Been watching some of this here.
Many different view points coming from different groups for different reasons.
Myself 110 years seems excessive dependant on some things that we can’t answer from the information we have.
For me to formulate an honest opinion I would need a lot more information and some of the questions that need asked might actually offend some people.
I train many people that English is a second or third language and there are a lot of people who rather than work at understanding, they pretend to understand for whatever reason you can imagine. Some trainers don’t bother to insure they are understood. Some trainers will forgo the need for translators or verification with a translator at the very least.
Could he actually read the road signs?
How much and what quality training did he receive?
Did the training include actual hands on exercise, including hard braking, downshifting, steep hills, hunting gears and exorcises in quick thinking and pushing the drivers nerves to see if they are able to think under pressure?
I have been handed newer drivers that were given very poor training at some very well known trucking companies. No words can describe my I’ll feelings about this training. They are not even trained properly to pass a basic skills test and I wouldn’t have considered them worthy of giving the actual skill test for thier license but here they are standing in front of me saying I have a CDL!
The last one that I worked with came to us with about 300 hours experiance and a valid CDL. During his first on road observation he was flabbergasted when I had him go down the mountain roads where he had to determine proper gearing, when to downshift and had a difficult time holding everything together. He had no true understanding of how to correct mistakes with shifting and needed to come to a complete stop almost every time he missed a shift. Yes he read about hunting gears in a book but never had to put it to practice as his first trainer couldn’t do it himself. This to me should have been clear and practiced long before he was given a basic skills test and issued a CDL.
He could barely back the truck/ trailer and was only able to perform one basic backing maneuver but understood nothing of the reasoning and theory. In simple terms he had nothing to really base things on and build from.
For the drivers out there who wonder why so many are having difficulty at the truck stops and why we instantly move our trucks when certain known carrier trucks even show a hint of issue when backing beside or near us will understand now why unless the conditions are perfect, the stars and planets aligned perfectly these new drivers will tear your mirrors off, at best and destroy your front end at worst unless you move, get out and spot them in or some act of God helps the poor soul to somehow recognize the difference between thier training and this real world situation.Simply put they were not ready to drive solo. They were however shown a few cones told practice this and you’ll get a license when you can do it correctly 2 out of ten times and one of those 2 times happens when the tester is here.
So yes it might be excessive, but it might not be and the people responsible for this could very well include the company, trainers and it certainly does include the politicians who think that the big companies who are being trusted with this driver training can be trusted to complete the task without letting profits get in the way of proper and complete training.
Myself. At night I can sleep well knowing that If my name appears at the bottom of a new drivers certification, that driver will have the tools, knowledge and be confident in handling that truck on thier own.
Otherwise they wont be getting my signature on that form! I highly doubt this guys trainer can say the same unless he is plain and simply put stone stupid or has no ethics at all.
