The importance of new truck driver training

All good truck drivers work hard at getting the best out of any truck they drive. But to achieve this they have to understand all of the systems available and how they function.

For any trucking operator, a big priority is after shelling out the big bucks for a state-of-the-art piece of equipment, making sure it's utilised in the most efficient and productive way possible.

This is where the importance of a truck driver induction process comes to the fore...

When new technology is introduced, it needs to be explained to the driver, so that they understand what the technology is and what it does. This should be done right down to the simplest level, following the KISS principle.

I recall when the first Mercedes-Benz Actros arrived in the 1990s, and there was a cassette included which could be slotted into the cassette player. It was explained to the driver exactly how to turn it on and change between modes on the windscreen wiper. This is the level of detail required.

This kind of highly detailed driver education is a vital part of the job for Michael Di Ramio, who works as Operator Trainer/Product Specialist at Penske Commercial Vehicles.

Michael and his team will walk either individual drivers, or more likely trucking fleet driver trainers, through all of the functions they need to get ideal productivity and safety gains out of a truck.

After all, there's nothing analogue about most dashboards laid out in a modern truck. It's common for the driver to be facing two large screens; one in front of them with all of the vital on-road information, and a second infotainment screen to their left, with all of the other info and functions a driver may require.

Faced with two screens full of data, plus a cluster of buttons on the steering wheel, getting the driver up to speed with where they need to set up preferences and where it’s more a ‘set and forget’ preference needed, for example, is important.

The induction process allows the driver to be guided through the various options and how to set those options, which, often, only need to be set up once. Then the next stage of the induction is getting the truck out on the road and getting them used to the kind of interface they will have directly in front of them.

Here there is a need to let the driver get used to the large amount of information laid out in front of them on the dash. Simple stuff like speed and rpm are the same as on any analogue set up, but the automated transmission, engine braking and a growing array of safety systems are live and need to be adjusted to the driver’s preferences, and depending on the road conditions and the type of load they're carrying.

For Michael this process is often a run-through with fleet driver trainers out on the road. The trainer sits in the driver’s seat and can see the screen, while he explains what each of the graphics, their meaning and how they can be adjusted and used.

“When we look at Emergency Brake Assist, for example, do we want to be reactive to pedestrians or only a vehicle?" he ponders.

"We're monitoring the front of the vehicle when we set off for anyone directly in front of the truck. If you're in the city, you may want pedestrian, but when we're out on the open road, we don't really need it.”

Out on the road, the choices are many and varied. With Active Cruise Control, you want to set a following distance the driver is comfortable with. This distance will be longer on the open highway and closer in an urban environment.

Some drivers shy away from Active Cruise, sticking to normal cruise control until they can see the benefits.

Then there’s the choice between 'on' or 'off' with lane departure warning? If the driver wants this kind of help, do they also want lane return assist?

It’s all a matter of choice, and often, those choices will be made to suit the precise road conditions, but also the driver’s own preferences. Some dislike too much interference, while others welcome any help in avoiding issues.

The various radar and video devices around the truck, which are there to reduce, or eliminate, blind spots are less likely to be turned off by a driver. That's because most drivers are well aware there are areas around the truck that cannot be clearly seen from the driver’s seat without these systems.

Something like a warning light on the A-pillar as the driver looks at the nearside mirror, could prove very effective and not intrusive for most drivers.

“Our blind spot indicators are now integrated. They go amber, if something's in a dangerous area, and this goes red, if we go to move,” Michael explains. “We get a warning, both audible and visible. Do we want them on or off?”

Sometimes during the induction process, the trainer might feel that the driver hasn't fully understood how something works in the vehicle. They can further monitor that driver after training, using the data coming in from the truck while he is out at work, to see if they need further help in understanding the available systems.

“We don't call it driver training, we call it driver induction,” Michael says. “We're inducting the driver into the product. We handle all of that side of it. We don't handle how they drive, or anything else.

“They're an employee of a company, so we let their internal driver trainers handle that, they can handle that side of the training during their onboarding.

"We do a full induction into the product, everything in the vehicle and how it functions. We make sure the driver is okay with all of it and feels he's competent in driving the truck.

“We’ve moved away from from traditional PowerPoint presentations, it’s more hands on. We go on a run with the driver, and we'll do that induction with the driver as we're driving along. We try not to disturb their daily routine and take them out of the business. We get more uptake, if we do it that way.”

Related: What the driver test doesn't teach you