Mr. LaHood,
It is time for you to wake up, smell the roses, and see the light. See, the darkness of blinding yourself with non-issues and coming up with more regulations so you can pass your rail initiative (I still pay attention) needs to come to a very abrupt halt!
The single most dire safety issue facing the trucking industry lies in improper schooling and training by companies. CRST turned a fan of trucking that follows me into a trucker. The method is as follows for him:
1. Ignore that he's on medications for his heart problems that cause drowsiness and are illegal for CDL holders to take by DOT standards.
2. Having him complete two weeks of truck driving school at Kirkwood Community College. Kirkwood failed him at his first driving test because he stalled out at a 4-way stop sign with traffic behind him, so he was impeding traffic. The very next day, same stall at same stop sign, but since there was no one behind him he passed.
3. Next up was 28 days of training, most of which were spent running as a team operation.
No one can be properly trained while their trainer is sleeping in the bunk. But, it happens all the time. More incidents:
1. In Omaha, NE, Lou had to lay on the horn while a trainee for C.R. England came all the way over, while we were right next to him. He corrected while no more than 2 inches off our mirror, than almost took off our hood while changing lanes with no turn signal. The instructor abruptly woke up and jumped in the passenger's seat, while I was on the phone with State Patrol and C. R. England. The trainee moved to another truck, and the trainer was no longer training others.
2. While reading my Facebook time line, I see a Werner trainer constantly belittling the little mistakes his trainee is making. Find out that he, as the trainer, is sleeping in the bunk while the trainee is driving. They are running like a team operation, like what he was told to do. I told him if that's what he believes training is, to respectably quit training!
3. Look on YouTube for Donner fatality. A fatality on Donner pass by a trainee. Where was the trainer? You guessed it! Sleeping!!!
I read a lot of trainers' post and constantly shake my head. Training is a hard thing to do, especially when the trainers were just trainees and have no real time experience. The first thing to do to your trainee is not take him on the hardest passes to drive, and have them driving immediately. You should be driving, letting him see you, and explaining things, while he/she asks questions and gets educated on what the job is about. They learn nothing if they don't have a qualified trainer.
Big companies shoving people who can't pass a driver's test, who need more schooling, or should not be behind the wheel for any other reasons deemable by DOT standards, shouldn't be lured by these companies into a job just to get another lease truck out. They should ensure their trainees are provided with adequate training. The vicious cycle of trainee to trainer is a must stop. Here's Timothy Brady of Truckersu.com's standpoint, which I fully agree with:
TruckersU.com My recommendation for restructuring Truck Driver Training. The first step to improving highway safety from the trucking side of the issue is: 6 months classroom and trucking course with at least 240 hours of behind the wheel instruction.
6 ...months with a qualified "licensed" driver trainer (5 years 500,000 miles driving experience with no accidents and no more than 3 points on their CDL DMV report plus completing a course and exam to be a "Licensed" Driver Trainer). The driver trainer must always be in the right seat awake, observing and instructing the trainee. Under no circumstances can a driver trainer be in the sleeper while the trainee is driving.
At the end of the six months with the driver trainer the apprentice trucker must be able to blind side back a truck to a dock in under 5 minutes plus other on the road and tight quarter skills and be accident and ticket free to get their CDL.
It is past time for this entire industry to throw aside the gloves, put aside the differences, and unite! Please, take some time to say hi to Ray LaHood and tell him to get this done!
Ray LaHood
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
It is time for you to wake up, smell the roses, and see the light. See, the darkness of blinding yourself with non-issues and coming up with more regulations so you can pass your rail initiative (I still pay attention) needs to come to a very abrupt halt!
The single most dire safety issue facing the trucking industry lies in improper schooling and training by companies. CRST turned a fan of trucking that follows me into a trucker. The method is as follows for him:
1. Ignore that he's on medications for his heart problems that cause drowsiness and are illegal for CDL holders to take by DOT standards.
2. Having him complete two weeks of truck driving school at Kirkwood Community College. Kirkwood failed him at his first driving test because he stalled out at a 4-way stop sign with traffic behind him, so he was impeding traffic. The very next day, same stall at same stop sign, but since there was no one behind him he passed.
3. Next up was 28 days of training, most of which were spent running as a team operation.
No one can be properly trained while their trainer is sleeping in the bunk. But, it happens all the time. More incidents:
1. In Omaha, NE, Lou had to lay on the horn while a trainee for C.R. England came all the way over, while we were right next to him. He corrected while no more than 2 inches off our mirror, than almost took off our hood while changing lanes with no turn signal. The instructor abruptly woke up and jumped in the passenger's seat, while I was on the phone with State Patrol and C. R. England. The trainee moved to another truck, and the trainer was no longer training others.
2. While reading my Facebook time line, I see a Werner trainer constantly belittling the little mistakes his trainee is making. Find out that he, as the trainer, is sleeping in the bunk while the trainee is driving. They are running like a team operation, like what he was told to do. I told him if that's what he believes training is, to respectably quit training!
3. Look on YouTube for Donner fatality. A fatality on Donner pass by a trainee. Where was the trainer? You guessed it! Sleeping!!!
I read a lot of trainers' post and constantly shake my head. Training is a hard thing to do, especially when the trainers were just trainees and have no real time experience. The first thing to do to your trainee is not take him on the hardest passes to drive, and have them driving immediately. You should be driving, letting him see you, and explaining things, while he/she asks questions and gets educated on what the job is about. They learn nothing if they don't have a qualified trainer.
Big companies shoving people who can't pass a driver's test, who need more schooling, or should not be behind the wheel for any other reasons deemable by DOT standards, shouldn't be lured by these companies into a job just to get another lease truck out. They should ensure their trainees are provided with adequate training. The vicious cycle of trainee to trainer is a must stop. Here's Timothy Brady of Truckersu.com's standpoint, which I fully agree with:
TruckersU.com My recommendation for restructuring Truck Driver Training. The first step to improving highway safety from the trucking side of the issue is: 6 months classroom and trucking course with at least 240 hours of behind the wheel instruction.
6 ...months with a qualified "licensed" driver trainer (5 years 500,000 miles driving experience with no accidents and no more than 3 points on their CDL DMV report plus completing a course and exam to be a "Licensed" Driver Trainer). The driver trainer must always be in the right seat awake, observing and instructing the trainee. Under no circumstances can a driver trainer be in the sleeper while the trainee is driving.
At the end of the six months with the driver trainer the apprentice trucker must be able to blind side back a truck to a dock in under 5 minutes plus other on the road and tight quarter skills and be accident and ticket free to get their CDL.
It is past time for this entire industry to throw aside the gloves, put aside the differences, and unite! Please, take some time to say hi to Ray LaHood and tell him to get this done!
Ray LaHood
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
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