt to explain and the way he explained things was like Chinese to my ears... even to this day. He was just as frustrated (if not moreso) than I was. It was bad. Very bad. I felt that he rushed me, and I also got sick of hearing him bit#h about how my school never taught me to back. They taught me to back, doing the skills that wete required by my state. I did not learn by using so called reference points. I was taught from the perspective of "steering the back of the trailer".

He would say crazy (to my ears) stuff like "put your tractor here" or "swing the tractor left/right" I repeatedly told him, if you could just teach me how to set up, I will be fine. He never did.

I went solo. My backing was rough, simply because I didn't know how to consistently set up. A yard driver at a Lowes DC was watching me struggle. She offered to drop my loaded trailer for me, but also told me, had I had my tandems all the way back, I would have nailed it the first time. She said I had too much swing to hit that very tight spot. Hmmm. I went ahead and slid my tandems back, tried it again and BAM! I always managed to get docked or parked, sometimes spot on and other times it was so bad I couldn't hit the side of a barn if my life depended on it. I was having one of those "barn" days at a shipper , that actually is quite easy to get into. A trainer with US Xpress who had a student with him asked me if I would like some tips on setting up. He had immediately figured out I was still lost on how to set up. He stood near the drivers side front of my truck and talked/walked me through the setup. His help gave me consistency and I'll forever be grateful.

Also, like Rainy and her tossing her hoodie out to mark her target spot, I learned to toss out a easily visible object (in lieu of the school's orange cones) so that I could steer the rear end of my trailer and pivot around that marker to avoid another trailer, truck, or whatever and get docked or parked. I also learned the value in leaning out the window and not strictly using my mirrors as had been required for cdl testing.

So, don't give up on this guy. Whether or not it's you or someone else. . Someone will explain it to where it just "clicks and sticks".

As for my (former trainer ) codriver. He's still an @$$ when it comes to backing. He distracts me, tries to tell me what to do, etc. Lol. I tell him to get his @$$ in the sleeper, get out of my way, and hush (to put it nicely). Its all good though. He realizes I do great if he simply leaves me alone.

I'm gonna miss teaming with him, but I also feel like I have a lot to share with new drivers and I'm looking forward to it. Besides, we will still have our weekends together and the random shared 10 hour breaks :-)