Opinion: Choosing Truck-Driving Instructors
By Devorah Fox
President
Mike Byrnes & Associates Inc.
This Opinion piece appears in the Feb. 9 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Last January, our company launched an “instructor-of-the month” program. We began by inviting directors of truck-driver training programs to nominate individuals, and then we interviewed the winning instructors. While 12 instructors are by no means a statistically representative sample of the entire driver education field, we nevertheless came away impressed by what we had learned about the folks turning out our newest drivers.
We also reached some useful conclusions about which job candidates make the best truck-driving instructors. When choosing teachers for your company drivers, look for applicants who:
• Have a lot of truck-driving experience. All the instructors we honored had driven commercially before becoming driving teachers. Most had significantly more than five years of driving experience, and a couple of them had driven for the better part of a lifetime before becoming educators. One had started driving a milk route when he was only 15. Another drove general freight for 30 years.
• Make an effort to maintain their driving skills. Even now, the winners this year in the instructor-of-the-month program will take a turn behind the wheel to keep their skills current and sharp. Two of the instructors in our winning group spend after-school hours practicing maneuvers, and another still drives professionally part time.
• Have some education beyond high school. About 50% of our top instructors have a college education. Professional development also is important; half the instructors said they had participated in train-the-trainer programs or taken workshops or seminars to sharpen their teaching skills. Our dozen top instructors included one who had taken the Dale Carnegie course; another had completed four levels in the Commercial Vehicle Training Association’s instructor development and certification program; two had achieved the master level for instructors; one participated in both the Air Brake Adjustment Instructor and Air Brake Endorsement Instructor programs of Ontario’s Department of Education and Training in Canada. That instructor also had attained “Smart Driver” status in the Master Instructor’s Program.
• Often ply their trade to a larger audience, developing and presenting seminars and other programs. One of our winning instructors, for example, developed and presented an air-brake adjustment program for the Manitoba Trucking Association in Canada. Another once ran his own award-winning driving school.
• Enjoy teaching and working with other people. A common response was the rewarding feeling of being able to make a positive difference in someone’s life. One of our honorees said it gave him great satisfaction to know that students were “changing their lives and building a future with a career in transportation.”
• Are patient and empathetic. When we asked what tools our dozen top instructors found most useful, some said they appreciated a well-written textbook, and others noted visual aids such as truck-part cutaways, videos and DVDs and simulators. But a good half of them cited “patience” as a vital tool. An instructor from Texas said that when he’s teaching, it helps him to remember what it was like the first time he climbed into the driver’s seat of an 18-wheeler.
• Are proud of what their students achieve. When we asked the winning teachers to describe their proudest accomplishments, most of them talked about their students’ successes. Several mentioned the thrill of having former students return to the school to show off the trucks they’re driving in their new jobs. One teacher said he got a special jolt of pride when former students told him they could hear his voice on every turn they made.
• Understand that teaching adult learners is a challenge different from teaching children. Adult learners very much want to know why something is important to know or to do, and although they have elected to be in the program, adult learners often need motivation. Teachers of adult learners have to compete for students’ attention against worries about time, money, family, the job — even confidence. And adult learners often have definite expectations that might not always be in concert with the course objectives.
• Are safety-conscious and proud of the number of accident-free miles they’ve logged on the job.
By the end of our 12 months with exemplary instructors, we felt the enthusiasm and dedication they expressed spoke well for the education our newest commercial vehicle drivers are receiving. We hope you’ll keep their qualities and characteristics in mind the next time you prepare a job description for driving instructors.
Mike Byrnes & Associates Inc., Port Aransas, Texas, is the publisher of “Bumper to Bumper, The Complete Guide to Tractor-Trailer Operations” and other materials for the transportation industry.
