For someone who has never driven anything larger than a passenger car, it can be hard to imagine becoming a fully licensed truck driver. Holders of commercial driver’s licenses, after all, are allowed to drive vehicles weighing tens of thousands of pounds, many of which are articulated at least once. That is obviously a big jump in responsibility and driving difficulty from the passenger vehicles that so many people are familiar with, and it can be difficult to see how it could even be possible to make the leap.
The answer, of course, is that student drivers who aim at piloting the big rigs do most of their basic learning in entirely controlled environments. While guiding an eighteen wheeler through heavy city traffic is no task for the untutored, doing something analogous on a specially designed training course is not necessarily all that dangerous. From the basics of backing up and parking a tractor-trailer to learning how to merge smoothly into dense traffic, those studying for the CDL have a lot of controlled, safe opportunities to pick up all the necessary skills.
At the Star Truck Driving School training facility, for example, students will eventually proceed through dozens of exercises before receiving their diplomas. On the very first day in the cab, students will generally find themselves on a smooth lot that is entirely clear of obstructions, with an instructor guiding them through such basics as to how to work through a truck’s many gears.
As they gain more confidence and capability, students will proceed to other, more interesting parts of the Company Name training facility. For example, there are special sections where students will be challenged to back trailers up into especially tight, narrow spots that mimic common real-world loading dock situations. Students at the Star Truck Driving School will also benefit from other special set ups that mimic the difficulties of driving in real traffic.
While it can seem like learning to drive a big truck would be almost impossible, the reality is that there are effective, well-established ways of doing so. That leaves new CDL holders with all of the skills they need to remain safe on the nation’s highways without forcing them into dangerous situations as they learn.
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