There are many traits that make a good driver/trainer and many more that are learned as you go along.  Hopefully the following suggestions, plans and ideas will help you have the best possible experience on the road with a trainee.

First, a few things to think about... Trainees are, obviously, all different people.  They all learn differently - in different ways and at different rates.  They will all react to their new job differently as well.  For some, it will be the first time that they have been very far away from home.

Encourage your trainee to ask questions and do not ever treat the trainee as though they are stupid, even if they ask a question that you think they should know the answer to.  Just because someone asks you the same question more than once, it doesn't mean they are not listening to your answer, it just means that it didn't sink in the first time.  Keep in mind that the trainee is trying to learn a huge amount of information in a fairly short period of time and it isn't surprising that their brain occasionally overloads!  If you are impatient about answering the same question more than once, the trainee will soon quit asking questions and will attempt to "figure it out" on his/her own.  Hopefully it wasn't a question about how to brake on a 7% grade!

Let the trainee know how he or she is doing at least once per week.  It isn't fair to allow them to do something wrong, or to allow them to not do something they should be doing, and then report that info back to the carrier.  You need to give them the opportunity to fix or change what they are doing.  If you don't speak to them about it, they won't know they even have a problem.

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1. 6What the Trainee Should Bring

   1. 6Hopefully, the trainee was provided with a good, thorough list of what they need to bring, but chances are that will not be the case.  If you intend to continue to train for a carrier, develop a list of what a trainee must bring - as well as what he or she should not bring - and insist that the trainee receive this through the mail before training ever starts and before the trainee has packed and left home.  It will make life much simpler for both of you.  Below find a fairly detailed list.  You may want to print it and use it as the basis of developing your own list.  Cross out what doesn't apply and add things to it for your own situation.

      1. Clothes for _____ days / week(s).  (Depending on how long you typically stay out, how often you do laundry, etc.)

      2. 6In winter weather

         1. One jacket and one coat.  (Obviously depending on the weather where you run.  Keep in mind that the trainee usually will not be prepared for the often drastic weather changes.)

         2. Two pairs of shoes

         3. Flannels and clothing that can be layered.

      3. Trainee's own bedding or sleeping bag and pillow.

      4. Personal care items/toiletries in sufficient quantity to last for ____ days / week(s).

      5. Gloves

      6. ATM Card.  You absolutely cannot get into the habit of loaning a trainee money because he didn't realize how fast it goes on the road and doesn't have an ATM card.

      7. Alarm clock

      8. Pen, paper

      9. 800 #, calling card or cell phone to call home and/or shippers & receivers.

      10. Pain relievers, allergy medicine, etc if the trainee takes them.

      11. Shower bag/ Duffel bag

      12. Beach thongs for shower shoes

      13. Briefcase or soft sided bag for paperwork

      14. A hat for those bad-hair days.. and you know we truckers have a lot of those!

      15. Books/magazines for those long dock waits.

2. 6Establish Rules  (Truck & General)

   1. 6Cleanliness

      1. Personal

         1. It may be unpleasant to discuss, but if you want to avoid future hassles, you may as well bring this up early.  Tell your trainee approximately how often you stop to shower and make sure they understand that they will be showering, too.  Some people, and we've all been unlucky enough to meet them, do not believe bathing needs to be done very often.

      2. Truck

         1. Are you one that likes to clean the glass every time you fuel?  Explain  how clean you like your truck kept - pointing out its current condition - and stress that it needs to stay looking like that.

   2. 6Driving Rules

      1. 6Courtesies, Respect  The trainee may or may not have learned common courtesies at school.  He may have been told about them, but hasn't had the opportunity to see and/or use them.  Please teach your trainee common courtesies.... they are already fading away too much as it is!

         1. Explain how drivers use lights and four ways to say "Come over," "Thank You," "Go ahead," etc.

         2. Explain good truck stop etiquette.  A low gear works fine and even lower in a gravel lot.

         3. Jake Brakes in a truckstop are only for major geeks.

         4. A fuel line is not a parking place.

         5. Parking sideways in a spot might make another spot unusable, so always park straight.

         6. Move over a lane, whenever possible, when another large truck is coming on the interstate.

         7. Stay back when a turn is so tight that two trucks can't make it at once and the other truck is going to arrive at the turn first.

         8. Do not lollygag in the passing lane.

         9. Do not lollygag in the passing lane climbing a hill/mountain unless they can pass quickly.

   3. 6Smoking in the Truck

      1. Is smoking allowed in your truck?  If yes, is it also allowed in the sleeper or only in the cab?

      2. If smoking is okay, you may want to warn the trainee that cigarettes are especially expensive in some parts of the country and to be sure to bring enough cigarettes.  Avoid getting into a situation where you are providing their coffin nails.

      3. If smoking is not allowed in your truck, but the trainee is a smoker, you should let them know how often they can expect to stop for smoke breaks.

   4. 6CB Radio

      1. Eventually you are going to be sleeping behind this driver.  Do you mind the CB blaring?  Do you want it turned off or turned down low?

      2. Also, what is your personal feeling on the way a person should conduct themselves on the CB?  If you are anti-trash talk, make it known.

   5. 6Music

      1. Same principle as the CB radio... How loud or soft can you stand to listen to it?  Maybe a question about what kind of music the person listens to would be in order now.  (If you both like the same type of music, you may be able to stand for it to be louder.)

   6. 6Stopping

      1. Once you've gotten to the point that you are sleeping while the trainee drives, make sure they understand how you feel about them stopping.  Some stops will be unavoidable, such as restroom breaks, but how do you feel about them stopping just to stretch their legs or drink a cup of coffee?

   7. 6Food

      1. How often do you stop for meal breaks?  Are you the type of person who eats two small meals per day or one large one?  Whatever your habits are, let the trainee know approximately how often he/she can expect to eat.  If you are not much of a stopper, they will at least know to grab snacks when they can.

   8. 6Fueling

      1. Is the trainee expected to get up, if he had been in the bunk, when you fuel the truck?

   9. 6Loading / Unloading

      1. Is the trainee expected to get up, if he had been in the bunk, when you are loading/unloading?  You probably will want him to do so for the first couple of weeks until he gets the hang of the check in process.

      2. Do you often do your own unloading?  Will you expect him or her to help unload?

   10. 6Other

       1. What to do if they get lost.

       2. 6Do you want them to wake you up before:

          1. Scales

          2. Mountain grades

          3. Big cities

          4. Storms or other bad weather

          5. Backing

       3. 6Home time

          1. How often do you go home and what will they do while you are home?  Will they go home, too, or will the carrier put them up a motel?

3. 6Get to Know Your Trainee

   1. 6Start with  the easy stuff...

      1. 6Where is he from?

         1. From this you know what kind of driving conditions he has been exposed to.  (Traffic, weather)  John Trainee fresh from the farm is likely to be a bit freaky driving in Los Angeles.  Illene from Iowa might be overwhelmed by the mountains.

      2. 6Does he have a family?

         1. A married person, especially one with children at home, is going to get homesick.  That's just how it is.

   2. What kind of learner is this trainee?

   3. 6Has he driven the type of truck/trailer that you have?

      1. If your trainee learned on a cabover and you have a long-nose Pete, you have a job in front of you in regards to teaching turning!!!

   4. Has he driven the type of transmission that you have?

   5. 6How long was the school and what did the trainee think of it? 

      1. When the trainee talks about the school, he will tell you about the school's weak points - and you, in turn, then know the trainee's probable weak points.

      2. You probably don't want to dwell on the school too terribly much, though.  At some point you are likely to hear, "Oh... That's not how they taught us at truck driving school."  This statement is likely to irritate you, but realize that the trainee is just a bit confused because he was taught another way and you are now going to change the rules for him.  Unless it really is something that must be done differently, try to avoid changing the way the trainee does things.  If he hooks/unhooks in a certain order because he was taught to do so, unless it is unsafe, let him continue to do it that way.  There will be less of an opportunity for mistakes.

   6. 6What kind of attitude does the trainee have?

      1. 6Gung Ho, positive, self- confident

         1. Usually the easiest personality to teach.  This person is usually very open to comments, suggestions, critiques, etc.  These people will ask a lot of questions.  Positive reinforcement and encouragement is needed, though the self confident trainees usually know when they're doing well.  Don't assume that, though.

      2. 6Scared, nervous, self-doubting

         1. Often a difficult person to teach, because half of the battle is against themselves.  These people need more encouragement than others.  They will often be scared to ask questions.  These trainees will give you a lot of doubts because they often will not want to tackle things you know they absolutely must know how to do, like big city traffic or mountain grades.  They need gentle, steady encouragement.  Set them up to succeed.  Find a task or something for them to do that you feel very sure they are capable of doing.  Congratulate them for doing it well.  Next time find a task a bit harder.  Build them up slowly, but build up to bigger and bigger things.

      3. 6Arrogant

         1. These people are, quite simply, a pain.  The root of the arrogance is usually in one of two things:  they think they already know what you want to teach, or they have very little self confidence and can't stand to admit that they don't know everything. They will ask very few, if any, questions.  These trainees have to be put into their place immediately.  They'll do any number of things wrong because they refuse to admit their weakness or lack of knowledge.  Give this person a very difficult task, but one that won't risk safety - simply a task that you are pretty sure they will fail.  Planning a difficult trip with fuel stops, for example, or a very tough back with you close by and watching out.  One way or another, you must force this person to accept that he doesn't know everything that he needs to know, but you do, and you are willing to help him out without grinding his lack of knowledge in his face.  If he senses that you are anything but open, he'll go right back to his old self and you will end up playing on a merry go round.  Arrogant people can also be the type who challenge any type of authority, and he probably sees you as an authority figure, which you are.  Especially with the arrogant person, you must establish the hierarchy of the relationship and you must be the pack leader.

      4. 6The "I Don't Know Why I'm Here" Trainee aka "The Whiner"

         1. These people will act bored and ticked off most of the time.  They grumble about getting up early, about bad weather, bad roads, bad drivers.  With these drivers, you will ask yourself repeatedly, "Why is this guy doing this??"   Asking this person a few personal questions will give you insight here.  The person may have felt forced into his current situation by a job layoff.  He could have been recently divorced and felt a need to get away and saw trucking as the way to do it.  There could be any number of reasons for the disinterest and your chance of having this trainee drop and quit will probably be higher than with any other.  That is probably for the best, though.  If he hates it from the start, how will he feel a few years down the road???

   7. 6What line of work has the trainee been in?

      1. If your trainee has been an office worker for the past 25 years, you can likely bet that the trucking world is going to be a bigger shock to him than to, say, a construction worker.  This is nothing against office workers; only that an office worker typically becomes used to the indoor (and generally comfortable) work environment and a dependable schedule and working hours.  A construction worker, on the other hand, will surely know what a 15 hour day feels like, day after day. This could also work backwards in that the office worker is so thrilled to be out of the office that he thrives on the great outdoors.

   8. 6Does the trainee have any prior exposure to the trucking industry?

      1. If, say, the trainee's father was a driver while the trainee was growing up, you have a trainee that isn't as likely to fold under the pressure of being away from home.  If he took trips with Dad, he'll be familiar with truckstop life and living in a truck.  If the trainee has only a distant relative that drives, or knows no on that drives, the trainee is bound to experience some shock.  For those trainers out there who were raised in a trucking family, you can't know how it is, as an adult who knows nothing of trucking, to just one day take off and go on the road for the first time.  For most, it is pretty disorienting.  Give the trainee some adjustment time and realize he is going to be rather "out of sorts" until he gets his truck legs.

   9. 6Why did the trainee choose the trucking industry?

      1. 6The reasons people give for getting into the trucking industry can often be narrowed down to one of a few, listed below.  A person's station in life determines more than you might think about whether they will succeed or fail.  Why people decide to get into trucking:

         1. 6Job Layoff/Loss

            1. If they've been laid off, they may feel panicked about their success (or failure) at trucking.  They may tell you that trucking is their "last chance."  People feeling as though their life depends on their success try very hard.  If you have a trainee that is mediocre at driving, backing, shifting, etc but has the fire of fear behind him will often come out ahead of the driving prodigy.

         2. 6Divorce

            1. If they've recently went through a divorce, they may often be emotional or depressed.  They may be very distracted.

         3. 6Retirement

            1. Retired folks don't seem to worry as much, because they go into trucking looking for the adventure of it more than for any other reason.

         4. 6Ladies

            1. Many women go into trucking because they want to join their boyfriend/husband on the road.  If this is the case, be careful for the ladies who are resistant to learning from you because they think that their husband/boyfriend will teach them.  Their husband/boyfriend may, or may not, teach them and may, or may not, teach them properly.  Do not let any trainee scrimp because they claim someone else will teach them later.

         5. 6Job Burnout

            1. A simple case of burnout in another industry brings many into trucking.  If this person did their homework and has a fairly accurate picture of what trucking is, he will probably stay around for awhile because, as he will see it, no matter what it is, it is better than his previous career/job.

In closing, I would just like to say that no one can be the perfect driver/trainer.  For that matter, there will never be a perfect trainee, either.  We can all strive to be better at what we do, though especially considering that the product of our work is going to be driving an 80,000 pound vehicle alongside our families down the highway.

Every one of us had to be "green" at one time.  Every one of us ground gears, smashed curbs and made mistakes.  These things are easy to forget, probably because they don't make for fond memories, but none of us should forget where we came from.  If your expectations of the trainee are unrealistic, he or she will most certainly disappoint you.  They are a trainee because they need to be trained - that simple.  Thank you for caring enough to read this article through and please check back after awhile as I plan to expand into a whole section for driver/trainers.  Your comments, suggestions, etc are encouraged and appreciated.

Do not heed the above advice (about forgetting all that you have learned) but do understand and accept a couple of things about why a trainer may say this – and what he/she (most likely) really means.

One of the last things a trainer wants to hear a trainee say is, "That's not how we were taught at truck driving school."

You see, he/she is far less interested in how you were shown at school than he/she is in teaching you to get something done. He/she has a way of doing "whatever" that has worked for him/her. The trainer will likely feel offended if they feel they have to "defend" their way against some trucking school. DO NOT FORGET WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED; RATHER, BE WILLING TO ADD TO IT.

Don't challenge him/her in a war of "who knows more". You may well have more book knowledge BUT that trainer has been operating that truck up and down the road so he likely has the practical, real world knowledge that just can't be learned from a book. He/she was running a truck long before you attended truck driving school and that deserves your respect.

Another thing you must understand is why driving schools get chastised the way they often do. Some schools, often called "CDL Mills", have two purposes only: to get your money and to get you a CDL. They don't care about anything "in the middle," like professionalism or making you a safety conscious, defensive driver. They embarrass every good driving school out there. They have bad reputations and that's what people remember: the bad stuff.

It used to be that a person learned to drive by being taught by dad, brother, grandpa, uncle, etc. They passed along real world knowledge, respect and courtesies. It isn't done this way very often anymore. Almost everyone attends a truck driving school. The insurance companies demand it and the carriers have little to no choice.

To the Trainer

Please let me share with you a bit of what I've learned working with trainees. I think you'll find it very interesting, if you would bear with me a minute. I also really want to explain why you should never tell a trainee to "forget all he learned in truck driving school" and why that may do far more harm than good. As a former student, a driver, then a driver/trainer, a driving instructor, and now a driver again, I promise I'm not telling a story. (a driver without a story?? Hmmm, bet you've never seen one!)

Trainees come in all shapes, sizes, colors, nationalities, religions, backgrounds, attitudes and levels of ability. Some learn fast, some slow. Some are shy and some are outspoken. Some went to 2 week, grab a CDL and go schools and some went to the best in the country. The only thing they all have in common is that each, in their own way, will be different.

Trainees get into trucking for a variety of reasons, but often times it is the result of a life change: divorce, kids moving out, lay off, economic hardship. They decide to go to truck driving school. The financial drain is tough. There's (maybe) one income to live on, perhaps no income or just a little income - if they hold a job while attending school. (Are you about to ask where's the cheese, to go with this wine (whine)? No, but really, stick with me here.) At school they discover that driving a truck is a whole lot more than going up and down the road, yakking it up on the CB radio. They get a ton of information shoved into their brain, a license in their hand and then they find themselves pushed into the loving arms of a company recruiter. (yeah, loving arms, right, you say) The recruiter paints a picture and you know what it looks like. It's beautiful and the trainee is right in the center.

Trainee packs for the road. He doesn't quite understand that it's still cold up north into April and May. He brings a jacket but no coat. He has no money to buy one. You and he run Washington state to Vermont and back to Oregon before he/she gets home to get his coat. A hundred other scenarios like this play out…as an experienced driver, you might think, "duh"! but really, before you know anything, how would you know better??

The "real world" is exciting but it's very foreign – so different than driving school. The trainee tries desperately to remember what he was taught at school. It's all he's got. Everything else is crazy now – a new truck, trainer, environment, rules, procedures – but he still has at least some small bit of knowledge to refer to, to draw upon. It's a comfort to know something small, rather than nothing at all.

But then his foundation collapses, his support base crumbles. The thing that was supposed to help him get through – to survive this whole ordeal – is deemed worthless. The procedures he's learned about shifting, double clutching, backing. Sounds like devastation, huh? Yes, it could be. That would be the likely result if he really did "forget all he learned at driving school".

Let me paint a picture. The only atlas you have is a 10 year old regular atlas. (not a Motor Carrier's Atlas) You need a better one but this is what you have. But now I'm going to take it away from you. You have to run for one month, in 48 states, on irregular routes you've never run, without that old, non-motor carrier's atlas – without any atlas at all. How would you like that? You'd likely tell me to forget it. That you couldn't do your job. That old atlas wasn't quite what you needed, but it was something – at least a reference to help give you a few clues.

That's pretty much how a trainee would probably feel if you tell him all his/her training was for nothing. The money they spent was for naught, the time taken away from family and an income producing job was for nada. Whether he/she attended a CDL Mill or a top notch driving school, he/she learned something there. Maybe you don't do it that way – okay – no problem – but say it just that way! "I DON'T DO IT THAT WAY." Better yet, tell and show him/her why your way is better, more efficient and/or more practical. He'll grow to believe in you and be more ready to accept all the new information you have to teach. So, please, DON'T TELL HIM/HER TO FORGET ALL HE'S LEARNED; TELL HIM TO ADD TO IT!

The training period isn't very long so do your best to get through it. Watch your trainer and what he/she does in different situations. Be your trainer's little puppy dog, his/her shadow, and learn everything you possibly can in this time. It will help you tremendously when you become a solo driver. No matter how good or bad of a trainer you have, you can still learn a lot. If their methods are not those you've learned at driving school, don't be surprised! You'll have to use some judgment - you don't want to pick up the bad habits that many experienced drivers have developed but you do want to find more efficient and productive ways of doing things.

Trainers comes in all shapes, sizes and levels of experience. No matter how good or bad the trainer is in the fine art of training, you can learn a great deal.

Most companies that accept new drivers also have trainers. The length of time you stay with a trainer varies among companies, but 3 - 6 weeks is pretty average. Pay during training is typically low.

The job of the trainer is to provide the trainee with as much real world knowledge as possible so the trainee can function and succeed on his/her own. Company procedures must also be passed on. The first part of the job of the trainee is to listen, not just hear, but really listen and absorb the knowledge given to them. The second part is to simply observe what happens. How the fueling procedure works. How the communications occur between the dock people and the driver. The third part of the job is to assist the trainer. Don't sit in the truck when he/she is on the docks! Don't stay in the bunk when the trainer is driving through heavy Los Angeles traffic – learn what you can from the experience before you have to do it on your own!