Forward Via Brett Aquila
We are excellent at assisting novice drivers in getting ready for life on the road. Whether you’re getting ready to travel on the road with your trainer or by yourself, it may be one of the most exciting yet stressful moments. You will be living on the road and working as a professional truck driver for the first time.
But, attempting to acclimatize to your new life on the road while driving a truck with another driver is also quite challenging. You’re anxious but also feeling a lot of excitement. You’re trying your hardest to avoid making any significant blunders while you’re getting overloaded with information.
For anybody getting ready to hit the road with a trainer, G-Town, one of the best moderators in our trucker’s community, has some great advice to share. There is a lot of helpful information here, so read everything carefully!
Your primary supporter and the person you answer to throughout training is your Driver Development Manager (D.D.M.), also referred to as a trainer coordinator or driver liaison at various organizations. Ensure you have access to their phone numbers and direct messaging I.D.s through Qualcomm’s messaging area (Macros). Call them daily to check on the progress of receiving your mentor assignment. They are really busy, so please be very polite. Don’t allow it to happen; regrettably, it does happen.
Be on the same page as your Mentor
Do your hardest to comprehend your Mentor and what they demand from you. It’s their residence. Therefore respect and professionalism are appropriate. You are a guest at the place. Ensure you express your fundamental training requirements to them in return clearly and concisely. If necessary, put it in writing in advance. Communicate openly. Before you leave the terminal, test this. Make it a crucial lead-in conversation instead of droning on. Before asking a D.D.M. to intervene, make every attempt to resolve problems with them. Simple things like poor hygiene and no showers shouldn’t be put up with for too long. Maintain a daily shower requirement. On off days, use body wipes. The cows will moo and pursue you as you drive by them as the summer approaches, and you spend 3–4 days without showering.
Ask your Mentor to match up your paper log sheet with all of the tabs in the Qualcomm system’s electronic log section. That will hasten the process of comprehending HOS and e-logs in general. The Load Tab is one trap to watch out for. Recognize its purpose and how, why, and when to update it. It is not automatically updated and filled in. Forgettable. If it’s missing or outdated, it represents a relatively simple source of income for the D.O.T.
Arrange Your Travels Ahead of Time
After dispatch, familiarize yourself with Navi-Go, the built-in Qualcomm G.P.S. system, to “look ahead” on the journey. By comparing the computerized route with the Rand McNally Road Atlas, you may better prepare for your journey and potential problems. You will be able to see where you are heading as a result. Put the route you want on a yellow sticky note and place it where you can see it, like Qualcomm’s bottom edge. Establish a practice of doing this to prevent complete reliance on the Navi-Go. At least once a day, my telemetry goes out for five to ten minutes. Get ready.
Never succumb to pressure from anybody or anything. NEVER! Observe patience!
Jake
Using the brakes is crucial for steering a heavy vehicle. The Mentor should reiterate its usage and appropriate use each day.
Pre-Trip Checklist
Avoid skipping or rushing through the pre-trip examination. If your Mentor is pushing you, resist them by being tough but kind. It shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes to complete the task visually, so there’s no need to point anything out.
Set up properly when backing
Backing…the setup should also be emphasized. If the setup is done properly, the difficulty of the real back should be lessened. My hunch is that little time was spent discussing or doing this in your classroom. After learning how to set up the setup, backing will come naturally to you. At least 1500 times a year, I back. That clicks without any thought on my part. While every configuration is crucial, even at the same locations (Walmart & Sam’s) I have been delivering to for years, each setup might vary based on the dock and the location of the trailers. If the configuration is incorrect, the backup will quickly become a time-wasting, painful trial-and-error process.
Setting up at a truck stop, the worst place for a beginner to back into an open hole is crucial. Even at a small truck stop, backing will be simpler and less dangerous if you set it up properly. I’m not joking when I say that how a driver sets up before even putting the vehicle in reverse allows me to quickly detect the difference between a novice and an expert. Start learning this skill right now.
Often go out and look.
G.O.A.L. is not only for backing; it also applies when dumping or hooking a caravan and in any other circumstance that calls for a pair of eyes to certify safe operation and maneuvering. The first three rookie errors are:
- The fifth wheel must be overridden since the caravan is too high.
- lowering the caravan to the point that it undercuts the fifth-wheel
- Having the caravan fall off accidentally because it wasn’t positively linked
Even now, I still stop to take a closer look before fully backing beneath a trailer and will modify the height [of the trailer] upward or downward to guarantee a secure attachment. Occasionally I will release the airbags while lowering the tractor to pass under a trailer that has been placed too low and then release them again as I ease beneath the trailer. You shouldn’t do this on your own at first. It’s simple to mess up.
However, you’ll hear a “ker-thunk” when the lock engages around the kingpin while you’re back beneath the caravan with your window half down. Quickly pull twice, use the brakes, and turn off the engine. G.O.A.L. once more to ensure that the lock is visible across or behind the kingpin, there is no space between the fifth-wheel and upper coupler (the part of the trailer’s bottom that surrounds the kingpin), and the puller bar is recessed and not protruding. Release and draw away if anything doesn’t seem right. If necessary, raise or lower the caravan by cranking the landing gear.
