Where To Draw The Line...and When Do I Cross It?

Brilliant guys!! 👍Exactly the sort of stuff I needed to hear. 😊

I definitely don't plan on becoming a 'nag. lol

And; I have very few illusions left about myself at this age.....hence my worry about being a grumpy old curmudgeon! As G-town said of himself, I also know that I tend to be too much of a perfectionist and realise that this is a real PITA to lots of folks.

I have basically lived my whole professional life by a very old cliche:

"There are old pilots and bold pilots; but very few old bold pilots!."

Everything written in the answers above makes complete sense to me. I definitely do not want to compromise a new and very pleasant friendship and partnership. As I stated; Chris is pretty proficient - especially given his level of experience. So I will 'nudge gently' and not badger him to death!

For what it's worth; as an example of his proficiency... I have rarely seen anybody, especially newbies, that can 'Alley dock' or 90° back (if you prefer) as well as he does. Honestly it is almost a thing of beauty. Rarely needing anything more than the most cursory of pull ups or a minor shift over to completely align with a dock opening. And I have complimented him on it pretty frequently. 😊

But; ....and this is what makes me wonder about myself as I wrote in my original post.... He 90's every single parking maneuver!! And i mean every one!! Even when we pulled into Smithfield Meats in Clayton, NC the other night to drop the trailer...the parking area is huge and was wide open..all he had to do was a gentle u-turn and back straight in! But he went ahead and did a perfect 90 anyway! I couldn't resist and busted out laughing. When he quizzed me on why; I told him and he laughed and got me right back with one of my own sayings...."It's what I do!"..... Touché!! lol

So; I guess I will relax and keep myself under control...try not to over-teach and gently guide him if I feel any given situation is edging towards compromising safety.

Thanks guys. This old curmudgeon will sleep better tonight. I appreciate the chance to air my concerns.

Night all and be safe.

Cheers,

Simon

Simon, it really appears to me that you are sort of giving him additional road training. I'm going to throw this out here for you. If you can somehow gently convince him to watch a video I'm going to suggest. It's something we use at my company, as trainers, to help new trainees understand how to be "low risk" drivers, and what will be expected of them during their upgrade process. In our test out process, our new drivers go through about a 90 minute road test, given by our semi-retired former Safety director, Tim Whitney. Tim began at my company almost 40 years ago as a driver himself. He tried to retire last year but we need him so much, he hasn't been able to retire lol. Anyway, this video can be found on YouTube. Do a search for West Side Transport Road Test. Tim is wonderful and self narrates this 30 minute "mini road test" explaining exactly what he is doing and why, every step of the way.

Often when I have a trainee that is too rough in their driving skills and scaring the heck out of me, this helps them. Maybe this will help your "codriver" if he's willing to actually watch it. Most of our videos aren't public, but this very valuable one is.

Good luck and stay safe.

I'm not a trucker yet, but I can tell you my opinion from the standpoint of someone who will soon be trained. If I had asked you to team with me so you could teach me, I'd want that feedback. I'd want you to sit me down and tell me some good stuff you've seen and then lay out the areas in which I can improve. I don't know if that helps...

Hi Misty,

Take this attitude with you to school and out OTR with your eventual trainer... You'll do really well!! 👍😊

Best wishes for a great experience. And please write about it for us, if you have the time and energy left to do so! 😜

Go get 'em!

Cheers,

Simon

Simon, it really appears to me that you are sort of giving him additional road training. I'm going to throw this out here for you. If you can somehow gently convince him to watch a video I'm going to suggest. It's something we use at my company, as trainers, to help new trainees understand how to be "low risk" drivers, and what will be expected of them during their upgrade process. In our test out process, our new drivers go through about a 90 minute road test, given by our semi-retired former Safety director, Tim Whitney. Tim began at my company almost 40 years ago as a driver himself. He tried to retire last year but we need him so much, he hasn't been able to retire lol. Anyway, this video can be found on YouTube. Do a search for West Side Transport Road Test. Tim is wonderful and self narrates this 30 minute "mini road test" explaining exactly what he is doing and why, every step of the way.

Often when I have a trainee that is too rough in their driving skills and scaring the heck out of me, this helps them. Maybe this will help your "codriver" if he's willing to actually watch it. Most of our videos aren't public, but this very valuable one is.

Good luck and stay safe.

Hi Susan,

That's wonderful; thank you. 👍

I believe it will be no problem to get Chris to watch it; He loves trucking related videos! lol

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be so valued and respected by your company and peers that they make it hard for you to retire? A suitable goal for any and all....even a crusty old soul like myself!

Thanks again. 😊

Simon

this video can be found on YouTube. Do a search for West Side Transport Road Test. Tim is wonderful and self narrates this 30 minute "mini road test" explaining exactly what he is doing and why, every step of the way.

"Drive like there's an officer behind you and your family in front of you."

I'm definitely stealing that!

lol 😊

Absolutely. That's what I expect from trainees and it's how any new driver with West Side is expected to drive in order to become a first seat driver. We haul so many unstable heavy loads. We have to be what Tim calls a "low risk driver". Do we have less than stellar drivers, sadly yes. We all know you're a polished and experienced driver, Simon, and hopefully that will help other rookies in becoming one too.

. We all know you're a polished and experienced driver, Simon, and hopefully that will help other rookies in becoming one too.

I don't know about polished....

I think "Softly eroded by the passage and winds of time" might be more appropriate! 😜

Lol

And ; you know what.....as I read and re-read this message and answers, I feel like I might be coming across a some sort of Prima Donna.....

I sincerely hope not and just wanna say that part of my stated self-awareness is the fact that I am far from perfect...I also make mistakes and errors in judgement; even to this day.. I am grateful that none of these has ever resulted in any thing more serious than a bruised ego on my part and fervently hope that it remains just so!

I have actually told Chris that part of his job is to speak up and speak loudly if he sees me doing anything that he feels uncomfortable with, for any reason! I know from teaching numerous folks to fly, that there are things that I can learn from so called 'rookies'. I used to encourage my co-pilots to do the same.

So, again, many thanks to all for the fantastic replies 👍

The journey continues...hopefully the path to enlightenment and wisdom lies just around the next bend... I shall keep seeking..

😊

You know what they say in aviation. Every landing is mandatory, every take off is optional.

You know what they say in aviation. Every landing is mandatory, every take off is optional.

That was cool Patrick! I had never heard that quote before. Put a huge smile on my face.

I guess the conversion for ground vehicles would be, stopping is mandatory, starting is optional. The whole point of the taking off saying is if something isn't right and you are not comfortable than don't take off. Once you are in the air, you WILL come down one way or another.