A Result Of The Tracker

I thought I would share my experience with everyone and it was a direct result of the new tracker on here.

I was on my way to school and was in Ar. Daniel B was hauling a load down I40 and was also in Ar. We saw this on the tracker. So after a few messages back and forth we discovered our schedules allowed us the opportunity to meet at a truck stop along I40.

We met and had breakfast together. We were able to actually put faces to names and that in itself was very cool. During breakfast I took the liberty of picking his brain on as much as I could think of, mainly getting his take first hand on my choices. Afterward he amazed me. He invited me over to his truck and proceeded to pre-school me on the entire truck. Oh man!!!! All the stuff I have been reading about, he put right there before me. Now I am the type person that can read and understand things eventually. But hands on I learn much faster. At one point when we were under the hood he looked at me and must have had a sense I wanted to touch something, but wouldn't. He just looked at me and without any hesitation gave me his permission to touch whatever it was I was interested in. We spent the better part of 2 hours going over everything. And I do mean everything in and on that truck and trailer. I will tell you all this. The young man is very impressive with his dedication and personal integrity. By the time we were done my head was spinning a bit, but he told me before we parted "now you got things to thing about on the rest of your trip". Boy was he right. And I did just that. I constantly thought about the different things on the truck, what I read, and how he put that together for me in the parking lot. I feel much more confident coming into school with everything I have gotten as a direct result of trucking truth. Tomorrow morning is day 1 of school and I will be posting in the other forum. I just had to share my experience with everyone. It was truly amazing.

P.S. Brett you picked a very terrific young man in him to help as a moderator of this site as well.

Hmmmm..... I think I'm going to be jealous!

JK!

That must have been one great experience for you. Thanks to Daniel for sharing with us n00Bs. I think he would have shared with any of us in the same situation.

The pre-trip inspection seems overwhelming at first, but its really not so complicated once you start reading and seeing what it is. Just go over it everyday at least 5 times a day.

That's awesome PJ! It's cool you guys got a chance to meet in person and it's great you had a chance to talk with an experienced driver before beginning school. Wow, it didn't take long for the tracker to produce some results, eh???

Brett you picked a very terrific young man in him to help as a moderator of this site as well.

I don't doubt it one bit. We have some incredibly kind and helpful moderators here and a great group of people overall. If it wasn't for our moderators I'd never be able to find the time to squeeze in things like that tracker app for the site.

I'm really glad you guys had a chance to hang out though. I really dig that. I hope a lot of people will get that chance now that we'll actually be able to know where everyone is!

it's great you had a chance to talk with an experienced driver before beginning school.

Woah, last I checked I haven't been OTR for a full year. Still a 'Rookie Solo Driver'. I don't think I qualify to be called an experienced driver yet but thank you!

PJ, good seeing you. Keep us updated while in school and glad you made it to WI safely. I hope I helped with everything. I tried not to overload you but definitely wanted to give you lots of things to think about. You'll do just fine!

Woah, last I checked I haven't been OTR for a full year. Still a 'Rookie Solo Driver'. I don't think I qualify to be called an experienced driver yet but thank you!

I've known drivers with over a decade of experience that I didn't trust as much as I would someone still in school. I had a football coach who had coached for 24 years and didn't know half as much about football or coaching players as my 10 year old niece.

Just because someone has done something a long time doesn't mean they're any good at it, and vice versa. If you have the right approach, you learn from everything you do, and you make smart decisions you'll perform like a ten year veteran. You've been out there long enough to prove you're trustworthy in both handling the truck and mentoring new drivers. For me, being "Experienced" in the capacity we're referring to is more about trustworthiness, decision-making, awareness, and common sense than it is about time put in. If I had someone come up to me off the street and asked me if I could recommend someone to mentor them into trucking I'd be very comfortable recommending you.

We've had a couple of stories recently from trainees who were stuck with trainers that had no clue how to use a Jake Brake even though they've been driving for 10+ years. It literally would take less than 5 minutes to explain to a 6th grader how to properly use a Jake Brake and after 10+ years some drivers still don't have it figured out.

But if it would make you more comfortable I'll call you a "trustworthy rookie", how's that?

I think I like experienced better . And I do remember that thread about the jake brakes, such shame.

I am actually thinking about becoming a trainer with Prime. That's exactly why I want to switch to Prime - more opportunities for me. It's just one of those things I think about on the road. Of course I would probably try to only take TT members. I'd rather make it easier on myself by having a student who is educated by Trucking Truth rather than a student who isn't.

I'd rather make it easier on myself by having a student who is educated by Trucking Truth rather than a student who isn't.

That's for sure!!! Now that you've been out there for a while, can you imagine walking into a classroom at a truck driving school on day one without one bit of knowledge or preparation? Imagine having no idea how challenging it's going to be or what life is like on the road. Good grief!!!

I've heard countless stories of people who make it all the way to going solo and still don't know how to couple/uncouple trailers or slide the tandems or understand the logbook rules thoroughly. This industry is seriously lacking in the training department. I know we're making a huge difference when it comes to preparing people for a great start to their careers. But nothing in the world is more important than having a trainer on the road with good knowledge and a genuine desire to be a great trainer. If trucking companies would focus on developing great trainers they wouldn't need to pour so many millions of dollars every year into recruiting drivers. They'd actually find that more than 5% of their recruits make it as solo drivers! Geesh!!!

Good morning, Daniel thank you again sir again and yes I had 900 miles of running all the stuff you went over with me going through my mind. Like I told you, you will make an awesome trainer when you get there. You have the personality and desire. You will turn out great students, if they have the desire. Brett your so right. Time in grade does not equal experience. Experience comes from getting in there and doing it to the best of your ability and experiencing all you can. Training is all about sharing what you know and hoping the student has the ability and desire to excel. Students should turn out better than the trainer in my opinion because they have better equipment, technology, and more time to perfect their craft than their trainer. My opinion anyway. Getting ready to head out to day 1. Yay