Well you made it through orientation and now its time to go over the road with a truck driver trainer. Depending on the truck driving company you are employed with will determine how long you will spend with a truck driver trainer. There are some companies where the timespan may be a couple of weeks or shorter and then you will have companies who will stick you with a trainer for months on end. In this article on Truck Driver CDL101 we will go through what to expect when you hit the road with your trainer
Truck Driver Trainer: What To Bring
When it comes to hitting the road with your truck driver trainer you need to remember that you are basically moving into someone house for the duration of your training so you do not want to bring too much stuff however at the same time you are going to need essentials that are must have. There are truck companies that will give their drivers a list of what they should and should not bring.
Here is a list of essentials
- Sleeping Bag – Well you could bring a set of sheets and a comforter however a sleeping bag is easily rolled up and stored away when it is not being used.
- Shower Kit – Basically a small bag that contains all of the items that you need to perform your daily hygiene routine. Remember you are living with someone else so stinky is not a way to go. I would add a pair of rubber shoes for the shower as the cleanliness of some truck stop showers leave a lot to be desired
- Safety Gear – For this particular category we are focusing on personal safety gear such as a vest, gloves and proper work boots. The truck should be equipped with the majority of the safety gear
- Clothes – Obviously you do not want to wear the same clothes day in and day out however bring enough for a seven day period in case you get stuck with doing your HOS reset on the road. I would also suggest bringing along a few laundry pods for they do not take up any room.
- Something To Pass The Time – When it comes to driving OTR there are a lot of periods where you will spend waiting. Whether that is getting your trailer loaded or unloaded or waiting for your next load. To fill in your downtime you are going to want something to help you kill the time other than your phone. Bring a book, crosswords, handheld video game or what have you. Trust me you will thank you later
Truck Driver Trainer: Who Is Driving The Truck
There are companies out there that want the person who is being trained to be behind the wheel for the majority of the time while the truck driver trainer is sitting in the passenger seat making sure everything is done right. However there are also companies who treat the new driver training process basically as a team driver position so when one person is behind the wheel the other is in the sleeper berth. The latter option tends to be with companies who keep the new driver with the trainer on the road together for months on end.
Needless to say I believe that the truck driver trainer should be sitting in the passenger seat and ensuring everything is done correctly. The purpose of this training period is to get the new driver to experience a ton of different real life scenarios and how to react to each. Whether it is how to deal with a shipper/receiver to crossing the border to dealing with steep downgrades to backing up at a truck stop the trainer needs to be in the front of the truck and not in the sleeper berth
Truck Driver Trainer: Dealing With A Bad Trainer
Unfortunately not a lot of people want to become a over the road truck driver trainer which leads to drivers becoming a trainer for the wrong reasons with the most common being money. You may end up with a trainer that has a limited driving experience, poor hygiene, unsafe driving and the list goes on. If you encounter a difficult trainer there are steps you can take to improve the situation
- Talk With Your Trainer – This should be the first and most obvious step and that is talk with your trainer and explain your concerns. If your trainer refuses to adapt then move on to the next steps
- Document – Every time your trainer does something that violates company policy or safety than make sure that you are documenting it
- Speak With Your Terminal – All of the truck driver trainers have someone that is basically their boss who oversees the training of all new drivers. Speak with this person and address your concerns.
If you believe the situation that you are in is life threatening than go straight to step three
Truck Driver Trainer: My Experience
When I started my first CDL truck driving job way back in 2015 with a mega truck driving company the process pretty much went like this.
- I had to fill out a questionnaire so that they could find the best match for me for my training period. The questions were along the lines of if I preferred a male or female trainer. Whether I wanted a smoker or a nonsmoker. Whether or not I spoke other languages than English. Very basic questionnaire but I guess it works. If someone was super specific in thier questionnaire than they may be waiting for a trainer for awhile.
- Assigned a trainer
- Spoke with my trainer over the phone to set up a meeting time to go over the policies and hit the road
- Met with my trainer. Covered company policies revolving arond this training period. Moved into the truck
So now the time on the road begins. We would connect to a trailer at the terminal and then would head over to the first shipper. After going through the process of dealing with a shipper I backed into a door and waited to get loaded. After being loaded we received the paperwork and headed to the nearest truck stop
At the truck stop we scaled the load to ensure that it was legal. This was the first time I actually scaled a load and though I knew the procedure and reasoning the books went over it was much more different when performing the task. We would also take this time to fax in the paperwork to our border team as this first load was going from Canada to the United States.
Once are paperwork was cleared by the custom broker we would head for the border. At the border I learned the proper steps when dealing with the officers at the border which was a bit stressful the first few times.
We would then continue on our way to the destination. We did nt have enough hours left (HOS) so we decided to stop at a company terminal that was on the way.
Once at the terminal we would be able to shower and grab some food from the terminal cafeteria. I remember thinking how tired I was after driving for ten hours that day. During CDL school and the new driver orientation I had never driven more than three hours at a time.
The next day we would get up early and finish off the delivery. We would then be sent to another shipper nearby where the trailer was loaded and again headed to a truck stop to take care of scaling the truck/trailer and faxing in the paperwork.
This time we would end up at our home terminal as the trailer was being relayed a couple of days later. The next day the cycle would repeat
The only real variation during the training period was the pickup and destination. The goal of the training program was to allow the new driver to experience a wide variety of routes that would travel through a variety of different geograpic areas. From driving the flat roads of Indiana to the mountains in Pennsylvania it was important to experience both.
The program also wanted the new driver to experience a good number of border crossings and dealing with the border team within our company. As a Canadian driver a high percentage of loads with this particular mega travelled into the United States
At the end of the first week my truck driver trainer decided that I was ready to take on the test and hit the road on my own
The following Monday I would take the test, passed and would be assigned my own truck
