Prime PSD Training, From A Trainer's Perspective.

Sorry I've neglected to add anything lately. In part, it's just because I've been busy, and by the time I finish my day I'm just ready to crawl up into the bed.

Even though I get paid extra for training, I'm still hardwired to maximize my production and efficiency. Its a sickness, really. As a result, I'm knocking down some miles early a.m. before I even let him get behind the wheel for his shift. I'm basically running Super Solo style while the miles are available. He sleeps down on my bunk while I drive, and then I just stay on-duty for the duration of his shift. It's tiring, but productive.

Aside from the great miles, we've spent every available minute practicing pretrip and backing. His enthusiasm for learning is inspiring. So much so that I actually look forward to our evening practice sessions.

But not only that, he keeps expressing the desire to "make you proud, Rich." Well, he's already done that. Forgive me for maybe getting a little too deep here, but I'm just proud and honored to know him.

Ok, enough of that.

Yesterday we had to make our 2 stop load near Philly before returning to Pittston to get him tested out. Once again, I got more nervous as the morning went on, while he seemed to just get calmer. I really want this for him, for no other reason than he simply deserves it after all he's been through.

While at our final stop, my FM messages me with a load I need to repower Sat morn with the new student I've yet to meet. No problem, but I gotta get this guy finished first.

Once back at the yard, I ran him through some last minute drills before telling the examiner he was ready. They start with the backing maneuvers first, right in front of me.

Meanwhile, the other driver whose load I'm repowering calls me wanting to know where I am.... He blah needs to swap out blah blah so he can blah blah something, I don't know.... Ok buddy, I'm over here at the pad. Come find me.

Also meanwhile, my new student walks up and wants to chat me up... and maybe get his gear stowed away.... But of course I have to meet the other driver....and my current student is testing in front of me....and my wife is texting me, asking how he did before he even did it....and my fm sends me another mssg....oh and I find out the load I'm taking is a 4 stop Sapa load delivering on all 4 sides of Atlanta Tuesday, the day after a holiday wknd.... with a brand new student....

AARGH!, everybody just leave me alone so I can see my student win his chance to live his dream!!!

Breathe, Turtle.

Ok, I can see he did great on the backing maneuvers. I can hear him doing the air brake tests during his pretrip test, and it sounds like he remembered everything. Next up: tug tests, followed by service brake test and air rebuild. All sounds/looks good.

Then they take off for the road test. That period was perhaps more agonizing than with my first student. I occupied myself by pretending to pay attention to whatever the other driver was saying while we swapped straps and such. I told my new student it would be a little while before I was free, so he can just chill in the cafeteria if he wants. Off he went.

Then I saw my truck returning slowly through the yard...

Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion to this week's episode of Turtle Tales! Same bat time, same bat channel!

Oh, that’s great, Turtle! A cliffhanger until next week?

Oh, that’s great, Turtle! A cliffhanger until next week?

Turtle, c'mon, that's just wrong!

Oh man I'm sorry y'all. I really only meant to pause for effect, but got sidetracked and ended up falling asleep. My bad.

TRIFECTA!!

Yup, he nailed it. The examiner said he did very well. I forgot to ask how many points were assessed, but it really doesn't matter at this point. All that matters is the look of joy on his face. He's super excited. The bear hug that nearly crushed my spine probably wasn't necessary haha, but it was a great experience nonetheless.

Unfortunately we weren't able to spend much time celebrating together, as I still had to get my load situated and prep my new student for a new journey.

I have one major regret:

Being rushed the way I was that afternoon, I completely forgot to snap a picture of us together. Of all the moments that needed to be captured, that moment of triumph was on top of the list, and I blew it. I'm sure we'll meet again, however.

I do have a pic of him though, for the official record.

Congratulations Wiseman!

I am hijacking your thread for a minute Turtle.... yesterday I received an email from a former trainee. It really made me all warm and fuzzy cause I wasnt going to train again. Now I may have to reconsider.

"sincerely thank you for giving as many tools possible to help me do better than well in this industry. I asked (our FM) a while back if there's anything I could improve on & without thinking he flat out said no. I tend to disagree since my clock management could be much better & fuel consumption could improve drastically too. I owe you a debt of gratitude and hope that the universe will keep you happy & fulfilled in your everyday adventures out here."

THIS is why real trainers do this. Fake ones do it for a little more pay.

I am hijacking your thread for a minute Turtle.... yesterday I received an email from a former trainee. It really made me all warm and fuzzy cause I wasnt going to train again. Now I may have to reconsider.

"sincerely thank you for giving as many tools possible to help me do better than well in this industry. I asked (our FM) a while back if there's anything I could improve on & without thinking he flat out said no. I tend to disagree since my clock management could be much better & fuel consumption could improve drastically too. I owe you a debt of gratitude and hope that the universe will keep you happy & fulfilled in your everyday adventures out here."

THIS is why real trainers do this. Fake ones do it for a little more pay.

I completely agree Rainy. The satisfaction I get from seeing improvement and gratitude in the student is indescribable. It sounds all sappy when I say it, but it's true.

That’s awesome! Great story behind your student from another world, Turtle.

Out on the road with the new student, and boy is he nervous....

Really, his body language when behind the wheel suggests he's super nervous. Tense, stiff, kinda jerky at times. He appears so focused on just holding the wheel, that his situational awareness will suffer.

Before leaving the yard I had him run around bobtail for a bit, and even then he was tense. Because our first load was a repower right there on the yard, we never really had time to get him out with an empty trailer to get his feet wet. So I took the helm, not willing to put him in control of the load initially. On a nice quiet stretch of interstate , I let him drive a few miles between exits, and he did fine. But the nervousness and tension is there. I expected heavier traffic ahead and took back over, not willing to put him in that situation yet.

With lots of time on this load, I can take the time to let him pull it around truck stops during the slow hrs. We'll have all day today while I reset to get him better accustomed to the feel of the truck, albeit at truck stop speeds.

Clearly he's going to need a much slower approach to teaching than my first 2 students. I remind myself that I'm not here to make a trucker out of him, only a safe driver before letting his TNT trainer take over. But over-nervousness and safely driving a truck won't mix.

Once again, I'll have to first come up with a teaching method, then adopt and adapt it to hopefully get him more comfortable behind the wheel. I'm starting by trying to get it into his head that he needs to be in the truck, not on the truck. His goal is to connect with and drive the truck. Right now the truck is driving him. Does that make sense?

We have to work on that.

Dumb question (or maybe not).

If he's on a CLP , that requires you to be in the seat next to him at all times when he's driving. Which means you should be "On Duty Not Driving".

How are you getting a reset or even a 10 hour? Every minute he's on Line 3 - you're supposed to be on Line 4. If he gets pulled (or gets in an incident) and your logs don't match exactly, you have a log violation.

Some people just get FREAKED OUT about driving something that big. Too bad you didn't get some more "alone time" with him, to get him over the initial shock of trying to navigate the street with something that huge.

I admire your patience. You'll either get him through it - or he'll figure out that maybe this just isn't for him. We all know, some people just aren't cut out for it.

Rick

I'll bet in three days your calm and professional guidance will put him at ease, then he'll start learning better.