I’ve been asked to go for a meeting with a company that does bulk liquid transportation and a lot of ADR work. They want me to go over and meet their driver trainer so I’m guessing a driver assessment will be involved as well.
This will be the first company that wants to speak to me face to face instead of dismissing me straight away cause I only got my class 1 in January. I’m after any advice people could give me as to what to expect when I get there and any hints and tips people may have. I haven’t got my ADR yet but will be looking at getting that very soon if all goes well on Friday so any advice on that would be greatly appreciated.
Most trainers are decent enough, hopefully he/she will like you.
All you can do is be yourself, listen to what the trainer wants from you and demonstrate that you can do it their way not your, or rather, your instructors way, he’ll let you know what he expects.
You may be required to do a full check round, some don’t bother with that ■■■■■■■■ preferring (more important) to spend the time seeing how you drive.
If its a big logistics house like Wincski then the check round with all its silly little box ticking is desperately important to get absolutely right and they do fail really experienced blokes with 30 years accident free records for missing a box (know the antagonists personally), smaller operators seem to have a more sensible common sense approach to this.
Our trainer wants to see how a driver drives not watch him do a circus trained walk around ticking boxes.
Assuming you go out for an assessment, remember to ask the trainer to put their seat belt on if they haven’t (standard trick), keep it steady, do not tailgate under any circumstances, keep a good distance from the vehicle in front at junctions, use good observation…real observation not the regulation number of turns of the head to impress an examiner.
If you can keep the revs down, they like to see good steady progress without fuel being needlessly wasted.
Try to get the trainer on your side, a nod from them is a big step to getting your feet under the table.
The most obvious advice I can give is STFU, as the last thing a trainer wants is to listen to someone spouting crap about stuff that’s not relevant to why your there. They want to do a good job of assessing you then they can get on with the other work the need to complete that day, after all their day isnt just about you. Many times Ive got to sites for inductions/training and there’s someone there who rambles on, the assessor cant get a word in & making the time drag out. Recently I did a site visit with a couple of drivers and all of us apart from 1 where keen on getting it done so we could go home, however 1 driver didnt seem to understand the phrase from the trainer/assessor of “listen to what I tell you”. The meeting dragged out for over 1hr more than we intended coz this guy wouldn’t SFTU & kept asking questions that where not relevant to why we where there. I`m convince the guy was impervious to the STFU stares we where all giving him
If he says "I’d like you to stop as soon as you can do 2 things make sure its LEGAL not by bumping over a kerb into an area people stop (bit of waste ground) and observe that there are NO clearway markings so make sure its in a layby or proper bit of road.
Our trainer catches everyone out on his drive …
If he says "I’d like you to stop as soon as you can do 2 things make sure its LEGAL not by bumping over a kerb into an area people stop (bit of waste ground) and observe that there are NO clearway markings so make sure its in a layby or proper bit of road.
Our trainer catches everyone out on his drive …
So do all new recruits fail then? You must be suffering a real lack of drivers at the moment if so?
Or is it just an ego boost for the trainer? I caught you out, but you still pass because I’m just being a bit of a ■■■■ really?!
Some trainers need to remember that there’s always someone better at it than you (and them!). Being a ‘trainer’ can make some folk think they’re far more important than they actually are.
If he says "I’d like you to stop as soon as you can do 2 things make sure its LEGAL not by bumping over a kerb into an area people stop (bit of waste ground) and observe that there are NO clearway markings so make sure its in a layby or proper bit of road.
Our trainer catches everyone out on his drive …
So do all new recruits fail then? You must be suffering a real lack of drivers at the moment if so?
Or is it just an ego boost for the trainer? I caught you out, but you still pass because I’m just being a bit of a [zb] really?!
Some trainers need to remember that there’s always someone better at it than you (and them!). Being a ‘trainer’ can make some folk think they’re far more important than they actually are.
well most people I should have said …I will admit I almost went to pull in as it almost looks like a layby…
he hasn’t failed on that he has a sliding scale.
peirre:
The most obvious advice I can give is STFU, as the last thing a trainer wants is to listen to someone spouting crap about stuff that’s not relevant to why your there. They want to do a good job of assessing you then they can get on with the other work the need to complete that day, after all their day isnt just about you. Many times Ive got to sites for inductions/training and there’s someone there who rambles on, the assessor cant get a word in & making the time drag out. Recently I did a site visit with a couple of drivers and all of us apart from 1 where keen on getting it done so we could go home, however 1 driver didnt seem to understand the phrase from the trainer/assessor of “listen to what I tell you”. The meeting dragged out for over 1hr more than we intended coz this guy wouldn’t SFTU & kept asking questions that where not relevant to why we where there. I`m convince the guy was impervious to the STFU stares we where all giving him
aye, job n knock ( or not getting paid for an assessment)makes you impatient and not good for the task in hand
bloke wasn’t sure so asked questions. whats wrong with that
