I don’t want to be that guy, but what are they teaching these rookies?
Posted by lake_june@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 26 comments
Other day I was at a pilot waiting to get into a spot. Two free spots left, right next to each other so an easy back, especially since it was a big lot, the type you just pull forward and do a straight line back.
Anyway holmes is backing up but has his tractor so angled that it’s blocking both spots so he keeps pulling up
After a while I had no idea if he was trolling or being funny. I get out to help him and tell him all he literally has to do is just straighten out while pulling forward then back up straight
This dude has zero idea how to do it. I’m a very patient person but even with this I was puzzled. Not cuz I was annoyed but because I literally don’t know how to explain what is probably the easiest thing to do in trucking.
Eventually after watching him almost keep hitting the truck next to him while trying to pull forward and straighten out I just hop in and bk it up for him.
To give you an idea, this was the pilot in colonial heights. The free spots so you know there’s tons of room in front of you if you’re familiar
How do these dudes even pass any type of test ?
MuphDiesel@reddit
Imagine needing to write out this and post it to social media just for a dopamine hit from attention.
homucifer666@reddit
That's the problem...they're only trained to pass the test. There's no emphasis on teaching essential skills, least of all backing.
This was my motivation to teach, because these new drivers that just barely passed the CDL test are getting dropped on their head by their company.
EnolaNek@reddit
That was my experience. I was told “you can learn to back and develop your own backing style later; right now, I just need all of you to memorize this set of inputs and reference points to pass your test.”
I did get some more information, but I was only able to practice it with my road instructor when we practiced backing in at a truck stop. With the actual backing practice, we were expected to just practice doing the exact same motions every time.
Junior_Path_6968@reddit
I don't know how they get a driver's license 😕
AustinLostIn@reddit
Some people just have that natural ability to back a trailer and many other simply cannot wrap their mind around it. They take this job thinking, " oh I'm not smart enough for college so I'm just gonna do this." Bro, you're not smart enough to see angles and spacial recognition.
slowlyrottnaway@reddit
Man I'm a trainer at a bigger tanker company who won't hire right now unless you have 2 years of experience... I'm always shocked at how many drivers I get who have zero clue how to back up. It amazes me they can survive as long as they do in this industry with little to no incidents.
Voxicles@reddit
I’ve got a million+ safe miles, but I’ve always done drop/hook 😆 Only ever have to back to build doubles. Though I do practice backing once in a while on my 30 if the pilot lot is mostly empty.
Boss4life12@reddit
Some of them dont have the license...
Superb-Photograph529@reddit
That memorizing a pretrip (instead of using a checklist) is more important than actual driving.
Ornery_Ads@reddit
Funny how not using checklists will get you a fail in a pilot test...but using them in truck will get you a fail...
What a dichotomy
Critical_Opening_526@reddit
I see the headlines now...
"Truck drivers smarter on average than pilots according to Reddit"
msstatelp@reddit
Yeah never understood the memorizing the pretrip. A paper or electronic checklist is so much more thorough.
EarEvening9902@reddit
Food for thought.
Before they required classes you just had to go and do the road/skills test.
My company (5 people) had me fuck around in a parking lot for a month before going and doing the test. I am truck driver with ZERO training outside of youtube and my own learning.
deezkeys098@reddit
They rush the training and teach the bare minimum to get slaves into the trucks for a year of contracted labor. Who cares if they don’t know how to back and ruin their driving record there are more slaves lining up
Long-Station7566@reddit
Won't someone think of the driver shortage?!?
Signal_Rip3884@reddit
As rookie my self. We don’t get paid to back up, or impress other truckers we get paid to drive. plus they don’t put any good focus into docking and backing in school just some bullshit to pass the test.
SummerBoi20XX@reddit
You get paid for the miles not the hours (usually) so any time your wasting not getting that clock stopped is time your taking away from future miles.
IllSpeech7616@reddit
So you get paid for the same things that most of the other truckers get paid for? If your school didn’t teach you how to back up a trailer you picked the wrong school.
Virtchoo@reddit
Some people you just can’t help. Back before you had to take the class to get a CDL, I taught this guy (or tried to) and no matter how much I tried to help him, he just yanked the wheel one way then the other just hoping for the best. Pulled into a spot backwards once just to get out of everybody’s way at a busy truck stop, and he comes out and says “you’re going to have to help me back out of this spot” I said “sure. No problem! You see those air brakes? Release them. Now put it in reverse. Alright now you see that big wheel? don’t fucking turn it”
dstrezzd@reddit
I get why you backed up for him but that isn't going to help him in the long run. Dude doesn't belong behind a wheel.
firstblush73@reddit
To be fair to OP, at shutdown time, I would help ANYONE back so I could close my curtains and sleep ...
lake_june@reddit (OP)
I know it’s not but I had to hurry up before someone tried to get the last free spot
T3hIce@reddit
I had a guy next to me ask how to hook up the airlines because someone had taken them off. I’m guessing he’d been there forever. My brain was too stunned to help, so I asked him to show me his CDL. He goes, “Oh, I don’t have one. It’s my brother’s truck, and he’s at home dealing with an emergency, but he needs the truck to keep moving, so I’m doing it for him.”
mtthwdlln@reddit
I had to train a guy on my drop and hook night shift a few years ago and it was painful. He claimed to have been doing long haul all over Canada and the US top to bottom side to side so I was hopeful that he could handle regular old 53 foot tandem axel dry van trailers in a day cab. I was wrong and disappointed. All of the delivery locations were decently lit, nice big wide open parking lots and he was struggling. And not to forget he drove like an asshole on the highway between locations. I’m in Canada and I’ll let you take a wild guess at what his ethnic background was
Spitfire954@reddit
Spacial awareness and computing is something some people just don’t have. When I worked receiving at dock we had one driver take just under 2 hours to get backed into a door. This was not a hard dock, plenty of room. 20 minutes? Okay, you’re new. 2 hours? Find a different job.
hugothebear@reddit
Here’s the fun thing:
They aren’t