My name is Dave Shelton. I've been a City LTL driver for 15 years and a Driver Trainer for 5 years.
If you want to get good at reversing a Trailer - City LTL is a great way to do that. Bumping 15-20 docks daily in a smaller condensed area will give you the type of experience you can't get anywhere else. Those drivers can all reverse their Trailers with relative ease.
When I took on the challenge of teaching new drivers, I discovered some interesting things. Explaining to someone who's never done it was quite a challenge. I soon realized many subtleties and details that had become second nature to me over the years, and I no longer needed to think about them. In fact, I was not even aware of them anymore; I just did it subconsciously.
This is why we have a widespread myth that backing can't be taught and that one has to learn it on their own thru trial and error.
I have proven this myth to be false!
I decided that I would become acutely aware of all of those subtle details that my contemporaries and I were doing that enabled us to back into a wide variety of backing situations, often not even needing to pull up.
I started taking notes and heightening my awareness. I developed my own curriculum and started teaching my trainees details that no one else was teaching. The response and results were very encouraging.
I coined the term - "Offset Law," and I've been told by subscribers that they watched my YouTube video on the topic in their CDL class. The Offset Law is something that every new truck driver should be taught as early as possible.
I take pride in the success of my students and want to shorten the learning curve as much as possible.
I know how important this is for people. They are struggling and trying to get a better job and improve the quality of life for their families.
They'll be tested for their trailer reversing skills before being hired.
I'll never forget the first time I had a grown man shake my hand with tears in his eyes, thanking me for being patient with him and giving him hope.
It made me realize I could make a difference in people's lives, and I've been passionate about this ever since.
People are paying as much as $8,000 for truck driving schools and not getting the training they need. Instead, they are often taught oversimplified "tricks" to get them to pass their test. Once you have your CDL, you are someone else's problem. I'm that "someone else"! These recent graduates come to me, and they have no skills. I have to unteach the "tricks" and bad advice that don't work in the real world and help them become competent and safe enough to go solo.