Month: July 2015

It was only a matter of time before CDL training programs began recruiting female drivers, as women are known for driving less aggressively and being more cautious. In theory, these skills mean that women drivers are less likely to be involved in accidents. Now that an increasing number of women are enrolling in Tucson CDL school, their involvement is shaping the trucking landscape.

Challenges

Women who pursue trucking as a career face advantages and disadvantages. Similar to male truckers, there are bound to be some female truckers with similar experiences in the industry. While some female truckers may find their gender is a plus, others may find it creates challenges. On the one hand, other drivers are anxious to cater to a female trucker’s needs by helping with directions on the CB, radio checks, or fixing the truck in a break down. In fact, some female truckers can use the radio to simply ask a question and have had free meals when visiting truck stops.

Equal treatment

Many women truckers don’t feel they have been treated any differently than their male counterparts. However, some female truckers feel they receive too much attention. While other drivers may be overly helpful to female truckers, the truckers may not have extra time to chat while trying to get directions.

Harassment

When other drivers’ attention goes too far, it can constitute harassment. Every now and then, a female trucker may hear ignorant comments over the CB radio. Other drivers may find these jokes funny, even though they are disrespecting their female colleagues. Some male drivers are serious and even say nasty things to female drivers to put them in place. A mature female driver will respond by simply ignoring the disrespectful comments that come up every once in a while.

If you are looking to begin a career as a female truck driver, HDS Truck Driving Institute has trained thousands of CDL drivers. We are a fully accredited educational institution in Tucson. To learn more about beginning a career in trucking, give us a call at (877) 205-2141.

Spring weather may be great for gardens, but the wet conditions that flowers love will also cause over a million traffic collisions each year. If you’re a Tucson CDL driver, you need to know how to safely handle such situations during your time on the road. When it comes to rain, safety begins before you drive, as you take steps to ensure visibility.

Slow down

One of the biggest safety risks in driving through rain is hydroplaning, where the tires rise up on a film of water. Even as little as 1/12 inch of water on the road forces your tires to displace a gallon of water per second to maintain contact with the road. To ensure your truck doesn’t hydroplane, you should reduce your speed to correspond with the amount of water on the roadway. For example, even at speeds as low as 35 mph, brand new tires can still have difficulty maintaining contact with the roadway.

Leave room

Another way to avoid hydroplaning is by leaving plenty of room between your truck and the other drivers. Remember, others traveling won’t be as experienced with driving long distances in rainy conditions. To stay safe, increase the following distance between your truck and the vehicle in front of you. You should also start to slow down early to stop for an intersection, make a turn or adjust to other traffic conditions.

Respond to a skid

Even if you’re taking all the necessary steps to stay safe in the rain, you may experience a skid. If you feel the truck beginning to skid, the worse thing you can do is panic. Instead, continue looking and steering in the direction you want the truck to go. At the same time, don’t slam your brakes, as this will make it more difficult to regain control of the truck.

Since 1991, HDS Truck Institute has proudly served the Southern Arizona community. Call (877) 205-2141 to learn more about CDL training in Tucson. Our graduates are working for many of the nation’s top over-the-road carriers.

After completing truck-driving school in Tucson, the next step is taking the road test portion of your CDL exam. While you may be anxious about bumping a curb or forgetting to check your mirrors, not knowing what the examiner is looking for can be even more nerve-wracking. An effective way to ease any anxiety related to the test is by learning exactly what to expect on the big day.

Automatic failures

In order to pass the CDL road test, you need to know what constitutes automatic failure. While some of these may be obvious, like getting into a wreck or running a red light, other automatic failures aren’t so easy to detect. For example, smaller actions like hitting a curb, forgetting your turn signal, and failing to check your mirrors when changing lanes all result in automatic failure. When driving a truck, these little mistakes can result in very serious consequences, so it’s important to ensure they never happen.

Acceptable mistakes

Even after years of truck driving, minor mistakes do happen. In most situations, it’s not a serious safety hazard to grind a gear or taking an extra second to find the right RPM to get into gear. So long as you demonstrate sufficient proficiency in shifting, you won’t fail the road test with a few ground gears or missed shifts. If you make these minor mistakes on the test, just keep your composure, take your time, and find the right gear.

Non-driving considerations

Your demeanor during the test is actually a main factor guiding the examiner’s decision to license you. Trucking is a high-pressure occupation, as you spend the day dealing with heavy traffic, terrible weather, and impatient drivers. For this reason, you need to show the examiner that you can stay calm when faced with serious stress.

HDS Truck Driving Institute has been proudly training Tucson truck drivers since 1991. As a fully-accredited educational institution, we have trained thousands of students to pass their Commercial Driver License exam. To learn how we can help you become the kind of professional driver companies seek, please call (877) 205-2141.