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23 4.1 Context of the Survey This synthesis sought to determine how many commer- cial driver training programs exist. Based on interviews with and surveys of associations and organizations, the research team estimates that there are close to 3,600 commercial driver training programs in the United States (combining truck car- riers and schools, motorcoaches, and transit agencies). This number includes not only entry-level training leading to a CDL or other license, but also specific vehicle training (e.g., tankers, transit buses) as well. The number does not include school bus training programs run by school districts or other state or country agencies. The team sent a survey (see Appendix B) over the Inter- net using email address lists provided by various training and carrier organizations. The goal was to get a snapshot of the day-to-day activities of commercial driver training organizations. Two specific areas of inquiry were of inter- est (1) how trainers measure the effectiveness of their train- ing and (2) how trainers measure the effectiveness of their graduates. The team received 42 responses. Although the sample size is relatively small, the consistency of the responses and the way they support the collective experience of the research team suggests that the data are useful and do represent the truck and bus driver training industry. In the last decade, the co-authors of the research team have visited commercial driver training operations at carriers, for-profit training schools, public junior colleges that offer commercial driving training, research centers, transit agencies, and motorcoach companies. 4.2 Survey Respondents Of the training operations responding to the survey, 7 have more than 1,000 students per year, 2 have between 500 and 1,000, 3 have between 250 and 500, 6 have between 100 and 250, and 24 have fewer than 100 students per year. This range of graduating students reflects the ratio of large to medium to small training operations that one finds in the commercial driver training population. 4.3 Survey Results The respondents identified four types of skills training: range training with students either driving a vehicle around a restricted space or riding in a vehicle which is being driven by a different student, simulator training, demonstration of skills by an instructor, and BTW on road training. Not all schools use all four methods. Table 9 shows the number of hours for each activity in terms of the ranges, the medium, and the modes for each of the four methods. In interpreting these answers, it is important to remember that while most of the respondents offer 3 to 6 weeks of total training, the very large number of hours by method reflects training performed in 2 or 4 semester technical training schools. The survey also asked each respondent to rate the effec- tiveness of each training method he or she uses, using the following scale: 1 = not effective, 2 = marginally effec- tive, 3 = effective, 4 = very effective, 5 = most effective. No one rated any materials ineffective. Overall, there seems to be general agreement that current training methods are at least effective. There was overwhelming agreement that the most effective training method was over-the-road driving. Table 10 shows the distribution of rating for current training methods. It is clear that training providers are convinced that the way for someone to learn how to drive a commercial vehi- cle is to drive a commercial vehicle under the supervision of, presumably, a master driver. In terms of what training is offered, all of the responding training organizations offer training for Class A vehicles, 12 for Class B vehicles, and 3 for Class C vehicles. Seventeen offered remedial training (training a driver who has demonstrated C H A P T E R 4 Survey Procedures and Results
component of a commercial vehicle driver training program: the role of the instructor. 1990s Training Effectiveness Study. In 1991, McFann determined that 17% of the drivers in one carrierâs organi- zation were having 77% of the accidents with an annual cost between $35 and $40 million. Based on his previous experi- ences, McFann strongly suspected that the problem was with the on-the-job training instructors. All the trainers were brought together for a week of orientation, information, and evaluation. As part of that initial train-the-trainer class, all the in- structors were given a standardized road test. Instructor per- formance errors were categorized by vehicle movement. The instructorâs performance errors were then compared to a list of accidents by students during their first 90 days of service. The results, shown in Table 13, were âtoo close to be a coincidence.â (McFann, p. 8) The errors the instructors were making were being taught to the students. The apparent anomaly between percent of left-turn accidents and percent errors by vehicle movement can be explained by observing that the driver has more room and better visibility when making a left turn, but that the skills involved in making a left turn are almost identi- cal to those used in making a right turn. So performance errors during a left-hand turn tend to result in fewer accidents. TCRP Report 72. Brock, Jacobs, and McCauley report on two successful applications of simulator training with two dif- ferent transit agencies. The interesting part of this finding is that one of the agencies was using an advanced (for 2000) 24 SKILL TRAINING METHOD DRIVING RANGE (N = 31) SIMULATION (N = 16) DEMONSTRA- TION (N = 22) OVER THE ROAD (BTW) (N = 36) Range in Hours 6-220 1-20 2-100 9-1900 Medium Number of Hours 40 3 10 42 Mode for Number of Hours 20 2 2 44 Table 9. Methods of skills training in survey sample. METHODS Not Effective Marginally Effective Effective Very Effective Most Effective Lectures (n = 43) 1 18 16 8 Films/Video (n = 42) 1 29 12 Computer-Based Training (n = 12) 5 6 1 Web-Based (n = 14) 3 6 4 1 Textbooks (n = 43) 3 27 12 1 Range BTW (n = 36) 1 3 7 25 Simulation (n = 25) 5 10 9 1 Demonstrations (n = 38) 8 22 8 Over the Road (n = 43) 2 1 40 Table 10. Ratings of driver training methods. TOPIC PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS PROVIDING TRAINING Hazardous Materials Endorsement 62% Passenger Endorsement 23% Doubles/Triples Endorsement 59% Tank Vehicle Endorsement 59% School Bus Endorsement 15% Air Brakes 100% Table 11. Percentage of schools offering specialized training. Student Records Percentage Maintaining Course evaluations 100 Written test scores 100 Performance test scores 100 CDL pass/fail 100 Post-licensing data 36 Other 20 Instructor Records Course evaluations 100 Driving records 100 Train the trainer 79 Length of service 100 Other 18 Table 12. Training organizationsâ records. some decrement in driving skills), 27 offered refresher train- ing, and 8 provided various specialized training (e.g., main- tenance, dispatch). Table 11 shows percentages of specialized training. The team also asked the training organizations what records they maintained to measure the effectiveness of their overall training program. Table 12 lists those results. 4.4 Special Cases In addition to the survey, literature and current training programs were reviewed to see if there were some other data that might add to the conclusions for this report. The syn- thesis briefly describes three particular cases: a paper by McFann reviewing some studies on training effectiveness conducted in the 1990s; TCRP Report 72; and a visit to Schneider Nationalâs Driver Training Facility in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in October 2006. All three sources identified a key
driving simulator while the other agency was using a much older technology that lacked many of the features deemed important in driver simulator design. Yet both agencies were reporting high satisfaction with their systems. The common denominator was the quality of the instruc- tional staff. Both agencies were managed and staffed by en- thusiastic, knowledgeable, and dedicated men and women. Instructors were hands on. Even when students were in the respective simulators, instructors were right there with them, guiding them much as one would in an actual vehicle. At least one vendor of driving simulators has found that the success or failure of its installed systems depends as much on the acceptance and collaboration of the training programâs staff as it does on the engineering of the device itself (Brock 2003). Schneider Nationalâs Driver Training Facility. Sch- neider has 250 frontline instructors (road, range, simulator) for all its training locations. Frontline instructors are accident free million milers. However, before becoming instructors, each person goes through 3 weeks of training emphasizing adult learning styles, diversity and sexual harassment, and training methods and standards. In addition, Schneider has 700 on-the-job training instruc- tors, called training engineers. These are drivers with at least 1 year of experience, an accident free record, and high cus- tomer service ratings. Each training engineer receives 8 days of training. The point of this is to ensure that new drivers are not just along for the ride during this final phase of training, but that actual instruction is happening in the process. 25 VEHICLE MOVEMENT FREQUENCY OF INSTRUCTOR VEHICLE ERRORS FREQUENCY OF STUDENT ACCIDENTS Right-Hand Turn 19.7 18.4 Left-Hand Turn 20.5 9.1 Lane Change 7.7 10.5 Straight Ahead 47.1 49.4 Search 49 51 (Source: McFann 2001) Table 13. Instructor performance errors and student accidents.